Patents Examined by Rajnikant B. Patel
  • Patent number: 10447149
    Abstract: A controller includes a switch controller, a current limit generator, a jitter modulator, and an arithmetic operator circuit. The switch controller is coupled to generate a drive signal to control switching of a power switch in response to a current sense signal and a modulated current limit signal to control a transfer of energy from an input of a power converter to an output of the power converter. The current limit generator is coupled to generate a current limit signal. The jitter modulator is coupled to generate a jitter signal for jittering a switching period of the drive signal without an oscillator. The arithmetic operator circuit is coupled to receive the current limit signal and the jitter signal and is coupled to generate a modulated current limit signal in response to the current limit signal and the jitter signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: Power Integrations, Inc.
    Inventors: Roland Sylvere Saint-Pierre, Giao Minh Pham, Lance M. Wong, David Michael Hugh Matthews
  • Patent number: 10447155
    Abstract: A power source device has: a storage unit configured to receive a generated power and store as a storage power; a boost unit configured to generate, from a storage power supplied from the storage unit, a boosted power having a higher voltage than a voltage of the storage power, and supply the boosted power to a load; and a voltage detection unit configured to output a boost operation permission signal permitting a boost operation of the boost unit to the boost unit when the storage voltage of the boost unit increases to become a voltage equal to or higher than a minimum operation voltage of the boost unit. The boost unit is configured to start the boost operation by the storage power supplied from the storage unit and operates on the boosted power generated by the boost operation as an operation power source when the boost operation permission signal is output from the voltage detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignees: ABLIC INC., THE RITSUMEIKAN TRUST
    Inventors: Fumiyasu Utsunomiya, Takakuni Douseki, Ami Tanaka
  • Patent number: 10432091
    Abstract: A voltage regulator includes a first feedback circuit, a second feedback circuit, and a feedback signal adaptive circuit. The first voltage feedback circuit includes an amplifier that is configured to generate a compensation signal according to a feedback signal from an output of the voltage regulator and a reference voltage, while the second voltage feedback circuit includes a comparator that is configured to generate a PWM signal to drive a switch circuit in which the comparator initiates the PWM pulse when the feedback voltage goes lower than the compensation signal and ends the PWM pulse when the sum of the feedback signal and a ramp signal exceeds the sum of the compensation signal and a threshold signal. The feedback signal adaptive circuit modifies the feedback signal according to changes in an input voltage of the voltage regulator and a control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventor: Gang Chen
  • Patent number: 10432081
    Abstract: A waveform shaping circuit includes a first parallel circuit including a first capacitance element and a first resistance element coupled in parallel with each other, a positive pulse voltage being applied to a first terminal of the first capacitance element and a second terminal of the first resistance element, a gate terminal of a field-effect transistor being electrically coupled to a third terminal of the first capacitance element and a fourth terminal of the first resistance element, a first Zener diode having a first anode coupled to the third terminal and the fourth terminal, and a second parallel circuit including a second capacitance element and a second resistance element coupled in parallel with each other, a first cathode of the first Zener diode being coupled to a fifth terminal of the second capacitance element and a sixth terminal of the second resistance element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Tatsuya Hirose
  • Patent number: 10432088
    Abstract: A two-stage power converter is disclosed in which a second stage may command a first stage to adjust an output voltage from the first stage to compensate for PVT variations in the second stage. Alternatively, the second stage may adjust a clocking frequency to compensate for the PVT variations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: DIALOG SEMICONDUCTOR (UK) LIMITED
    Inventor: Kevin Yi Cheng Chang
  • Patent number: 10418909
    Abstract: A DC-DC switching converter is described, with a high magnetic coupling ratio between coils connected directly to a supply and ground, and with pass-device switches connected directly to an output. The pass-device switches are driven in such a way that the coils are magnetized alternately. The DC-DC switching converter may use multiple output switches, to supply multiple outputs. The DC-DC switching converter may use different turns-ratio on the coils, to adjust the duty-cycle of the switching converter operates, for a given supply voltage to output voltage ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventor: Mark Childs
  • Patent number: 10411603
    Abstract: A switch mode power supply can include a bipolar device (e.g., bipolar junction transistor) connected in series with a capacitor and operable as a bipolar clamp switch where the bipolar device can be turned on by forward biasing a collector-base junction. The capacitor connected in association with the bipolar device can keep the bipolar clamp switch conductive for a limited time based on energy obtained from a transformer primary winding and stored in the capacitor when the base-collector junction bias is reversed. Storage charge properties of the bipolar clamp switch can be used to keep it conductive and working as an active clamp without requiring a high driver circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Joan Wichard Strijker
  • Patent number: 10404182
    Abstract: In some examples, a power converter includes a first bridge circuit, a second bridge circuit, and a transformer, where a first side of the transformer is coupled to the first bridge circuit. The power converter further includes a first LC tank circuit coupled to a second side of the transformer and a second LC tank circuit coupled to the first LC tank circuit and coupled to the second bridge circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Americas Corp.
    Inventor: Osama Abdel-Rahman
  • Patent number: 10401885
    Abstract: A system includes a DC to DC converter coupled with a load, a power source bus coupled with an input of the DC to DC converter, a capacitor coupled in parallel across an output of the DC to DC converter and a controller. The controller may dynamically adjust a bus voltage set point of a bus voltage on the output of the DC to DC converter up or down to prepare for supply of the bus voltage and energy stored in the capacitor to an anticipated load event. The load event may have a load step change that occurs in less than five milliseconds and is greater than about eighty or eighty-five percent of a rated output of the DC to DC converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Bollman, Eric Duane Schneider
  • Patent number: 10396673
    Abstract: A DC-to-DC converter controller configured to generate phase control signals to control a plurality of power stages of a DC-to-DC converter where each power stage includes two phases. The DC-to-DC converter controller is configured to generate the phase control signals in a manner which (a) balances magnitude of current processed among the two phases of each power stage and (b) balances magnitude of current processed among the plurality of power stages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Armando Presti, Antonio Magazzu, Sean Philip Gold, Filippo Guagliardo, Issac Siavashani, Henry Dinh
  • Patent number: 10396668
    Abstract: A power converter disclosed herein may include power conversion circuits connected in parallel and a cutoff switch provided in each of the power conversion circuits. The cutoff switch may be configured to cut off connection of corresponding one of the power conversion circuits from other power conversion circuit. In the power converter disclosed herein, the cutoff switches of the power conversion circuits may be housed in a first module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Jojima, Shuichi Iwata, Hiromi Yamasaki, Tomoo Yamabuki, Hitoshi Imura
  • Patent number: 10396682
    Abstract: A method for operating an electrical network comprising a first subnetwork and a second subnetwork that are connected to one another via a transformer and are DC isolated from one another by said transformer, wherein a primary side of the transformer having a first number of turns is assigned to the first subnetwork and a secondary side of the transformer having a second number of turns is assigned to the second subnetwork, wherein the first subnetwork has a multilevel converter having a plurality of single modules, wherein each single module has an electrical energy store, wherein the multilevel converter provides at least one first incoming AC voltage that is modulated with at least one second incoming AC voltage, wherein a voltage resulting therefrom is provided to the transformer and is transformed by the transformer to an outgoing voltage that is provided to the second subnetwork.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Stefan Götz, Malte Jaensch, Dirk Lappe
  • Patent number: 10391863
    Abstract: When ignition is on, a shift position is a neutral position, and shut-down of the inverter is cancelled in a state that a short circuit fault occurs in any phase among multiple phases of the inverter, the electrically driven vehicle performs a first ON control to turn on upper and lower arms in any arbitrary phase among the multiple phases. When an abnormality is detected in the inverter due to the first ON control, the electrically driven vehicle performs a second ON control to turn on upper and lower arms in a different phase from the phase of the first ON control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kensuke Takagi, Tomoko Oba
  • Patent number: 10389267
    Abstract: A single-stage three-phase power supply conversion device includes a three-phase rectification and commutation module and a DC/DC conversion module; the three-phase rectification and commutation module has a three-phase AC connection end, a DC source first connection end, a DC source second connection end and a DC source third connection end, and the DC/DC conversion module has a first connection end, a second connection end, a third connection end, a DC source positive connection end and a DC source negative connection end; a three-phase AC source is connected to the three-phase AC connection end of the three-phase rectification and commutation module, the DC source first connection end of the three-phase rectification and commutation module is connected to the first connection end of the DC/DC conversion module, the DC source second connection end is connected to the second connection end of the DC/DC conversion module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Inventor: Weilun Chen
  • Patent number: 10381931
    Abstract: In a control system of a boost converter and a control method of the control system, when a temperature of a current sensor of a boost converter is within a prescribed temperature range, an electronic control unit performs i) executing intermittent step-up control of the boost converter and learning of an offset value of the current sensor, and ii) controlling the boost converter using a corrected current value. The corrected current value is a value obtained by correcting a detected value of the current sensor using a correction value. The correction value is calculated using the learned offset value and the temperature of the current sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Satoh, Yasuhiro Terao
  • Patent number: 10374509
    Abstract: In a control circuit for controlling a power converter that includes a switch, a power supply circuit outputs electrical power, and a command generator generates a switching command that controls switching operations of the switch, based on the electrical power output from the power supply circuit. A failure mode determiner executes a determination of whether which of failure modes has occurred in the power supply circuit, and outputs a result of the determination. A switch controller selectively executes, based on the result of the determination, a first switch control task and a second switch control task. The first switch control task forcibly shuts down the switch independently of the switching command, and the second switch control task enables the switching operations of the switch to be continuously controlled based on the switching command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Koichi Nishibata, Yusuke Shindo, Tomohisa Ose, Junichi Fukuta, Yasuhiro Terao, Eiichiro Shigehara, Keisuke Hata
  • Patent number: 10367411
    Abstract: A power factor correction device for providing tolerance to a fault condition in an input supply can include a first boost circuit, a second boost circuit, and a controller circuit. The controller circuit can interleave operation of the first boost circuit and operation of the second boost circuit such as to generate an output voltage when the input supply is received at the power factor correction device. The controller circuit can route, in response to the fault condition, a stored supply of the second boost circuit to an input of the first boost circuit. The controller circuit can control the first boost circuit to maintain the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Analog Devices Global Unlimited Company
    Inventor: Francis Martin
  • Patent number: 10367412
    Abstract: To provide a power factor correction circuit capable of maintaining loop gain properly while maintaining current sensing accuracy even when different AC input voltages are input and a switching power source device using the power factor correction circuit. A power factor correction circuit includes: a power factor correction control circuit including an input voltage detection terminal to which voltage corresponding to input voltage to a boost chopper is input, a current sensing terminal to which voltage corresponding to inductor current in the boost chopper is input, an output voltage detection terminal to which voltage corresponding to output voltage from the boost chopper is input, and an output terminal outputting a drive signal for a switching element; and a voltage adjustment circuit configured to detect the input voltage and adjust voltage at the current sensing terminal and voltage at the input voltage detection terminal according to the detected input voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masatoshi Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 10367427
    Abstract: In a resonant inverter device, a main circuit is configured to convert input power supplied from a direct-current (DC) power source into alternating-current (AC) power and supply the AC power to a resonance load as output power, and a controller is configured to control operations of the main circuit. In the controller, a deriver is configured to derive a power loss or circuit efficiency of the main circuit as a conversion loss parameter of the main circuit, and an input power calculator is configured to calculate an increased target output value by increasing the target output value using the conversion loss parameter, as a target value of input power that is input to the main circuit. In the controller, an operation controller is configured to control operations of the main circuit such that the calculated target value of the input power is input to the main circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shoichi Takemoto, Hideo Naruse
  • Patent number: 10359796
    Abstract: A buffer circuit includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a feed-forward circuit and a resistive bias circuit. The first transistor has a first terminal, a second terminal and a third terminal, wherein the first terminal of the first transistor is served as an input terminal of the buffer circuit. The second transistor has a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the second terminal of the second transistor is coupled to the third terminal of the first transistor and served as an output terminal of the buffer circuit. The feed-forward circuit has a first terminal and a second terminal respectively coupled to the first terminal of the second transistor and the second terminal of the first transistor. The resistive bias circuit has a first terminal and a second terminal respectively coupled to the second terminal of the first transistor and the first terminal of the feed-forward circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: NOVATEK Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventors: Jie-Yu Liao, Chun-Hung Chen, Hsueh-Yi Lee