Patents Examined by Lorena D Bruner
  • Patent number: 11496055
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a power converter, a switch control circuit, and a short circuit detection method for current sensing resistor of the power converter. The power converter includes: a transformer, a power switch, a current sensing resistor and a switch control unit. The current sensing resistor has one end coupled to the power switch and another end coupled to ground. The switch control unit generates the operation signal to control the power switch. The switch control unit generates a first sample-and-hold voltage at a first time point and a second sample-and-hold voltage at a second time point according to a voltage across the current sensing resistor. When a voltage difference between the first sample-and-hold voltage and the second sample-and-hold voltage is smaller than a reference voltage, it is determined that a short circuit occurs in the current sensing resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kuang-Fu Chang, Tzu-Chen Lin
  • Patent number: 11276683
    Abstract: A semiconductor device has a configuration wherein a resistor that restricts overvoltage is inserted between an input terminal and the drain of JFETs, and the resistor is disposed on the JFETs. Also, the resistor is formed contiguously and integrally with a spiral form high breakdown voltage high resistance element that configures a resistive voltage divider circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masaru Saito
  • Patent number: 11264902
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for controlling voltage converter are provided. In an example, a switched-mode DC-DC voltage converter can include an inductor, at least four switches coupled to the inductor and configured to direct current through the inductor to provide a desired output voltage at an output voltage terminal of the voltage converter using an input voltage supply and a ground reference of the converter, and a controller circuit, configured to receive an indication of inductor current through the inductor and to use the slope of the inductor current to control a change between two operating modes of a group of operating modes that include a boost operating mode, a buck operating mode, and a buck-boost operating mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Analog Devices International Unlimited Company
    Inventors: Bin Shao, Danzhu Lu
  • Patent number: 11218077
    Abstract: Current flowing through an inductor on a primary side of a voltage converter is sensed and compared to a threshold peak current value to determine when to end an ON portion of the voltage converter. The secondary side of the voltage converter supplies an indication of output voltage for use in determining the threshold peak current value. On start-up the primary side detects when the indication of output voltage is supplied by the secondary side across on isolation channel. Prior to detecting the indicating is being supplied, the primary side uses an increasing threshold peak current as the threshold peak current value. After detection that the indication of output voltage is being provided by the secondary side, the threshold peak current value is based on the indication of the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Riad S. Wahby, Jeffrey L. Sonntag, Tufan C. Karalar, Michael J. Mills, Eric B. Smith, Ion C. Tesu, Donald E. Alfano
  • Patent number: 11201521
    Abstract: A hybrid stepping motor has a connector housing formed integrally with an insulator having an upper insulator and a lower insulator. The hybrid stepping motor includes a stator core and output terminals concentrically disposed outside the stator core. A wiring pattern serving as the output terminals has connector pins and land portions disposed eccentrically with respect to one another. The land portions are formed on an outer edge side of the wiring pattern. A surface, which is an uppermost surface of the wiring pattern, is located below a lowermost surface, in which jumper wires and lead wires pass, of the lower insulator. The lead wires are pulled out from a lower side, and are pulled out to guiding grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI INC.
    Inventors: Takamasa Inuzuka, Mitsushi Goto, Masaaki Matsubara, Tomohisa Suzuki, Atsushi Taroda
  • Patent number: 11194355
    Abstract: A circuit includes an output current circuit that employs a regulated voltage to provide an output voltage to drive a load current through an output load resistor. A load resistance sensor (LRS) senses the resistance of the output load resistor based on the output voltage and the load current. A controller provides a sense voltage control command to set the regulated voltage to an initial sense voltage during a sense mode. The initial sense voltage adjusts the output voltage of the output current circuit and enables the LRS to sense the resistance of the output load resistor at a given setting of the load current. The controller provides a clamp control command based on the sensed resistance of the output load resistor to set the regulated voltage to a fixed regulated voltage during an operation mode. The fixed regulated voltage enables the output current circuit to supply a predetermined maximum load current to the output load resistor at a predetermined minimum setting of the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Navin Venkata Kommaraju, Rahul Prakash, Chintan Trehan
  • Patent number: 11165346
    Abstract: A converter circuit includes an input node for receiving an input signal and an output node for providing a converted output signal to a load, a switching power stage to receive the input signal and an on-off drive signal switching between an on-state and an off-state, and a reactive output network coupled to the switching power stage and configured to provide the converted output signal to the load. The converter circuit comprises a first feedback signal path configured to generate a PWM-modulated control signal for the switching power stage as a function of the converted output signal, and a second feedback signal path including an output variation sensing circuit to generate at least one output variation signal indicative of variations of the converted output signal over time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Giacomo Petracca, Simone Bellisai, Marco Borghese
  • Patent number: 11159088
    Abstract: A dual path and mode start-up circuit includes a high-voltage start-up circuit, an auxiliary start-up circuit, a capacitor, and a sensing circuit. The high-voltage start-up circuit has high-voltage input and output voltage nodes and is configurable to be operated in a first or second mode of operation. The auxiliary start-up circuit has auxiliary input and output voltage nodes. The auxiliary output voltage node, the high-voltage output voltage node, and the capacitor are in signal communication. The sensing circuit is configured to sense a voltage level at the capacitor and to configure the high-voltage start-up circuit to operate in the first mode of operation if the voltage level at the capacitor is less than a first threshold voltage level, and configure the high-voltage start-up circuit to operate in the second mode of operation if the voltage level at the capacitor is greater than a second threshold voltage level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Appulse Power Inc.
    Inventors: Arshan Naji, Aleksandar Radic
  • Patent number: 11133721
    Abstract: A pumping system deployable in a wellbore includes a primary driven component, a secondary driven component and a motor. The motor is filled with a motor lubricant and includes a stator, a primary rotor assembly configured for rotation within the stator and a primary shaft connected to the primary rotor assembly and to the primary driven component. The motor further includes an internal magnetic coupling assembly inside the stator. The internal magnetic coupling assembly includes a secondary rotor assembly and a secondary shaft. The secondary rotor assembly and the secondary shaft are isolated from the motor fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Baker Hughes ESP, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Lee Marvel, Rene Jose Garcia
  • Patent number: 11120958
    Abstract: The embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a relay holding circuit and a battery management system. the relay holding circuit may include: a high-voltage isolated power source, a power source driving module, and a microprocessor of a battery management system; the high-voltage isolated power source may be respectively connected to two electrodes of a battery pack, an output terminal of the power source driving module, the microprocessor, and a first terminal of a first switching device; an input terminal of the power source driving module may be connected to the microprocessor; the microprocessor may be further connected to a primary battery, the microprocessor may output a low-level signal to the power source driving module when the primary battery supplies power abnormally.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited
    Inventors: Zhimin Dan, Delong Shi, Yizhen Hou, Wei Zhang, Liansong Wang
  • Patent number: 11101722
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a segment for a stator of an electrical generator includes manufacturing a segment body circumferentially extending between at least a first end slot and a second end slot, providing the coil concentrated winding in the slots of the segment body, providing a first pressure plate a second pressure plate for respectively holding the coil in the first end slot and the second end slot, applying vacuum pressure impregnation to the coil concentrated winding in the slots of the segment body, and removing the first pressure plate and the second pressure plate for obtaining the segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY A/S
    Inventor: Subhra Samanta
  • Patent number: 11088621
    Abstract: A secondary controller for use in a power converter includes a drive circuit coupled to a secondary side of the power converter. The drive circuit is coupled to generate a first signal to enable a first switch coupled to a primary side of the primary converter. The first signal is generated in response to a feedback signal representative of an output of the power converter. A control circuit is coupled to receive the first signal and an input signal representative of a secondary winding voltage of the power converter. The control circuit is coupled to generate a second signal to control a second switch coupled to the secondary side of the power converter in response to the first signal and the input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Power Integrations, Inc.
    Inventors: Sheng Liu, Alex B. Djenguerian
  • Patent number: 11073859
    Abstract: The invention relates an electrical device for providing an output depending on an electrical input. The electrical device (1) is adapted to provide a constant output, if the electrical input is in a first electrical input range, and a dependent output, if the electrical input is in a second electrical input range, wherein the dependent output depends on the electrical input. The output can therefore remain constant, even if the electrical input, which is preferentially a DC grid voltage, fluctuates within the first electrical input range. Moreover, in the second electrical input range the output can be controlled by just controlling the electrical input like the DC grid voltage, without necessarily requiring an additional control construction of the electrical device. A resistance against fluctuations of the electrical input and a controllability of the output can therefore be realized in a relatively simple way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: SIGNIFY HOLDING B.V.
    Inventors: Eberhard Waffenschmidt, Matthias Wendt
  • Patent number: 10915132
    Abstract: A low dropout (LDO) regulator is configured to generate an LDO voltage. The LDO regulator includes at least one current mirror and at least one resistor. The at least one current mirror operates in a sub-threshold region. A first terminal of the at least one resistor is directly coupled to the at least one current mirror. A second terminal of the at least one resistor is directly coupled to a power line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: HIMAX TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
    Inventor: Yu-Hsuan Liu
  • Patent number: 10819236
    Abstract: A driver circuit generates a drive signal having a first and second voltage state for controlling a power transistor switch coupled to a power supply node. A control circuit operates to sense a supply voltage at the power supply node and compare the sensed supply voltage to one or more voltage thresholds. In response to the comparison, the control circuit adjusts a switching slope of the drive signal from the first voltage state to the second voltage state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS
    Inventor: Regis Roubadia
  • Patent number: 10784737
    Abstract: A rotating electrical machine with a fractional slot structure includes concentrically wound stator coils, and a method of manufacturing the same. In a rotating electrical machine, a plurality of unit coils included in the stator coil are allocated into a first pole coil and a second pole coil in units of slots that oppose a pair of movable element magnetic poles. Further, each pole pair coil forming a plurality of phase coils is provided with two types of the unit coils, namely a full-coil and a half-coil. In addition, in each pole pair coil, the coil pitches between pairs of coil sides of the plurality of unit coils forming said pole pair coil are different from one another, and each pole pair coil is provided with one half-coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masafumi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 10727762
    Abstract: A multi-phase power converter includes two or more multi-phase, bi-directional, multi-level, switching power converter subcircuits, connected in parallel at respective AC and DC sides, so as to provide a multi-channel, bi-directional, multi-level configuration. The AC sides of the switching converter subcircuits are directly coupled to one another and to a multi-phase AC input via series interface reactors, and the DC sides of the switching converter subcircuits are directly connected to one another and to a common split-capacitor bank at each level of the multi-level outputs of the switching converter subcircuits. A control circuit is configured to selectively control one or more switching semiconductor devices in each of the switching converter subcircuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Eddy Aeloiza, Rolando Burgos, Yu Du
  • Patent number: 10715033
    Abstract: A method of enhancing a power factor during a half-line cycle of a power factor correction (PFC) converter includes generating an input voltage signal representative of a value of an input voltage of the PFC converter. A variable multiplication factor is adjusted to be greater than one for a first part of the half-line cycle and less than one for a second part of the half-line cycle. A pre-distortion signal is generated to be representative of the value of the input voltage of the PFC converter times the variable multiplication factor. An input current of the PFC converter is sensed. A first signal is generated in response to a sensed input current of the PFC converter multiplied by the pre-distortion signal. An on-time of a switch of the PFC converter is ended in response to the first signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: Power Integrations, Inc.
    Inventor: Roger Colbeck
  • Patent number: 10673328
    Abstract: An amount of charge transferred by a power converter is estimated by developing a signal that is a combination of signals representing an output voltage of a power converter and an inductor current of the power converter, charging a capacitor with a current proportional to that signal and comparing a voltage developed across the capacitor due to that charging to develop a signal for initiating a pulse to control input of power from a voltage source to the power converter. By using a signal developed in this way, response to both step-up and step-down transients can be improved and, in multi-phase embodiments, ripple cancellation problems such as noise susceptibility and loss of pulse generation can be entirely avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.
    Inventors: Syed Bari, Fred C. Lee, Qiang Li
  • Patent number: 10622903
    Abstract: System controller and method for regulating a power converter. For example, the system controller includes a first controller terminal and a second controller terminal. The system controller is configured to receive an input signal at the first controller terminal and generate a drive signal at the second controller terminal based at least in part on the input signal to turn on or off a transistor in order to affect a current associated with a secondary winding of the power converter. Additionally, the system controller is further configured to determine whether the input signal remains larger than a first threshold for a first time period that is equal to or longer than a first predetermined duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: On-Bright Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yaming Cao, Qiang Luo, Yuan Lin, Lieyi Fang