Patents Examined by Peter M Novak
  • Patent number: 12206332
    Abstract: System and method for generating one or more compensation currents for a DC-to-DC voltage converter. For example, a system for generating one or more compensation currents for a DC-to-DC voltage converter includes: a voltage generator configured to receive a reference voltage and generate a first ramp voltage and a second ramp voltage based at least in part on the reference voltage; and a current generator configured to receive the first ramp voltage, the second ramp voltage, an input voltage, and an output voltage; wherein the current generator is further configured to: if the output voltage is smaller than the input voltage, generate a first compensation current based at least in part on the first ramp voltage; and if the output voltage is larger than the input voltage, generate a second compensation current based at least in part on the second ramp voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2025
    Assignee: On-Bright Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Fagang Wang, Qiang Luo
  • Patent number: 12199497
    Abstract: A gate driving power source device individually supplies a DC power source to a plurality of gate drive circuits provided for a power conversion device. The power conversion device includes a step-up/down converter and one or a plurality of AC/DC conversion circuits. The step-up/down converter includes a step-up/down upper arm switching element and a step-up/down lower arm switching element. The AC/DC conversion circuit includes an AC/DC upper arm switching element and an AC/DC lower arm switching element. The gate driving power source device includes a power source unit that supplies a shared DC power source to at least two of the step-up/down upper arm switching element, the step-up/down lower arm switching element, the AC/DC upper arm switching element, and the AC/DC lower arm switching element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Kazunari Kurokawa, Tao Trong Bui
  • Patent number: 12191766
    Abstract: A power converter for converting an input voltage at an input of the power converter into an output voltage at an output of the power converter may include a switching node, a power inductor coupled between the switching node and the output, a flying capacitor having a first flying capacitor terminal and a second flying capacitor terminal, a pump capacitor having a first pump capacitor terminal and a second pump capacitor terminal, the second pump capacitor terminal coupled to ground, a first switch coupled between the input and the first flying capacitor terminal, a second switch coupled between the first flying capacitor terminal and the switching node, a third switch coupled between the second flying capacitor terminal and the switching node, a fourth switch coupled between the second flying capacitor terminal and a ground voltage, a fifth switch coupled between the second flying capacitor terminal and the first pump capacitor terminal, and a sixth switch coupled between the output and the first pump capac
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2025
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic Inc.
    Inventor: Changjong Lim
  • Patent number: 12184199
    Abstract: Asynchronous bridge rectifier comprises a monolithic die comprising plurality of planar switching elements, each having a control terminal and two controlled terminals. The bridge rectifier further comprises a plurality of controller integrated circuits mechanically attached to the monolithic die, wherein the controller integrated circuits are configured to sense voltage across the controlled terminals of the planar switching elements and to generate a drive signal at the control terminal of the planar switching elements to control opening and closing of the planar switching elements so as to be capable of rectifying an alternating current input signal to form a rectified direct current output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: Champion Microelectronic Corporation
    Inventor: Jeffrey Hwang
  • Patent number: 12176824
    Abstract: A power conversion device includes power conversion units connected to a shared power source. The power conversion units each include a contactor, a power converter, and a unit controller. A contactor controller closes or opens the contactor. A sensor measures a value of at least one of input current or output current of the power converter. The unit controller determines presence or absence of a failure of the power conversion units based on the measured value of the sensor, and sends a determination result to another unit controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2024
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kentaro Shioura, Takeshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 12170481
    Abstract: A DC-DC power converter with closed loop error compensation may operate in both pulse width modulation (PWM) mode and pulse frequency modulation (PFM) mode. The DC-DC power converter includes type III compensation, and is operable in PWM mode and PFM mode. Use of a bypass switch for an output inductor of the power converter may increase stability of a loop including type III compensation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2024
    Assignee: Endura IP Holdings Ltd.
    Inventor: Hassan Ihs
  • Patent number: 12164323
    Abstract: In described examples, a circuit includes a current mirror circuit. A first stage is coupled to the current mirror circuit. A second stage is coupled to the current mirror circuit and to the first stage. An output transistor is coupled to the first stage and to the current mirror circuit. A voltage divider network is coupled to the output transistor, and a power source is coupled to the second stage and to the voltage divider network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Rajat Chauhan, Sundeep Lakshmana Javvaji
  • Patent number: 12155300
    Abstract: A circuit includes a switched capacitor circuit and a voltage generator circuit. The switched capacitor circuit includes first, second, third, and fourth switches and first and second capacitors. The first capacitor has first and second terminals, the first terminal coupled to the first switch. The second capacitor has first and second terminals, the second terminal coupled to the second switch. The third switch has a terminal coupled to the second terminals of the first and second capacitors. The fourth switch has first and second terminals, the first terminal coupled the terminal of the third switch and to the second terminals of the first and second capacitors. The voltage generator circuit has an output coupled to the second terminal of the fourth switch and is configured to provide a common mode output bias voltage at the second terminal of the fourth switch responsive to a common mode input bias voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Bradford Hunter
  • Patent number: 12155301
    Abstract: Circuits and methods that solve the light-load problem of a multi-level converter by generating a ripple signal in the control loop of the multi-level converter that causes a large output current ripple during light load conditions. This added current ripple does not change the average output current but does create a temporary positive and negative current that can be used to balance and charge/discharge the fly capacitors of the multi-level converter. An alternative approach is to add extra switching cycles for the fly capacitors when the output ripple current crosses zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Gregory Szczeszynski
  • Patent number: 12149166
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter includes a first capacitor and a second capacitor provided between one of a first conductive path and a second conductive path and a reference conductive path, a first switch and a second switch interposed between a first external power source and the first capacitor and between a second external power source and the second capacitor, and a control unit configured to switch the first switch and the second switch between an ON state and an OFF state, whereby the control unit, in the case of switching from shut-off control in which the first switch and the second switch are kept in the OFF state to energization control in which the first switch and the second switch are kept in the ON state, performs intermittent control in which the first switch and the second switch are intermittently switched to the ON state prior to the energization control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignees: AutoNetworks Technologies, Ltd., Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd., Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Arata Nakashima, Takeshi Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 12149159
    Abstract: The present application provides a driving circuit of power devices, a switching circuit and a power conversion circuit. The driving circuit is configured to control switching actions of N power devices connected in parallel, where N?2 and N is a positive integer; the driving circuit includes a driving input circuit and a common magnetic bead, where a first end of the driving input circuit is electrically connected to N first ends of the common magnetic bead, N second ends of the common magnetic bead are electrically connected to control ends of the N power devices in a one-to-one correspondence, and a second end of the driving input circuit is electrically connected to second ends of the N power devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Delta Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yingqi Zhang, Yao Tao, Baohua Wang
  • Patent number: 12149063
    Abstract: Examples of the disclosure include a system for modifying a trip level of a circuit, the system comprising a protection device configured to activate responsive to a differential current exceeding the trip level, a first current transformer coupled to an input of the circuit, a second current transformer coupled to the output of the circuit, at least one measurement circuit coupled to the first current transformer and to the second current transformer, the at least one measurement circuit being configured to obtain a first current measurement from the first current transformer, obtain a second current measurement from the second current transformer, determine a bias current based on the first current measurement and the second current measurement, and modify the trip level of the protection device based on the bias current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD.
    Inventor: Ian David Young
  • Patent number: 12143032
    Abstract: A flying capacitor-type NPC three-level topology, comprising: two half-busbar capacitors and at least one bridge arm. The bridge arm comprises: a flying capacitor, two inner transistor units, two outer transistor units, and two clamping diodes, wherein the capacitance of the flying capacitor is greater than a specific value. Since the flying capacitor has a clamping effect on the two inner transistor units and the capacitance of the flying capacitor is large, voltage fluctuations of the flying capacitor would not cause overvoltage of switching transistors no matter what type of short circuit fault occurs, thereby preventing the switching transistor units from being damaged due to overvoltage and further improving the security of a circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wei Liu, Jiacai Zhuang, Jun Xu
  • Patent number: 12143021
    Abstract: An active clamp flyback (ACF) converter can be used to convert AC voltages to DC voltages and offers the ability to reuse leakage energy and a negative magnetizing current to achieve zero-volt-switching. The leakage energy can vary with system design and therefore may be difficult to control, but the negative magnetizing current can be controlled by adjusting a switching frequency of the ACF converter. The adjustment can be determined by comparing the negative magnetizing current to a threshold. Using a fixed threshold may not be optimal because variations in system operating conditions, such as load current, line voltage, and output voltage, can affect the amount of negative magnetizing current required for zero-volt-switching (i.e., can affect the threshold). Additionally, a range of possible switch technologies can affect the threshold. The present disclosure describes an adaptable threshold for a variable frequency ACF converter that allows for efficient switching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Selvarajan Shanthosh, Bryan Wayne McCoy
  • Patent number: 12126267
    Abstract: A detector compares a drain voltage with a first threshold voltage and outputs a first detection signal. An ON counter detects a period of time during which a current flows in a switching, counts the period of time based on a predetermined clock cycle. An OFF counter detects a period of time during which a current flow through the body diode in a state where no current flows in the switching circuit, counts the period of time. An off-time setting circuit sets the time to turn off the switching circuit. A first comparison circuit compares the cycle count value with turn off time. A second comparison circuit compares a cycle count value output by the ON counter with a comparison result output by the first comparison circuit and outputs a signal to stop transmitting a PWM signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignees: SANKEN ELECTRIC CO., LTD., SANKEN ELECTRIC KOREA CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Eunsuk Lee, Jungyul Kim, Masaaki Shimada, Shinji Aso, Mitsutomo Yoshinaga, Hanju Kang
  • Patent number: 12126248
    Abstract: There is described a method of controlling a single inductor multiple output, SIMO, switching converter, the method comprising (a) counting, for each output of the multiple outputs of the SIMO switching converter, a period of time during which an output voltage at the respective output is below a corresponding individual threshold value, (b) identifying that output among the multiple outputs of the SIMO switching converter for which the counted period of time is longest, and (c) connecting the identified output to the single inductor of the SIMO switching converter to supply current from the single inductor of the SIMO switching converter to the identified output. Furthermore, a corresponding controller is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Christian Vincent Sorace, Nicolas Patrick Vantalon, Ludovic Oddoart, Fabien Boitard
  • Patent number: 12126162
    Abstract: An electrical conversion system includes an inverter arranged according to a multilevel type topology with k arms and a command device for cut-off against an electrical overload, connected to a set of first intermediate lines to measure a first intermediate continuous voltage. The cut-off command device is configured to determine a fault by detecting if the first measured intermediate continuous voltage is outside of a nominal voltage variation range [Vmax1, Vmin1] of the first intermediate voltage and to transmit a generalised opening command signal for an opening of the electronic commutation switches of each arm when the fault is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: SAFRAN ELECTRONICS & DEFENSE
    Inventor: Louis Grimaud
  • Patent number: 12119748
    Abstract: A circuit portion comprises a DCDC converter that provides current from an output to a plurality of loads. Channel logic circuitry is configured to provide current from the output of the converter to each load according to a cyclical sequence, wherein each cycle has a duration that is divided equally into a plurality of time slots. The channel logic circuitry is configured to provide current to each load for one or more discrete time slots. The number of time slots is greater than the number of loads so that at least two output loads receive current for different numbers of time slots in a cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: Nordic Semiconductor ASA
    Inventor: Samuli Hallikainen
  • Patent number: 12113436
    Abstract: A method may include detecting an output voltage of the output smoothing capacitor in the bridgeless interleaved power factor correction circuit of a critical mode, comparing the detected output voltage with a reference voltage, controlling the first and the second half-bridge circuits included in the bridgeless interleaved power factor correction circuit of the critical mode to be on and off based on an error signal between the output voltage and the predetermined reference voltage, measuring ON time of a synchronous rectification switch operation of the first half-bridge circuit by measuring a time period between OFF timing of an active switch of the first half-bridge circuit and output of a differentiation signal generated by a differentiation circuit included in the bridgeless interleaved power factor correction circuit of the critical mode; and assigning the measured time to next ON time of the synchronous rectification switch operation of the second half-bridge circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: SANKEN ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Osamu Ohtake, Ryuichi Furukoshi
  • Patent number: 12093066
    Abstract: Provided is a highly versatile and reliable power supply device (power supply ASIC) that can support electronic devices with a wide range of drive currents while suppressing a cost increase, and an electronic control device using the same. An electronic control device includes: a first power supply circuit that outputs a first voltage; a second power supply circuit that generates a second voltage from the first voltage; and a first MOSFET arranged independently of the first power supply circuit and the second power supply circuit. The second power supply circuit includes: a reference power supply that outputs a reference voltage; an amplifier that amplifies the reference voltage; a second MOSFET connected in parallel with the first MOSFET; a voltage detection unit that detects a voltage value of a gate terminal of the first MOSFET; and a switching unit that connects an output from the amplifier to either the gate terminal of the first MOSFET or a gate terminal of the second MOSFET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Doi, Yuri Ohara, Takeo Yamashita