Patents Examined by Rajnikant Patel
  • Patent number: 9477247
    Abstract: A device, system, and method for global maximum power point tracking comprises monitoring an output power of a DC power source while executing a maximum power point tracking algorithm and adjusting a maximum power point tracking command signal in response to the output power being less than a reference output power. The command signal is adjusted until the output power exceeds a previous output power by a reference amount. The command signal may be a voltage command signal, a current command signal, an impedance command signal, a duty ratio command signal, or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: SunPower Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan Ehlmann, Daniel Blair, Eric Martina, Patrick Chapman, Brian Kuhn
  • Patent number: 9473045
    Abstract: A soft-switching and low input current ripple power inversion circuit, in which the inversion circuit is connected in parallel to an input DC voltage source and includes a top cell, a bottom cell and at least one transformer, in which the top cell and the bottom cell have its individual impedance adjusting unit of which the impedance can easily be adjusted to obtain the required equivalent resonant inductance or capacitance. Thus, the semiconducting switches therein can be soft-switched alternately to reduce the switching loss. Moreover, the inversion circuit can be modified by adding at least one middle cell inserted between the top cell and the bottom cell to reduce the voltage stress on the semiconductor switch. Consequently, low voltage rating semiconductor switch accompanied with lower RDS(on), conduction losses can be reduced to improve the converter efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventor: Ching-Shan Leu
  • Patent number: 9472953
    Abstract: A dynamic high-energy switch used for correcting load imbalance through connecting and disconnecting capacitance in a power feed circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Inventor: Hamid Pishdadian
  • Patent number: 9472333
    Abstract: A planar type transformer includes: a multilayer substrate including a primary main winding pattern and a secondary main winding pattern that perform first power transmission, the primary main winding pattern and the secondary main winding pattern being stacked with an insulating layer interposed between the primary main winding pattern and the secondary main winding pattern; and an auxiliary winding that is disposed outside the multilayer substrate and performs second power transmission between the auxiliary winding and the primary main winding pattern or the secondary main winding pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Yu Yonezawa, Hiroshi Nakao, Yoshiyasu Nakashima
  • Patent number: 9465394
    Abstract: A low-drop regulator (LDO) apparatus includes an operational amplifier, a buffer stage circuit, and a power transistor. The operational amplifier is used for receiving a reference voltage and a feedback voltage to generate a first voltage. The buffer stage circuit is coupled to the power transistor and the operational amplifier and used for buffering the first voltage to generate a second voltage. The power transistor is coupled to the buffer stage circuit and used for generating an output voltage according to the second voltage wherein the output voltage is proportional to the feedback voltage. In addition, the buffer stage circuit is arranged to determine whether to mirror and generate a mirrored current according to the first voltage and to generate the second voltage for providing the second voltage to the power transistor to control on/off state of the power transistor when the mirrored current is generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: Silicon Motion Inc.
    Inventor: Chiao-Hsing Wang
  • Patent number: 9461534
    Abstract: A power supply includes a power supply circuit and a power-on circuit controlling transitioning of the power supply circuit to a turned-on state. The power-on circuit includes a code driver, a controller coupled to the power supply circuit and code driver, and a transducer to detect a wireless control signal and generate an enable signal based thereupon. A transistor has a first conduction terminal coupled to the code driver, a second conduction terminal coupled to the controller, and a control terminal coupled to the transducer to receive the enable signal so the transistor switches based thereupon. The code driver detects a code embedded in the wireless control signal based upon switching of the transistor, and generates a power on signal for the controller based upon the code. The controller causes the power supply circuit to transition from the turned-off state to the turned-on state based upon the power on signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Roberto Larosa, Giulio Zoppi, Natale Aiello
  • Patent number: 9455636
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a primary-controlled high power factor quasi resonant converter. The converter converts an AC power line input to a DC output to power a load, generally a string of LEDs, and may be compatible with phase-cut dimmers. The power input is fed into a transformer being controlled by a power switch. The power switch is driven by a controller having a shaping circuit. The shaping circuit uses a current generator, switched resistor and capacitor to produce a reference voltage signal. The controller drives the power switch based on the voltage reference signal, resulting in a sinusoidal input current in a primary winding of the transformer, resulting in high power factor and low total harmonic distortion for the converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Giovanni Gritti, Claudio Adragna
  • Patent number: 9450500
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for power conversion. In one embodiment, the method comprises operating a resonant converter in a ring mode comprising (i) holding a plurality of switches of the resonant converter in a first switching state throughout a pre-determined number of resonant periods; and (ii) maintaining the plurality of switches in the first switching state for a fraction of a subsequent resonant period until an amount of energy has been transferred through the resonant converter to achieve a pre-determined output power from the resonant converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Enphase Energy, Inc.
    Inventor: Donald Richard Zimmanck
  • Patent number: 9450514
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a method and an apparatus implementing the method for minimizing a circulating current of parallel-connected inverters. The method can include, for at least one parallel-connected inverter, measuring a common-mode voltage of the inverter, and controlling a cycle length of the switching cycle on the basis of the common-mode voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: ABB Technology OY
    Inventors: Mikko Purhonen, Tero Viitanen
  • Patent number: 9450487
    Abstract: A DC to DC converter includes an inductor having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal coupled to an input of the DC to DC converter and the second terminal being coupled to an output of the DC to DC converter. A first switch is coupled between the second terminal and a current sensor. The switch controls current flow through the inductor and generates an inductor current signal representative of the current flow through the sensor. A slope generator generates a slope compensation signal. A first mixer adds the slope compensation signal to the inductor current signal. A sample and hold circuit samples a portion of the slope compensation signal. A second mixer subtracts the sampled portion of the slope compensation signal from the output of the first mixer, wherein inductor charging is terminated in response to the output of the first mixer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Ajay Karthik Hari, Takayasu Sato
  • Patent number: 9444363
    Abstract: In accordance with an embodiment, a method includes receiving by a drive circuit electrical power from a voltage tap of a first rectifier circuit that includes a load path and a voltage tap, and using the electrical power by the drive circuit to drive a second rectifier circuit that includes a load path. The load path of the first rectifier circuit and the load path of the second rectifier circuit are coupled to a common circuit node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Gerald Deboy, Anthony Sanders, Rolf Weis
  • Patent number: 9431913
    Abstract: A voltage detecting circuit used with a switching converter. The switching converter having an energy storage component, a first power switch and a second switch. The voltage detecting circuit has a sample and hold circuit configured to sample and hold the voltage at the connection node of the energy storage component and the first power switch when the first power switch is OFF and the second power switch is ON; and an average circuit configured to average the sampled voltage during a switching period to generate a detecting signal in proportional to the output voltage of the switching converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Chengdu Monolithic Power Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Naixing Kuang
  • Patent number: 9431845
    Abstract: A switching charger having a control circuit configured to provide a control signal; a power stage turned ON and OFF by the control signal; an inductor coupled between the power stage and a load; and an output capacitor coupled in parallel with the load; a current sense circuit integrated to the control circuit to sense a current flowing through the power stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: CHENGDU MONOLITHIC POWER SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Min Xu, Zhengui Bai, Xiaoqing Li, Yuancheng Ren
  • Patent number: 9425706
    Abstract: A three phase inverter consisting of three single phase legs using either switch mode or linear control is fed by a DC-DC converter to provide input output isolation. This requires that the DC-DC converter delivers equal positive and negative voltages to the single phase legs to allow each output to generate a high fidelity sine wave outputs to the load. By measuring the error voltages on the positive output, the negative output and the total output of the DC-DC converter it is possible to control a single duty cycle while maintaining all three output voltages within the limits required by the DC-AC phase legs. This significantly reduces the cost and complexity of the DC-DC converter and eliminates the need to use a fourth phase leg to generate the neutral connection for a three phase output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: GE Aviation Systems, LLC
    Inventors: Philip Henry Richard Epps, Andrew Benjamin Cole
  • Patent number: 9413230
    Abstract: In a power converter, at least two main current paths each including an inductor and a transistor are connected between input terminals, and at least two storage circuits each including capacitors are correspondingly connected to branch nodes of the main current paths. Diodes are connected between the storage circuits. The transistors of the main current paths are interleaved. When one of the transistors is turned off, a current flowing in the corresponding inductor flows into the corresponding storage circuit to turn on the diodes and to charge the capacitors of the corresponding storage circuit. When another one of the transistors is turned off, a current flowing in the corresponding inductor flows into the corresponding storage circuit to turn on the diodes and charge the capacitors of the corresponding storage circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Umetani
  • Patent number: 9412522
    Abstract: The hollow tubular capacitor includes one side electrode connecting portion having an inner peripheral tubular portion and one side surface portion, the other side electrode connecting portion having an outer peripheral tubular portion and the other side surface portion and an electrostatic capacitance portion having one side electrode plate, the other side electrode plate and a dielectric body, wherein the electrostatic capacitance portion is accommodated in an annular space formed at the inner peripheral tubular portion, the one side surface portion, the outer peripheral tubular portion and the other side surface portion in a high density to reduce inside inductance component. The inverter device is formed such that the hollow tubular capacitor and an annular inverter circuit portion having three-phase upper and lower arms are integrally arranged coaxially on the central axis line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Naoki Koshi
  • Patent number: 9413269
    Abstract: Circuits and methods for photovoltaic inverters are provided. In some embodiments, a power inverter circuit is provided, the inverter comprising: an input terminal for a direct current source coupled to a first conductor; a first side of a capacitor coupled to the input terminal; a second input terminal for the direct current source coupled to first sides of a first switch and second switch; a second side of the capacitor coupled to first sides of a third switch and fourth switch; a first side of a first inductor coupled to the first input terminal, the first side of the capacitor and the first conductor; a second side of the first inductor coupled to second sides of the first switch and third switch; and a first side of a second inductor coupled to a second conductor, and second sides of the second switch and fourth switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Arizona Board of Regents, for and on behalf of, Arizona State University
    Inventor: Rajapandian Ayyanar
  • Patent number: 9407157
    Abstract: A fraction rated conversion system for coupling a plurality of high voltage direct current (HVDC) power strings in parallel to an HVDC transmission system includes at least one fraction rated power converter coupled to the plurality of HVDC power strings and at least one capacitive device coupled to the at least one fraction rated power converter. The at least one fraction rated power converter and the at least one capacitive device regulate a differential voltage across each HVDC power string of the plurality of HVDC power strings to be substantially similar to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ranjan Kumar Gupta, Rui Zhou
  • Patent number: 9407234
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a current balancing device and method capable of balancing an output current and an input current of a current loop. Said device comprises: a transmission circuit for outputting an output current and receiving an input current; at least one adjustable resistor set in the current loop for providing resistance according to at least one adjustment signal; and a current balancing circuit, coupled to the transmission circuit and the adjustable resistor, for determining whether the difference between the output and input currents satisfies a predetermined requirement in light of a predetermined duration and thereby generating the adjustment signal, wherein if the difference between the output and input currents fails to satisfy the predetermined requirement, the current balancing circuit will adjust the resistance of the adjustable resistor through the adjustment signal, so as to reduce the difference between the output and input currents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shih-Wei Wang, Su-Liang Liao, Liang-Wei Huang, Sheng-Fu Chuang
  • Patent number: 9400516
    Abstract: A voltage converting device includes first and second stage circuits for converting a differential voltage to an output signal that has a magnitude smaller than the differential voltage. The second stage circuit includes input transistors for receiving voltages from the first stage circuit, output transistors for outputting the output signal, and a clamp module to clamp voltages at the input transistors of the second stage circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: ILI TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Wei-Chung Cheng, Shih-Hsin Hsu, Lun-Kai Chang