Patents Examined by Kyle J Moody
  • Patent number: 12273033
    Abstract: The present invention generally relates to a modular high power bi-directional half bridge buck/boost converter assembly and, in particular, to a system for converting power from one form of current (either AC or DC) to a differing level of voltage, either lower (buck) or higher (boost), to output a wave signal based on pulse wave modulation (PWM) switching control by means of an external digital controller and methods of operation. In particular, an inverter-converter system includes at least one half bridge module including a plurality of circuit components, at least one inductor which is connected to the at least one half bridge module and a power supply, and a controller which is configured to receive and send instructions to the at least one half bridge module for converting an input voltage to an output voltage and dynamically tune switching frequencies based on a load of the inverter-converter system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: Pacific Energy Inc.
    Inventors: David M D Kim, Philip Edmund Schaefer, German Rafael Nielsen Lopez, Matthew Jordan Serrano
  • Patent number: 12273037
    Abstract: A driving circuit includes a first driving signal generator, a first voltage conversion circuit and a first switch. The first driving signal generator generates a first driving signal according a first input signal, wherein the first driving signal is a pulse width modulated signal. The first voltage conversion circuit is coupled between the first driving signal generator and a control terminal of a first power transistor, converts the first driving signal to an output driving signal by charges a capacitor and discharges the capacitor, wherein the output driving signal is output to the control terminal of the first power transistor. The first switch is couple with the first power transistor in series, and is controlled by a control signal to be turned-on or cut-off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: Novatek Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventors: Sheng-Hsi Hung, Yen-Ching Lin
  • Patent number: 12273025
    Abstract: A power supply apparatus comprising a power input portion, a rectifying portion, a power conversion portion, a power output portion and an electrical filter is disclosed. The electrical filter is connected intermediate the rectifying portion and the power output portion for reduction of switching noise generated during power switching operations of the power switching circuitry. With such an arrangement, the electrical filter operates in the DC portion of the apparatus and power loss is significantly reduced while switching noise is suppressed nearer the source compared to conventional arrangement. In addition, switching noises due to stray or parasitic capacitance to the metal casing when the power supply is enclosed in a metallic casing to form a power supply module are also mitigated nearer the source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Inventor: Ngai Kit Franki Poon
  • Patent number: 12270084
    Abstract: A circuit includes a current sensor circuit having inputs and an output. The current sensor inputs are adapted to be coupled to inductor terminals a power converter. The current sensor circuit includes a tunable time constant circuit coupled between the current sensor inputs and the current sensor output. A time constant control circuit is coupled to a tunable time constant circuit, and is configured to tune the time constant circuit responsive to the current sensor output and another signal representative of inductor current. An adjustable gain circuit has a first input coupled to the current sensor output. A direct current resistance (DCR) control circuit has an output coupled to a second input of the adjustable gain circuit, and the DCR control circuit is configured to provide a gain adjust signal at the output thereof responsive to an average current of the inductor and a current command signal for the power converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Ronnie Antone Bean, Jr., Benjamin Matthew McCue
  • Patent number: 12272945
    Abstract: Multi-semiconductor SSPCs that solve bus level problems affecting systems as well as controller level problems affecting individual multi-semiconductor SSPCs are disclosed. Bus level and controller level problems adversely affect multi-semiconductor SSPCs and their associated systems. The disclosed multi-semiconductor SSPCs solve both bus level and controller level problems by implementing controlled rate-change of voltage (dv/dt) ramp-on rate, to ensure that the voltage on the input bus does not collapse when a multi-semiconductor SSPC is commanded closed and that a minimum amount of power is being dissipated evenly across the switching semiconductors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: GE AVIATION SYSTEMS LIMITED
    Inventors: Peter James Handy, Ian David Johnson, Nicholas George Tembe
  • Patent number: 12267021
    Abstract: System and method for controlling synchronous rectification. For example, the system for controlling synchronous rectification includes: a switch including a first switch terminal configured to receive a first voltage, the switch further including a second switch terminal and being configured to be closed or opened by a control signal; a voltage generator configured to receive a second voltage from the second switch terminal and generate a third voltage based at least in part on the second voltage; a filter circuit including a resistor and a capacitor, the filter circuit being configured to receive the second voltage from the second switch terminal and generate a fourth voltage based at least in part on the second voltage; a first comparator configured to receive the third voltage and the fourth voltage and generate a first comparison signal based at least in part on the third voltage and the four voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: On-Bright Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chunsheng Zhao, Yaming Cao, Lieyi Fang
  • Patent number: 12268094
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for converting power comprising an input bridge having an input adapted for coupling to a DC source, a piezoelectric transformer having an input coupled to an output of the input bridge, and an output bridge having an input coupled to an output of the piezoelectric transformer and an output adapted to couple to a load. A trajectory controller, coupled to the input bridge and output bridge, (1) measures current and voltage in the input bridge, the output bridge or both, (2) measures a current into or out of the piezoelectric transformer, (3) determines switch timing for control signals for the input bridge and output bridge based upon the measured current and/or voltage, and (4) applies the control signals to the input bridge and output bridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: Enphase Energy, Inc.
    Inventor: Michael J. Harrison
  • Patent number: 12261429
    Abstract: A short detection circuit includes a first transistor, a switched load circuit, a second transistor, a switched capacitor circuit, and a comparator. The first transistor is configured to conduct a load current. The switched load circuit is coupled to the first transistor. The switched load circuit is configured to switchably draw a test current. The second transistor is coupled to the first transistor. The second transistor is configured to conduct a sense current. The sense current includes first and second portions that are respectively representative of the load current and the test current. The switched capacitor circuit is coupled to the second transistor. The switched capacitor circuit is configured to generate a short detection voltage representative of the second portion. The comparator has a first comparator input coupled to the switched capacitor circuit. The comparator is configured to compare the short detection voltage to a short threshold voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Rampal Barjati, Akhila Gundavarapu, Lokesh Ghulyani
  • Patent number: 12261541
    Abstract: System and method for synchronous rectification of a power converter. For example, the system for synchronous rectification includes: a first system terminal configured to receive an input voltage; and a second system terminal configured to output a drive signal to a first transistor terminal of a transistor, the transistor further including a second transistor terminal and a third transistor terminal, the second transistor terminal being connected to a secondary winding of the power converter, the power converter further including a primary winding coupled to the secondary winding; wherein the system is configured to: determine whether the input voltage becomes lower than a predetermined voltage threshold; and if the input voltage becomes lower than the predetermined voltage threshold, determine whether a time when the input voltage becomes lower than the predetermined voltage threshold is during or not during a demagnetization process of the secondary winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: On-Bright Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yaming Cao, Wuping Lin, Chunsheng Zhao, Lieyi Fang
  • Patent number: 12261517
    Abstract: A bootstrap gate driver charging circuit arranged to drive the gate of an upper switch (QU) and a lower switch (QL) connected in series to provide an AC output voltage (400) voltage by alternatively turning on and off according to a predetermined duty cycle of alternate upper switch turn-on and lower switch turn-on phases, the bootstrap gate driver charging circuit comprising: an input terminal; an output terminal; an H-bridge inverter with an inverter input and an inverter output; a charging path; and a bootstrap capacitor. The input inverter is electrically connected to the input terminal, the inverter output is electrically connected to a first end of the bootstrap capacitor, the charging path is electrically connected between a second end of the bootstrap capacitor and a gate driver supply voltage; wherein in response to the lower switch being turned ON and providing a path to ground with respect to the supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ponggorn Kulsangcharoen, Rodrigo Fernandez-Mattos, Jonathan Roadley-Battin
  • Patent number: 12261540
    Abstract: A dual mode charge control method includes steps of: detecting an input voltage of the resonance tank, a resonance current of the resonance tank, an output current of the load, and an output voltage of the load; performing a single-band charge control when determining a light-load condition or a no-load condition of the load according to the output current; compensating the output voltage to generate an upper threshold voltage in the single-band charge control, and acquiring a resonance voltage by calculating the resonance current by a resettable integrator; comparing the resonance voltage and the upper threshold voltage to generate a first control signal; generating a second control signal complementary to the first control signal by a pulse-width modulation duplicator; providing the first control signal and the second control signal to respectively control a first power switch and a second power switch of the resonance circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Bo-Ruei Peng, Chang-Chung Lin, Yu-Jen Lin, Chia-Hsiong Huang
  • Patent number: 12261526
    Abstract: A computational current sensor, that enhances traditional Kalman filter based current observer techniques, with transient tracking enhancements and an online parasitic parameter identification that enhances overall accuracy during steady state and transient events while guaranteeing convergence. During transient operation (e.g., a voltage droop), a main filter is bypassed with estimated values calculated from a charge balance principle to enhance accuracy while tracking transient current surges of the DC-DC converter. To address the issue of dependency on a precise model parameter information and further improve accuracy, an online identification algorithm is included to track the equivalent parasitic resistance at run-time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Harish K. Krishnamurthy, Xun Sun, Krishnan Ravichandran
  • Patent number: 12261549
    Abstract: A control device for a power conversion device includes a voltage recognizing unit configured to detect a voltage at a linkage point of the plurality of power converters, and a control unit configured to control an amplitude and a frequency of a voltage to be output by a power converter to be controlled on the basis of active power and reactive power output by the power converter to be controlled in a case that the power converter to be controlled is caused to perform autonomous operation as a voltage source, and controls active power and reactive power to be output by the power converter to be controlled so as to compensate for excess or deficiency of active power and reactive power at the linkage point on a basis of an amplitude and a frequency of the voltage detected by the voltage recognizing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: TMEIC Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshinori Tsuruma
  • Patent number: 12255553
    Abstract: Measuring arrangement for determining the bridge currents of a switched electrical converter unit (2), in which, in a modulation process, at least two electronic half bridges (3, 3?) are switched with temporally offset actuation signals by a control unit (4), comprising a measuring unit (1) that is connected to current sensors (6, 6?), wherein the current sensors (6, 6?) are arranged in the output or input lines of the half bridges (3, 3?) in order to measure the bridge currents, and the measuring unit (1) is connected to the control unit (4) for temporal synchronisation, wherein the measuring unit (1) is designed to define measurement times (8, 8?) of the current sensors (6, 6?) which are temporally synchronised with the actuation signals of the half bridges (3, 3?), as well as an inverter arrangement having such a measuring arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: AVL List GmbH
    Inventors: Erwin Reisinger, Martin Schmidt
  • Patent number: 12249902
    Abstract: A module includes: an electrically insulative housing; a driver circuit enclosed in the housing and configured to drive a control terminal of a power switch; a wireless communication circuit enclosed in the housing and configured to receive, through the housing, wireless control information transmitted to the module; and a wireless energy receiver enclosed in the housing and configured to receive, through the housing, energy wirelessly transmitted to the module, and to supply power to the driver circuit. The driver circuit is configured to drive the control terminal of the power switch based on the wireless control information received by the wireless communication circuit. A power electronic assembly that incorporates one or more of the modules and a corresponding power conversion control circuit are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Jens Barrenscheen
  • Patent number: 12249914
    Abstract: A conversion control circuit controls a power stage circuit of a switching power converter according to a first feedback signal and a second feedback signal, wherein the conversion control circuit includes an error amplifier circuit, a ramp signal generation circuit, a pulse width modulation circuit, and a quick response control circuit. The quick response control circuit performs a quick response control function, wherein the quick response control function includes: comparing the second feedback signal with at least one reference threshold to generate a quick response control signal; and when the second feedback signal crosses the reference threshold, adjusting a slope of a ramp signal according to the quick response control signal to accelerate an increase or decrease of the duty of a PWM signal, thereby accelerating the transient response of the switching power converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Hsien-Cheng Hsieh, Chieh-Han Kuo, Hsing-Shen Huang
  • Patent number: 12244235
    Abstract: A method for a phase-shifted full-bridge DC-DC converter. The method controls the DC-DC converter for energy transmission from a secondary side to a primary side of the DC-DC converter. A transformer is arranged between the primary side and the secondary side of the DC-DC converter. The method comprises a switching state, in which the terminals of the primary side of the transformer are electrically connected to one another, and in which, furthermore, the terminals of the secondary side of the transformer and the terminals of the secondary side of the DC-DC converter are electrically connected to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Christian Winter, Jan Riedel, Christoph Kienzler, David Cello
  • Patent number: 12244122
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a housing (e.g., a housing having a form factor of a molded case circuit breaker) and at least two phase terminals supported by the housing and configured to be connected to respective ones of at least two phase buses in an electrical panelboard. The apparatus further includes at least one fault generation device supported by the housing and including an arc containment chamber and first and second spaced-apart electrodes in the arc containment chamber and electrically coupled to respective ones of the at least two phase terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: Xin Zhou, Joe W. Kirstein, William Michael Crooks
  • Patent number: 12244227
    Abstract: A power converter including an inductor, a first power switch, a second power switch, a third power switch, a fourth power switch, a sixth power switch, a first flying capacitor, a third flying capacitor, a seventh power switch, an eighth power switch, a ninth power switch, a tenth power switch, a twelfth power switch, a second flying capacitor, and a fourth flying capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: Renesas Design (UK) Limited
    Inventors: Sorin Laurentiu Negru, Sabin Eftimie
  • Patent number: 12235667
    Abstract: A regulator circuit module, a memory storage device, and a voltage control method are disclosed. The method includes: generating an output voltage according to an input voltage by a driving circuit; generating a feedback voltage according to the output voltage; controlling the driving circuit to adjust the output voltage according to the feedback voltage by a regulator circuit; compensating an output of the regulator circuit by a compensating circuit; and activating or deactivating the compensating circuit according to an input bypass-voltage of a switch circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2025
    Assignee: PHISON ELECTRONICS CORP.
    Inventor: Po-Chih Ku