Patents Examined by Gustavo A Rosario-Benitez
  • Patent number: 12149179
    Abstract: A power converter includes a full-bridge circuit, power converting circuit, transformer, and controller. The full-bridge circuit includes a series-connected unit made of first and second switches and a series-connected unit made of third and fourth switches and is connected to power transmitting terminals. The power converting circuit is connected to power receiving terminals. The transformer includes power transmitting coil and power receiving coil. The power transmitting coil is connected to full-bridge circuit. The power receiving coil is connected to power converting circuit. The controller turns on the first and second switches alternately and also the third and fourth switches alternately. A resistive load is connected to the power receiving terminals. The controller serves to determine a phase difference between the time when first switch is turned on and the time when third switch is turned on to decrease with a decrease in measured voltage developed at the power receiving terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seiji Iyasu, Syuji Kurauchi, Yuuichi Handa
  • Patent number: 12149163
    Abstract: Provided is a technology in which a control device of a converter performs gate cutoff for cutting off power supply to a load when one of a battery detection value obtained by a battery voltage sensor or a low-voltage-side detection value obtained by a low-voltage-side voltage sensor or both thereof are abnormal values. After the control device performs the gate cutoff, the control device determines whether or not a main body circuitry is abnormal based on the battery detection value and the low-voltage-side detection value. When the control device determines that the main body circuitry is not abnormal, the control device determines whether one of the battery voltage sensor or the low-voltage-side voltage sensor is abnormal based on the battery detection value, the low-voltage-side detection value, and a high-voltage-side detection value obtained by a high-voltage-side voltage sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kado Nakagawa, Jino Yoon, Nobuhiro Kihara, Mai Nakada
  • Patent number: 12143018
    Abstract: Disclosed is a DC voltage converter, including a plurality of dividing modules positioned in parallel and synchronized in an interleaved manner, all the dividing modules being controlled by one and the same error signal sampled for each dividing period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
    Inventor: Philippe Boissiere
  • Patent number: 12143030
    Abstract: A method of converting an alternating current (AC) voltage to a direct current (DC) voltage by an AC-to-DC converter. The method includes producing an AC virtual waveform approximately synchronized to the AC voltage. The method further includes detecting a cessation of the AC voltage, continuing to produce the AC virtual waveform during the cessation of the AC voltage, and detecting a resumption of the AC voltage. Upon detecting the resumption of the AC voltage, the method includes applying the AC virtual waveform to a control loop implemented by the AC-to-DC converter for a period of time, and after the period of time, the method includes applying an output of a phase-locked loop to the control loop instead of the AC virtual waveform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Jongwan Kim
  • Patent number: 12136870
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a buck converter for achieving a high output and reducing cost. The buck converter includes: a MOSFET, including a first side connected to an application end of an input voltage; a rectifying element, connected to a second side of the MOSFET by a first connection node; a coil, having a first terminal connected to the first connection node; and an output capacitor, connected to a second terminal of the coil. The MOSFET is a super-junction MOSFET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2024
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Akinobu Sawada
  • Patent number: 12136892
    Abstract: In a power converter, each of a positive busbar and a negative busbar includes a first current path that has a first thermal resistance and is a current flow path between a power-source connection terminal and at least one terminal connection portion, and a second current path that has a second thermal resistance and is a current flow path between the power-source connection terminal and an element connection portion. The first thermal resistance of the first current path of at least one of the positive busbar and the negative busbar is lower than the second thermal resistance of the second current path of the at least one of the positive busbar and the negative busbar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomohisa Sano, Yuu Yamahira
  • Patent number: 12132392
    Abstract: A power conversion device including a semiconductor switching element having a control electrode terminal and two main electrode terminals and configured to control a current flowing between the two main electrodes by a drive signal applied to the control electrode terminal; and a drive circuit configured to generate the drive signal in synchronization with an input signal and to turn on/off the semiconductor switching element by the drive signal. The drive circuit is configured to detect the current flowing between the two main electrode terminals of the semiconductor switching element at a timing at which the semiconductor switching element is turned off, and to adjust a drive capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2024
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Akira Nakamori
  • Patent number: 12109959
    Abstract: A power supply device includes: a first system; a second system; an inter-system switch configured to be able to connect and disconnect between the first system and the second system; a determining unit configured to keep the inter-system switch in an ON state in a normal time, and turn off the inter-system switch and determine which system a ground fault has occurred in, if detecting a ground fault of the first system or the second system; and a suppression circuit configured to suppress an electric discharge of the second power supply and supply electric power for ground fault detection to the second system, and the determining unit determines whether any ground fault has occurred in the second system or not, based on the electric power which is supplied from the suppression circuit to the second system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO TEN Limited
    Inventors: Takeshi Matsumoto, Daiki Hakushima, Keiichi Yonezaki
  • Patent number: 12107490
    Abstract: An electronic circuit is disclosed. The electronic circuit includes a switching circuit that includes a high side switch connected to a low side switch at a switch node, a controller arranged to generate a high side control signal and a low side control signal, a variable delay circuit arranged to receive the high side control signal and in response transmit a corresponding delayed high side control signal, and to receive the low side control signal and in response transmit a corresponding delayed low side control signal, a high side driver circuit arranged to transmit a high side drive signal to the high side switch in response to receiving the delayed high side control signal, and a low side driver circuit arranged to transmit a low side drive signal to the low side switch in response to receiving the delayed low side control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: Empower Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Narendra Nath Gaddam, Trey Roessig, David Lidsky
  • Patent number: 12107488
    Abstract: An electrical converter has an alternating-voltage side with at least two alternating-voltage terminals and a direct-voltage side. At least two series connections connected in parallel and each forming a converter arm of the converter assigned to one of the alternating-voltage terminals. Circular currents can flow between the series connections. According to the method, a load value describing the thermal load of the converter is calculated based on: an active power current value that indicates the active power current component of a phase current flowing across one of the alternating-voltage terminals; a reactive power current value that indicates the reactive power current component of the phase current flowing across the alternating-voltage terminal; and a circular current value that indicates the magnitude of the circular current(s) flowing between the series connections. The converter is controlled while also taking into account this load value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Maxime Delzenne, Guenter Ebner
  • Patent number: 12101030
    Abstract: A multi-level converter comprises one or more flying capacitors configured to operate at balanced voltages. The multi-level converter comprises a plurality of switching groups comprising pairs of switches operable to transfer energy to and from an inductor and the one or more flying capacitors for inverting an input voltage to an inverted output voltage. The multi-level converter comprises the inductor configured to operate according to an inductor frequency greater than a switching frequency used to control the plurality of switching groups.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignee: INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRIA AG
    Inventors: Eslam Abdelhamid, Juan Sanchez, Giuseppe Bernacchia
  • Patent number: 12101034
    Abstract: A power conversion device is equipped with at least one leg circuit containing two switching elements connected in series, respectively, a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, a capacitor connected between the leg circuit and one end of the primary winding, a switch circuit, and a rectifier circuit. The switch circuit selectively connects one of a plurality of winding sections of the secondary winding that are different from each other to the rectifier circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akira Kato, Motohiko Fujimura, Kazuyuki Sakiyama, Takehiko Yamakawa, Taiki Nishimoto
  • Patent number: 12088185
    Abstract: In a voltage conversion circuit, a sampling signal and a triangular wave signal are synthesized into a first signal, and the first signal and a second signal are compared to output a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal. A frequency of the PWM signal may be determined by a frequency of the triangular wave signal. Therefore, the frequency of the PWM signal is fixed using the frequency-fixed triangular wave signal. Turning on or switching off of a power transistor in a voltage conversion subcircuit is controlled according to the PWM signal to convert a received direct current input voltage into a direct current output voltage, thereby implementing a fixed operating frequency for the voltage conversion circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chen Huang, Qiang Xie, Liang Chen
  • Patent number: 12074535
    Abstract: A control device includes: a phase generation unit to generate a phase of a voltage command for the power converter; a voltage control unit to generate a voltage value of the voltage command; and a command unit to output the voltage command having the phase and the voltage value to the power converter. The voltage control unit includes: a voltage compensator unit to compute a compensation voltage value, based on a voltage deviation of a point-of-interconnection voltage from a reference voltage; a droop calculator unit to compute a first droop value in accordance with a magnitude of a point-of-interconnection current, when the AC power system is an isolated system, the isolated system being the AC power system not connected to a generator; and a calculation unit to calculate the voltage value of the voltage command, based on a difference between the compensation voltage value and the first droop value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Ryosuke Uda, Takeshi Kikuchi, Shuhei Fujiwara, Yoshiyuki Kono
  • Patent number: 12068672
    Abstract: In a power converter apparatus including a PFC circuit operating in a current-critical mode, a zero point of an inductor current is accurately detected. The control circuit includes a current detector unit including a first detection circuit that detects an inductor current, amplifies a voltage corresponding to the detected current with a gain, and outputs it as a detection voltage and a comparison circuit that compares the detected voltage with a predetermined reference voltage and outputs a comparison result signal. The control circuit calculates the reference voltage for making a delay when detecting the zero value of the inductor current substantially zero, based on the detected input voltage, the detected output voltage, the preset delay time, the inductance value of the inductor, the conversion factor in current/voltage converting, the power supply voltage, and the gain, and then, outputs it to the comparison circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: OMRON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroki Ishibashi, Hiroyuki Onishi, Shingo Nagaoka
  • Patent number: 12068676
    Abstract: A switching control circuit configured to control a switching device. The switching control circuit includes a detection circuit configured to detect whether a current flowing through the switching device is in an overcurrent state, a first signal output circuit configured to output a first signal indicating whether a time period of the overcurrent state is longer than a first time period, and a driving circuit. The driving circuit turns on the switching device based on a first input signal. The driving circuit turns off the switching device through a first switch based on a second input signal when the time period of the overcurrent state is shorter than the first time period, and through a second switch, having a greater on-resistance than the first switch, based on the second input signal and the first signal when the time period of the overcurrent state is longer than the first time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Akira Nakamori
  • Patent number: 12068692
    Abstract: A multi slope output impedance controller is configured to vary the effective impedance Zeff_n of a power converter to reduce a current imbalance between power supplies in a masterless configuration of N parallel-connected power supplies while maintaining load regulation during start-up and steady-state operation. Generally speaking, the controller commands a high value of Zeff_n when Iout_n is low to facilitate current sharing and reduce current imbalance Ib between the power supplies and commands a low value of Zeff_n when Iout_n is high to improve load regulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Marty Perry, Robert J. Schaller
  • Patent number: 12062974
    Abstract: A switched capacitor converter circuit includes: a conversion capacitor; an output capacitor; and switches configured to switch the coupling configurations of the conversion capacitor and the output capacitor according to a level of the first power supply voltage of the switched capacitor converter circuit, to generate the second power supply voltage at the output capacitor according to the first power supply voltage. The second power supply voltage provides power to control the power converter circuit. When the first power supply voltage is higher than a high threshold, the switched capacitor converter circuit controls the second power supply voltage to be lower than the first power supply voltage. When the first power supply voltage is lower than a low threshold, the switched capacitor converter circuit controls the second power supply voltage to be higher than the first power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2024
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ta-Yung Yang, Yu-Chang Chen
  • Patent number: 12057774
    Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods are described for reducing power. The reducing of power may be done to reduce a temperature related to one or more elements of a power system. The reducing of power may depend on the mode of operation of one or more power devices of the power system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: Solaredge Technologies Ltd.
    Inventors: Roy Shkoury, Gideon Eitan, Ohad Gidon
  • Patent number: 12046991
    Abstract: A multiplex power conversion system enabling preventing a failure from spreading, with a simple configuration. The multiplex power conversion system includes a plurality of unit power converters. In the plurality of unit power converters, respective direct-current positive sides are connected. Respective direct-current negative sides are connected. Respective direct-current neutral points are not short-circuited. For example, the respective direct-current neutral points are not connected. Therefore, a failure in a power converter can be prevented from spreading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignee: TMEIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Issei Fukasawa, Masahiro Kinoshita