Patents Examined by Kyle J Moody
  • Patent number: 12170490
    Abstract: A frequency converter includes a monitoring unit that has respective first drive signals of gate drivers of a bidirectional power converter applied to it and that is designed to detect the failure of at least one mains phase of a three-phase AC grid voltage that is supplied to the bidirectional power converter based on a temporal profile of the respective first drive signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2024
    Assignee: Lenze Swiss AG
    Inventor: Andreas Burgermeister
  • Patent number: 12166428
    Abstract: An example converter for a switched reluctance (SR) generator includes one or more gate driver circuits that are not only used to synchronously control switches, such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) of the converter, but also used to provide priming function during start-up of the generator. Since, an SR generator does not have to ability to self provide magnetic flux, priming current is provided to coils of the SR generator to initiate a magnetic flux. By using the gate drive circuit to provide the priming current, an additional priming circuit is not required. As a result, the converter design is more streamlined, with reduced complexity, cost, and size. When a bus voltage of the converter is below a threshold level, the one or more gate drive circuits can provide the priming current on the bus to initiate the SR generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventor: Eric M. Andris
  • Patent number: 12166427
    Abstract: An inverter converts power outputted from a distributed power supply into AC power, and outputs to an AC system. An inverter control circuit generates an AC voltage target value at a time of controlling the inverter, and generates a command value for control of the inverter as a voltage source. When the inverter is introduced into the AC system, the inverter control circuit sets a frequency of the AC voltage target value to a frequency of an AC voltage detected by an AC frequency detection circuit, and controls a phase of the AC voltage target value to be at least a leading phase with respect to the AC voltage of the AC system when a target value of the AC power is in a running direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Sadayuki Inoue
  • Patent number: 12160171
    Abstract: The present invention is a switching circuit driving method for power converters and its driving module. Such driving method and driving module can avoid the occurrence of valley jumping by replacing the original blanking time with a front blanking time or a back blanking time when a valley jumping occurs in the system, and avoid the noise problem caused by valley jumping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2024
    Assignee: Infsitronix Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Chung-Jye Hsu, Yuan-Kai Cheng, Chun-Chiang Chen
  • Patent number: 12157401
    Abstract: A solar ECU serving as a power generation control apparatus includes a solar DC-DC converter, an auxiliary DC-DC converter, an adjustment unit, and a correction unit. The solar DC-DC converter has an input side to which a solar panel mounted on a vehicle is connected. The auxiliary DC-DC converter has an input side to which an output side of the solar DC-DC converter is connected, and an output side to which an auxiliary battery is connected. The adjustment unit is configured to adjust an output power of the auxiliary DC-DC converter such that a voltage between the solar DC-DC converter and the auxiliary DC-DC converter becomes a predetermined value through control based on a predetermined control parameter. The correction unit is configured to correct the control parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takahiro Utsunomiya
  • Patent number: 12155314
    Abstract: An example apparatus includes: a first diode having a first diode terminal; a transformer having a transformer terminal; a second diode having a second diode terminal and a third diode terminal, the second diode terminal coupled to the transformer terminal; a first switch having a first current terminal and a second current terminal, the first current terminal coupled to the first diode terminal, the second current terminal coupled to the third diode terminal; a second switch having a third current terminal, the third current terminal coupled to the second diode terminal and the transformer terminal; a capacitor having a first capacitor terminal and a second capacitor terminal, the first capacitor terminal coupled to the second current terminal; and a third diode having a fourth diode terminal and a fifth diode terminal, the fourth diode terminal coupled to the first capacitor terminal, the fifth diode terminal coupled to the capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Isaac Cohen
  • Patent number: 12155377
    Abstract: A switching circuit includes a high-side transistor and a low-side transistor, each of which is of an N-channel type. A switch and a rectifying element of a PMOS transistor are provided in series between a constant voltage line through which a constant voltage is supplied and a bootstrap line. A comparison circuit operates using a high-side power supply voltage, which is a potential difference between the bootstrap line and a switching line, as a power supply to generate a detection signal indicating a magnitude relationship between the high-side power supply voltage and a threshold voltage. A level shift circuit level-shifts the detection signal down to a signal of which a ground voltage is low. A PMOS driver drives the switch asynchronously with switching of the low-side transistor in response to an output of the level shift circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hiroki Niikura
  • Patent number: 12149168
    Abstract: A T-type inductor-capacitor-inductor (LCL) resonant converter and its soft switching modulation method under a full power range. A full bridge inverter circuit is provided at a primary side of a T-type inductor-capacitor-inductor (LCL) resonant converter. The full bridge inverter circuit includes four metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors. A half bridge rectifier circuit is provided at a secondary side of the T-type LCL resonant converter, and the half bridge rectifier circuit includes two MOS transistors and two equalizing capacitors. The soft switching modulation method for the T-type LCL resonant converter under a full power range is provided based on the T-type LCL resonant converter. The soft switching modulation method requires all switching transistors to operate at a duty cycle of 50% within one cycle. A high-frequency alternating voltage of the primary side has a symmetrical waveform, and a high-frequency alternating voltage of the secondary side has a square waveform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2024
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Changshu Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Song Hu, Rui Wang, Huigang Xu, Jicheng Liu, Yong Yang
  • Patent number: 12149158
    Abstract: A multi-phase power system configured to add and remove phases according to a plurality of states can increase the efficiency of the power system, which can increase a battery life in mobile applications. After phases are shed, a load may quickly change requiring all phases to be activated before an over current protection triggers a shutdown. The response of the power system to these load transients may be improved through the use of multiple triggers, which can provide an early warning of the changing load requirements more accurately and consistently than a single trigger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Margaret Spillane, Kieran Burke, Gary Dillon
  • Patent number: 12143016
    Abstract: A DC/DC converter has a EFT, and converts a power supply voltage from EDLC by turning on and off the FET. A control unit outputs a first PWM signal whose duty gradually decrease from 100% to the FET when the power supply from the EDLC to the DC/DC convertor is started. Thereafter, the control unit outputs a second PWM signal having a duty controlled so that an output voltage or an output current of the DC/DC converter becomes a reference value to the FET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: YAZAKI CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hideaki Masui
  • Patent number: 12143028
    Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure include an electrical assembly. The electrical assembly can include a converter including a DC side and an AC side, the DC side configured for connection to a DC network, the AC side configured for connection to an AC network, the converter including at least one switching element; a circuit interruption device operably connected to the AC side of the converter; a DC voltage modification device operably connected to the DC side of the converter, the DC voltage modification device including a DC chopper; and a controller configured to selectively control the or each switching element, the circuit interruption device and the DC voltage modification device, wherein the controller is configured to be responsive to a converter internal fault by carrying out a fault operating mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Chandra Mohan Sonnathi, Rajaseker Reddy Ginnareddy, Carl Barker
  • Patent number: 12142913
    Abstract: An electrical assembly including a converter for connection to an electrical network, the converter including at least one module having at least one switching element and at least one energy storage device, the switching element and the energy storage device arranged to be combinable to provide a voltage source, the electrical assembly including a controller configured to control the switching of the switching element, wherein the electrical assembly includes a sensor configured for measuring a current of the electrical network, wherein the controller and sensor are configured to carry out a characterization of an electrical parameter so that, in use the controller controls the switching of the switching element to modify an electrical parameter of the converter so as to modify the current of the electrical network, the sensor measures a resultant modified current, and the controller processes the measured resultant modified current to characterize the electrical parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: GE INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Pablo Briff, Huy Quoc Si Dang, Richard Zhang
  • Patent number: 12132406
    Abstract: A multilink power converter with reduced winding voltage is disclosed, as well as various applications. In the disclosed embodiments, multiple primary switch modules have their inputs connected in series while using a single transformer winding connected in parallel to the modules' outputs through voltage blocking capacitors. Medium voltage solid-state transformers are presented, including three-phase power converters. Also presented are embodiments utilizing common mode inductors to equalize the currents of the high voltage modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2024
    Assignee: Solid State Power LLC
    Inventors: George Mantov, Ken A. Wallace, Plamen Jordanoff
  • Patent number: 12126263
    Abstract: A power conversion circuit in which a switching transistor and a synchronous rectifier transistor are connected in series, and a source inductance of the switching transistor is smaller than a source inductance of the synchronous rectifier transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Yanagi, Hirotaka Otake
  • Patent number: 12126253
    Abstract: A failure detection circuit for a power switch transistor in a power switching converter is provided that compares a drive voltage for driving a gate of the power switch transistor to a plurality of thresholds. Based upon when the drive voltage crosses each threshold in the plurality of thresholds, a logic circuit determines whether a fault condition exists for the power switch transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Inventor: Wenduo Liu
  • Patent number: 12119751
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a voltage source device comprising: a voltage converter for generating a supply voltage at an output node of the voltage converter based on a feedback signal provided on a feedback line; at least one switch coupled between the output node of the voltage converter and an output terminal of the voltage source device; and at least one further switch configured to selectively couple the feedback line to: the output node of the voltage converter during a first regulation mode; and to the output terminal of the voltage source device during a second regulation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS
    Inventors: Jean Camiolo, Alexandre Pons
  • Patent number: 12119746
    Abstract: In an embodiment a circuit includes a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) circuit having a first node configured to receive a reference voltage, a second node configured to receive a feedback signal, which is a comparison signal, indicative of a variation of a regulated output voltage of an electronic voltage regulator with respect to the reference voltage and a third node configured to provide a clock signal having a clock period based on the reference voltage and the feedback signal, and a pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal generator circuit having a first node coupled to the VCO circuit and configured to receive the clock signal, a second node configured to receive an input signal proportional to an input voltage signal at an input node of the electronic voltage regulator and a third node configured to provide at least one PWM drive signal to one or more electronic switches of a switching stage based on the clock signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Marco Borghese, Mattia Carrera
  • Patent number: 12119750
    Abstract: A resonant DC/DC converter which has a first DC link, preferably including a first DC link capacitor; a DC/AC converter which has a first plurality of N>1 converter bridges connected in parallel to the first DC link; each converter bridge comprising a plurality of switches each of which may be switched between a conducting state and a non-conducting state. The resonant DC/DC converter also includes an AC intermediate circuit having an input connected to an output of the DC/AC converter and comprising: a transformer, preferably a medium frequency transformer, having a primary side and a secondary side; the primary side comprising at least one primary winding; a first plurality of N capacitors, wherein for each converter bridge, a different one from the first plurality of capacitors is connected between said converter bridge and the at least one primary winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Uwe Drofenik, Ki-Bum Park, Thomas Bernhard Gradinger
  • Patent number: 12113446
    Abstract: A control circuit for controlling a switching stage of an electronic converter includes a first terminal configured to provide a drive signal and a second terminal configured to receive a first feedback signal. A third terminal receives a second feedback signal and a driver circuit provides the drive signal as a function of a PWM signal. A PWM signal generator circuit generates the PWM signal as a function of the first feedback signal, a reference threshold and the second feedback signal or a slope compensation signal. The control circuit is configured to sense an input signal, provide a first compensation parameter, and provide a first compensating signal as a function of a power of the input sensing signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Francesco Ferrazza, Mirko Gravati, Christian Leone Santoro
  • Patent number: 12107504
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a switching power supply includes: an output stage; a clock generator configured to generate a first clock signal; and a control circuit configured to control the output stage based on the first clock signal, wherein the switching power supply is configured to have a first operating mode synchronized by the first clock signal, and a second operating mode that is asynchronous, wherein the clock generator is configured to maintain the first clock signal at a constant value during the second operating mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS
    Inventors: Sebastien Ortet, Vincent Binet