Patents Examined by Timothy J. Dole
  • Patent number: 10211746
    Abstract: Disclosed is an integrated transformer used in a resonant converter. The integrated transformer includes a primary side circuit, a secondary side circuit and an integrated core. A first voltage received by the primary side circuit is converted to a second voltage due to the electromagnetic induction, and the second voltage is outputted by the secondary side circuit. The primary side circuit is configured on the integrated core. The integrated core includes many iron rings, and the iron rings have a common side. The common side of the iron rings is a center column of the integrated core, and the other sides of the iron rings are rim columns of the integrated core. The coils of the primary side circuit are configured respectively to the rim columns of the integrated core, and the coils of the primary side circuit are connected in serial.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Inventor: Jing-Yuan Lin
  • Patent number: 10211717
    Abstract: A power supply device includes a switching unit configured to switch to a first path in which a current smoothed by a smoothing unit is supplied to a boost converter and to a second path in which the smoothed current is supplied to a load without passing through the boost converter. The switching unit includes a first switching element to be turned on and a second switching element to be turned off when the first path is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Jun Kawakatsu
  • Patent number: 10203709
    Abstract: The embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a low dropout regulator and a method for controlling the same. The low dropout regulator comprises a control circuit configured to compare a output voltage with a first threshold voltage and a second threshold voltage, generate a first control signal when the output voltage is less than the first threshold voltage or greater than the second threshold voltage and a second control signal when the output voltage is greater than the first threshold voltage and less than the second threshold voltage; a digital regulator circuit configured to adjust the output voltage according to the first control signal and maintain the output voltage according to the second control signal; and an analog regulator circuit configured to output feedback current to the output terminal according to the output voltage and the reference voltage under the trigger of the second control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., HEFEI XINSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Xuehuan Feng, Wei Chen
  • Patent number: 10205407
    Abstract: An inverter device, an energy storage system comprising such an inverter device, and a method of controlling such an inverter device are provided. The inverter device has a split-phase, transformer-less configuration and is connectable between a battery and a power grid for transferring power in a bidirectional manner between said battery and said power grid. The inverter device further comprises: an inverter circuit comprising switching elements arranged in a multilevel clamped topology; and a control unit controlling said switching elements, wherein said control unit is configured to control said switching elements such that direct current (DC) power from said battery is transformed into alternating current (AC) power and supplied to said power grid during a discharging period, and AC power from said power grid is transformed into DC power and supplied to said battery during a charging period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: Sonnen GmbH
    Inventors: Antonio Ginart, Hermann Schweizer
  • Patent number: 10199919
    Abstract: A circuit and method for controlling a power converter having a high-side and a low-side switch are provided. The circuit may include a comparator configured to receive a reference voltage at a first input and a ramp voltage at a second output, and to output a delay signal based on a comparison of the reference voltage and the ramp voltage. The delay signal may be configured to turn on one or more of the high-side switch and the low-side switch. The circuit may increase or decrease the reference voltage based on a dead time, which equals an amount of time when the high-side switch and the low-side switch are turned off. The circuit may include a first switch that is controlled to lower the reference voltage if a dead time exceeds a first threshold, and a second switch that is controlled to raise the reference voltage if the dead time delay signal is below a second threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Microchip Technology Inc.
    Inventor: David Gammie
  • Patent number: 10199999
    Abstract: One example includes a transconductor system. The system includes a first transconductance amplifier that generates a control current in response to a first input voltage. The system also includes a second transconductance amplifier that generates an output signal in response to a second input voltage. The system further includes an intermediate amplifier that generates a control voltage in response to the control current and a third input voltage. The control voltage can be provided to the first and second transconductance amplifiers to set a transconductance of each of the first and second transconductance amplifiers to be approximately equal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Ryan Erik Lind
  • Patent number: 10199953
    Abstract: A power conversion device comprising: a plurality of first power semiconductor modules incorporating a series circuit of a first semiconductor device and a second semiconductor device, the series circuit connected in parallel to a series circuit of a first capacitor and a second capacitor which are connected in series to a direct current power supply; a plurality of second power semiconductor modules incorporating a bi-directional semiconductor device connected between a connection point between the first capacitor and the second capacitor and a connection point between the first semiconductor device and the second semiconductor device; and a laminated bus bar connecting main circuit terminals of the plurality of first power semiconductor modules and the plurality of second power semiconductor modules to each other. The laminated bus bar includes a pair of output bas bars disposed at a front side and a back side, respectively so as to facing each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yasunobu Kadota
  • Patent number: 10193436
    Abstract: A switching power supply apparatus, including a power converting device body configured to switch DC input power through a first switching element to thereby store the DC input power in an inductor, and to transfer the stored power to an output capacitor through a second switching element by use of resonance of the inductor, a control circuit configured to drive the first and second switching elements to alternately turn ON or OFF the two switching elements, to thereby resonate the inductor, and an overload detecting circuit configured to detect a load state of the power converting device body based on a peak value or an effective value of a resonance voltage generated from the resonance of the inductor, to thereby control operation of the control circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Jian Chen
  • Patent number: 10186952
    Abstract: A power conversion device in which a plurality of converter cells are connected in series with one another. The converter cells each include two or more semiconductor devices, an energy storage element and a bypass element including a constituent element for setting the bypass element to be close-circuited by detecting abnormality of a converter cell, and including a constituent element for controlling, among the semiconductor devices, a semiconductor device connected in parallel with the bypass element to set in a turn-on state, at the same time when the bypass element is set close-circuited or in advance of its close circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignees: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI-ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takushi Jimichi, Kimiyuki Koyanagi, Sadao Funahashi, Taichiro Tsuchiya, Yasuhiro Shinomiya
  • Patent number: 10186944
    Abstract: The present invention provides a switching power supply and a controller thereof, wherein the controller comprises: a switching power supply control device having a power supply terminal and detecting a voltage at the power supply terminal; a composite device integrating therein a power transistor and a depletion transistor, wherein the power transistor has a gate coupled to a first input, a source coupled to a first output, and a drain coupled to an input signal terminal; the depletion transistor has a gate coupled to a second input, a source coupled to a second output, and a drain coupled to the input signal terminal; the first input, the second input and the second output are coupled to the switching power supply control device, the first input receives a driving signal generated by the switching power supply control device, and the input signal terminal receives an input signal of the switching power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: HANGZHOU SILAN MICROELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Haifeng Lin, Shaohua Zhang, Xianming Tang, Feng Yao, Yang Gao, Dong Wang, Hua Zhan, Xianwei Yan, Jianxing Wu
  • Patent number: 10186962
    Abstract: A control circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to control a switching element of a switching power supply. The control circuit includes a comparator having a first input terminal configured to receive an output voltage of the switching power supply. The comparator has a second input terminal that is connectable to a positive terminal of a reference voltage source. The comparator has an output. The output brings the reference voltage to a first voltage while the output signal takes a first voltage level. The output brings the reference voltage to a second voltage while the output signal takes a second voltage level. The constant voltage source has a positive terminal connected to a negative terminal of the reference voltage source and a ground of the comparator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: TDK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ken Matsuura, Min Lin
  • Patent number: 10186948
    Abstract: According to an implementation, a resonant converter for burst mode control includes an oscillator configured to control switching operations of at least one power switch, and a burst mode controller configured to control a burst mode by determining a start of a burst pulse of the burst mode using a first internal signal and determining an end of the burst pulse of the burst mode using a second internal signal. The burst mode controller is configured to stop the switching operations during the burst pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Sangcheol Moon, Jintae Kim, Hangseok Choi
  • Patent number: 10186969
    Abstract: There is to provide a semiconductor device capable of activating a circuit quickly, operating with a lower power consumption in a steady state, and coping with the dispersion of the elements. The semiconductor device includes an amplifier coupled to a power voltage, to output a voltage based on a reference voltage and a voltage of a negative feedback node, to an output node; and a voltage divider coupled to the output node, to output the divided voltage to the negative feedback node. The voltage divider includes first and second voltage dividing paths with different resistance, a first switching circuit coupled to the first and the second voltage dividing paths, in a dividing ratio adjustable way, and a second switching circuit for controlling the first and the second voltage dividing paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Kohei Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 10186971
    Abstract: A full bridge circuit is disclosed. The full bridge circuit includes first and second half bridge circuits each having a midpoint node, and a transmitter tank circuit connected across the midpoint nodes and configured to transmit power based on the transmitter tank current to a load. The full bridge circuit also includes a ZVS tank circuit connected across the midpoint nodes. The ZVS tank circuit generates first and second ZVS tank currents. The first ZVS tank current and the transmitter tank current cooperatively cause the voltage at the first midpoint node to be substantially equal to the voltage of a power or ground node, and the second ZVS tank current and the transmitter tank current cooperatively cause the voltage at the second midpoint node to be substantially equal to the voltage of the power or ground node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Navitas Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Lingxiao Xue, Ju Zhang
  • Patent number: 10181791
    Abstract: A control circuit for a voltage regulator includes a digital compensator having adaptive compensation to permit operation over different operating conditions. The digital compensator includes a gain parameter that is inversely proportional to the input voltage and is independent of the switching frequency. In embodiments, the voltage regulator has a crossover frequency established by at least one pole and at least one zero and the corner frequency of the converter output filter has a first fixed, predetermined relationship with respect to the switching frequency, a second fixed, predetermined relationship with respect to the crossover frequency, and a third fixed, predetermined relationship with respect to the at least one pole and at least one zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
    Inventors: Kapil Kesarwani, Mackenzie Tope
  • Patent number: 10181731
    Abstract: An external power storage adapter (PSA) may supply electrical power to a portable information handling system or other power consuming device. The power storage adapter may include an AC-DC converter, a battery, and intelligent power management functionality. A PSA controller may cause a PSA battery management unit to combine electrical power supplied by the AC-DC converter and electrical power supplied by the battery in order to supply enough electrical power for the information handling system to operate in a particular operating mode. The power storage adapter may output power to a port of the portable information handling system, such as a USB Type-C port, over a variable power bus. The maximum power supply capacity of the power storage adapter, when the battery is at least partially charged, may be greater than the maximum power supply capacity of the AC-DC converter alone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
    Inventors: Andrew Thomas Sultenfuss, Richard Christopher Thompson
  • Patent number: 10181739
    Abstract: A power storage adapter may use a high efficiency charging method when supplying electrical power to a portable information handling system when the power storage adapter is not connected to AC line power. In particular, when the portable information handling system draws the electrical power below a low load threshold, such as during a low power state, the power storage adapter may avoid supplying electrical power. When an internal battery of the portable information handling system has an SOC less than a recharging state of charge for the internally battery, the power storage adapter may resume supplying power to the portable information handling system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
    Inventors: Andrew Thomas Sultenfuss, Richard Christopher Thompson
  • Patent number: 10177671
    Abstract: This invention is an improvement upon the modified dual active half bridge (MDAB) DC/DC converter whereby the filter inductor is eliminated. Allowing DC bias in the transformer, the transformer's magnetizing inductance serves a secondary role of filter inductance. Due to the high currents on the low voltage side, the filter inductor is a relatively large component, often close in size to the transformer. Eliminating the filter inductor as presented here represents a significant reduction in the size and cost of the DC/DC converter, and further achieves improved efficiency of operation as losses associate with the filter inductor are also eliminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Inventor: Carl David Klaes
  • Patent number: 10171000
    Abstract: A power converter controller includes a drive circuit to generate a drive signal to control switching of a power switch. The drive circuit generates the drive signal in response to a current sense signal, a current limit signal, a frequency skip signal, and a hold signal. A current limit generator generates the current limit signal in response to a load. A frequency detection circuit generates the frequency skip signal in response to the drive signal to indicate when an intended frequency of the drive signal is within a frequency window. The current limit signal remains fixed for at least a switching cycle when the intended frequency is within the frequency window. A first latch generates the hold signal to control the current limit generator to hold the current limit signal. The first latch generates the hold signal in response to the frequency skip signal and a feedback signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Power Integrations, Inc.
    Inventors: Vikram Balakrishnan, Giao Minh Pham, Ricardo Luis Janezic Pregitzer, Peter Vaughan
  • Patent number: 10170985
    Abstract: An apparatus for current estimation of a DC/DC converter includes a current sensing unit, a signal sampling unit, and a current estimator. The current sensing unit is for sensing a current passing through a switch of the DC/DC converter and converting the current into a voltage signal. The signal sampling unit, coupled to the current sensing unit, is for sampling the voltage signal so as to output a sampled signal. The current estimator, coupled to the signal sampling unit, is for determining a signal indicating estimated magnitude of an inductor current of the DC/DC converter, based on the sampled signal, a scale factor of the current sensing unit, a duty ratio of a driving signal for controlling the switch, an input voltage and an output voltage of the DC/DC converter. An apparatus for current estimation that can further control an averaged current of a DC/DC converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: NATIONAL CHUNG SHAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Chi-Sheng Wu, Kuo-Kuang Jen, Hsuang-Chang Chiang, Tsang-Li Tai