Patents by Inventor Michael Francis Thompson

Michael Francis Thompson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6154378
    Abstract: A polyphase AC-to-AC inverter (300) for driving a polyphase load (50), which may be an unbalanced load, includes a wye-connected AC voltage source (12) having a neutral terminal (312). The source (12) is coupled to a rectifying arrangement (16) for producing direct voltage across a direct-voltage bus (22). A capacitive bridge (24) on the DC bus (22) has a tap (26) connected to the neutral (312) of the source. The capacitive bridge is isolated from the AC source harmonics by a zero sequence inductor (20). The DC bus voltage at the capacitive bridge feeds a polyphase switching bridge (40). The average voltage at the output of the switching bridge is recovered by a low-pass filter (30) connected to the load. The unbalanced load current is conducted through an inductor to the capacitive bridge tap and the source neutral, with the inductor impedance isolating the load neutral from the DC bus. The switching bridge control can introduce triplen harmonics in the output to increase line-to-line output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Lockheed Martin Corporation
    Inventors: William Anders Peterson, Michael Francis Thompson