Patents Examined by Afework Demisse
  • Patent number: 10063154
    Abstract: A power conversion circuit including an SR MOSFET is provided. A minimum off-time timer for the SR MOSFET is started. A voltage potential at a first terminal of the SR MOSFET is measured. The SR MOSFET is turned on after a rate of change over time of the voltage potential exceeds a first threshold and before the minimum off-time timer expires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Karel Ptacek, Tomas Tichy
  • Patent number: 10056822
    Abstract: A control circuit for a switching regulator implementing a fixed frequency constant on-time control scheme incorporates a reference voltage generator to generate a reference voltage ramp that varies over substantially the entire switching period. In one embodiment, the reference voltage increases from an initial voltage value at the start of each switching period towards the end of the switching period and is reset to the initial voltage value at the end of each switching period. The reference voltage ramp ensures stable feedback control operation in the switching regulator without introducing voltage offset for all output voltage values. The control circuit enables the switching regulator to apply constant on-time control scheme while using an output capacitor having any ESR value, including an output capacitor with low or zero ESR.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (Cayman) Ltd.
    Inventors: Zhiye Zhang, Zhinan Wei
  • Patent number: 10038384
    Abstract: A control circuit for an inverter according to the present invention comprises a PWM circuit and a controller. The PWM circuit generates switching signals in accordance with a PWM control signal. The switching signals are coupled to switch a transformer through transistors for generating an output of the inverter. The controller is coupled to receive a command signal and an input signal for generating the PWM control signal. The input signal is correlated to an input voltage waveform of the inverter. The command signal is utilized to determine a power level of the output of the inverter. The advantages of the control circuit are lower cost, small size, good power factor and higher reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventor: Ta-Yung Yang
  • Patent number: 10031545
    Abstract: A power conversion system including: a first power conversion module configured to change a current (first module current) supplied to an output node, to monitor efficiency of the power conversion system according to the change in the first module current, and to determine a setting value of the first module current to increase the efficiency; and a second power conversion module configured to control a current (second module current) supplied to the output node according to a voltage (output voltage) formed at the output node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: KOREA INSTITUTE OF ENERGY RESEARCH
    Inventors: Su Yong Chae, Jong Bok Baek, Seung Weon Yu, Gyu Duk Kim, Suk In Park
  • Patent number: 10027249
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a method for connecting a photovoltaic installation to a power supply grid, the photovoltaic installation comprising a photovoltaic generator, a direct voltage intermediate circuit with at least one capacitor, and an inverter. The method including connecting the direct voltage intermediate circuit to the photovoltaic generator and the capacitor is pre-charged to a first voltage. The direct voltage intermediate circuit is then separated from the photovoltaic generator and the capacitor is discharged to or below a second voltage that corresponds to a maximum operating voltage of the inverter. The inverter is then connected to the power supply grid, an inverter bridge of the inverter is clocked, and the direct voltage intermediate circuit is connected to the photovoltaic generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: SMA Solar Technology
    Inventor: Andreas Falk
  • Patent number: 10019022
    Abstract: A power circuit includes a first regulator and an impedance adjustment unit. The first regulator has a loop-back impedance, and provides a first power signal. The impedance adjustment unit is coupled to the first regulator, and operates to cause the first regulator to provide a second power signal having a power level different from that of the first power signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: M2Communication Inc.
    Inventors: Chia-Chi Hu, Hung-Ta Tso, Chun-Yi Lee, Derrick Wei
  • Patent number: 10020754
    Abstract: A multi-inverter system with at least a string of inverters sharing a DC bus and outputting to a shared AC bus. Inverters are hot-swappable and configured to be turned on or off during powered cycles. Central control may comprise reducing power point tracking redundancies or promoting other operational changes at individual inverters of a group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: SunPower Corporation
    Inventors: Patrick L. Chapman, Zachary Judkins, Jacob Marshall
  • Patent number: 10014780
    Abstract: A multiphase switching converter with a plurality of phase circuits coupled with a common output node is presented. Each phase circuit has a drive signal generator to generate a separate drive signal for a switching element of the respective phase based on a feedback signal from the common output node. Multiple voltage loops with different bandwidths or hysteresis are suggested for a multiphase power converter. In embodiments, this allows a slow phase (‘Master’) with a big inductor and low switching frequency and one or multiple fast phases (‘Slaves’) with small inductors and high switching frequency. The Master phase will allow the system to have high efficiency at low output load, while the Slave phase(s) will deliver extra current during load transient and for higher loads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventors: Alessandro S. Molari, Martin Faerber
  • Patent number: 10014786
    Abstract: A flyback power converter includes a transformer, a power switch, a power switch control circuit, a synchronous rectification (SR) switch, an SR switch control circuit, and a signal coupler circuit. The signal coupler circuit includes a primary port and a secondary port, wherein the primary port is electrically connected to the power switch control circuit, and the secondary port is electrically connected to the SR switch control circuit. The primary port and the secondary port receive different signals generated by the power switch control circuit and the SR switch control circuit respectively, and the signal coupler circuit senses and converts the different signals to generate corresponding converted signals at the secondary port and the primary port respectively in different and non-overlapping time periods, without direct contact or direct connection between the primary side and the secondary side of the transformer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ta-Yung Yang, Tzu-Chen Lin, Bing Zeng, Li-Di Luo
  • Patent number: 10014778
    Abstract: Provided is a control method for controlling a SIBO buck-boost converter including a first switch coupled between an input and a first node, a second switch coupled between the first node and GROUND, a third switch coupled between a second node and GROUND, a fourth switch coupled between the second node and a first output node for outputting the positive output, a fifth switch coupled between the first node and a second output node for outputting the negative output, and an inductor coupled between the first node and the second node. The first and the third switches are turned on to energize the inductor. The first and the fourth switches are turned on to generate a positive output. The third and the fifth switches are turned on to generate a negative output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: BRAVOTEK ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wei-Hsin Wei, Yu-Shen Lin
  • Patent number: 10008937
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an apparatus for controlling DC link voltage in power cells of a medium-voltage inverter. The apparatus controls DC link voltage in single-phase I/O power cells in the medium-voltage inverter, by way of using a first average power based on a positive sequence voltage and a positive sequence current to output a first DC link voltage reference for controlling the average value of the DC link voltages, and using a second average power based on a negative sequence voltage and a positive sequence current or a positive sequence voltage and a negative sequence current to output a second DC link voltage reference for controlling an interphase DC link voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: LSIS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jong-Je Park, Seung-Ki Sul, Jeong-Mock Yoo, Hyun-Sam Jung
  • Patent number: 9991812
    Abstract: A power supply includes a transistor that is connected to a primary winding of a transformer. A controller controls a switching operation of the transistor by quasi-resonant switching. The controller receives a feedback voltage and adjusts the feedback voltage to adjust a blanking frequency, which is an inverse of a blanking time during which the transistor is prevented from being turned on. The controller turns on the transistor after expiration of the blanking time based on a level of a resonant ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Bonggeun Chung, Taesung Kim, Gwanbon Koo
  • Patent number: 9991798
    Abstract: An electronic device includes a power stage, a switch and a controller. Power is transferred from an input through the power stage to an output. The switch turns on and off a current provided to the power stage for transferring the power. The controller turns on and off the switch. During a low-load mode, the controller causes the switch to operate with a constant on-time control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Bing Lu
  • Patent number: 9979307
    Abstract: Methods of regulating an output voltage of a switched mode power supply having a variable input voltage and a power switch include adjusting a reference voltage to adjust a duty cycle of a control signal for the power switch. The reference voltage may be adjusted as a function of the duty cycle, in response to the duty cycle of the control signal being outside a defined range and/or in the response to a temperature within the switched mode power supply being above a threshold temperature. Other methods include selecting a reference voltage from a plurality of reference voltages based on a determined input voltage and generating a control signal for the power switch as a function of the selected reference voltage to adjust the duty cycle of the control signal. Switched mode power supplies and control circuits for implementing the methods are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: ASTEC INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
    Inventor: Kim Ly Kha
  • Patent number: 9979318
    Abstract: Embodiments herein disclose a hybrid multilevel inverter configured to obtain N-level output voltages based on operating one of FCs and a plurality of switches. In an embodiment, the multilevel inverter is a Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) Flying Capacitor (FC) based hybrid multilevel inverter. In an embodiment, the multilevel inverter is a stacked multi-cell NPC multilevel inverter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
    Inventors: Abhijit Kadam, Anshuman Shukla
  • Patent number: 9979321
    Abstract: An inverter producing an alternating current from a direct current source has a primary stage coupled to the direct current source having a step-up transformer, a first switching circuit coupling the direct current to the transformer primary and a rectifier coupled to a secondary of the transformer for producing a DC voltage; a controller for the first switching circuit providing pulse drive signals to control switches of the first switching circuit to cause current to flow in the transformer primary and induce an alternating current in the transformer secondary; a secondary stage receiving the DC voltage having a second switching circuit and a controller for the second switching circuit for generating control signals to cause current through the second switching circuit to flow in alternate directions thorough the load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: CASCO PRODUCTS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Debabrato Kumar Mondal
  • Patent number: 9973102
    Abstract: A power conversion system can be implemented to reduce load disturbances on a DC bus which may be caused by load activity, such as a motor starting, stopping and/or ramping up or down. In one aspect, the power conversion system can receive externally supplied multi-phase AC electric power, such as three-phase power from a power grid, and use a converter circuit to generate the DC bus. The power conversion system can then use an inverter circuit to generate multi-phase AC electric power from the DC bus for driving the load with adjustable frequencies and/or amplitudes as desired. The power conversion system can receive feedback signals to sense the load activity and adjust the converter and/or inverter circuits accordingly to reduce the load disturbances on the DC bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Prathamesh R. Vadhavkar, Brian J. Seibel, Ahmed Sayed Ahmed
  • Patent number: 9973100
    Abstract: A synchronous rectifier applied to a power converter includes a power supply module, a control module, and a gate driving unit. The power supply module is used for generating a supply current according to an induced voltage generated from a secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply current is used for establishing a supply voltage, and the induced voltage corresponds to a control signal of a power switch of a primary side of the power converter. The control module is coupled to the power supply module for turning on or turning off the power supply module according to the supply voltage. The gate driving unit is coupled to the power supply module for generating a gate control signal controlling turning-on and turning-off of a synchronous switch of the secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply voltage is used for driving the gate driving unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Leadtrend Technology Corp.
    Inventor: Chung-Wei Lin
  • Patent number: 9973083
    Abstract: A predictive controller for an inductive DC-DC converter comprising a switchable inductor is described. The predictive controller includes a DC-DC controller configured to generate a plurality of switching phases to control the inductor current in the switchable inductor, the duration of the switching phases being determined from at least one of a reference inductor current value and a reference output voltage value. The predictive controller includes a supervisory controller coupled to the DC-DC controller and configured to set a reference inductor current value dependent on an expected change in load current and/or voltage of a load configured to be connected to the load terminal. The expected change in load current and/or voltage is determined from a predetermined load profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Matthias Rose, Hendrik Johannes Bergveld, Olivier Trescases, David King Wai Li
  • Patent number: 9971374
    Abstract: Various disclosed leakage compensation apparatus and methods enable HV MOS transistors to be employed for ultralow current operation. One illustrative embodiment is a backup energy block that includes: a pair of input terminals that couple to a backup energy source; an anti-series switch that supplies power from the pair of input terminals to a voltage regulator (when closed) and isolates power from the pair of input terminals to the voltage regulator (when open); a control current source; and an HV MOS control transistor that selectively couples the control current source to a control signal line to open and close the anti-series switch; and a compensation current source coupled to the control signal line to provide a compensation current matched to a parasitic leakage current from the control transistor. The compensation current source includes an HV MOS compensation transistor matched to the control transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Dieter Joos, Johan Camiel Julia Janssens