Patents by Inventor Karl Rinne

Karl Rinne has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230353145
    Abstract: The present application relates to electronics and in particular to switch drive circuits and more particularly to galvanically isolated switch circuits with power transfer from the switch driver input side to the switch side. More specifically, the present application provides a switch drive circuit using a single transformer to transfer control signals to a secondary side for control of the switch along with power to a secondary side circuit to drive the switch in response to the control signals. By detecting the control signal first before drawing current, the effects of leakage inductance in the transformer are reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2023
    Publication date: November 2, 2023
    Applicant: Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Patent number: 11764778
    Abstract: Switch drive circuits include galvanically isolated switch circuits with power transfer from the switch driver input side to the switch side. A switch drive circuit uses a single transformer to transfer control signals to a secondary side for control of the switch along with power to a secondary side circuit to drive the switch in response to the control signals. By detecting the control signal first before drawing current, the effects of leakage inductance in the transformer are reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Publication number: 20230137936
    Abstract: An isolated gate driver includes a transformer including primary and secondary windings, a synchronous rectifier connected between the secondary winding and an output terminal of the isolated gate driver, a first switch including a first terminal connected to a supply voltage, a second switch including a first terminal connected to the supply voltage, a first damping resistance connected between a first terminal of the secondary winding and a second terminal of the first switch, a second damping resistance connected between a second terminal of the secondary winding and a second terminal of the second switch, a first inverter including an input connected to the first terminal of the secondary winding and an output connected to a gate terminal of the first switch, and a second inverter including an input connected to the second terminal of the secondary winding and an output connected to a gate terminal of the second switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2021
    Publication date: May 4, 2023
    Inventors: Ronald HOGERVORST, Joseph DUIGAN, Karl RINNE
  • Patent number: 11462990
    Abstract: An integrated switching regulator device has a switching mode regulator comprising an input voltage source and a switching circuit coupled to the input voltage source configured to generate a pulsed voltage from the input voltage. A low pass filter is coupled to the switching regulator and is configured to filter the pulsed voltage to provide a regulated voltage to a load. The low pass filter comprises at least two LC stages, wherein the first LC stage comprises an air cored inductor and each subsequent LC stage comprises a non-air cored inductor. The switching circuit comprises two or more switching elements configurable to operate at a switching frequency of several megahertz.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK
    Inventors: Patrick Meehan, Eamon O'Malley, Karl Rinne
  • Publication number: 20220214733
    Abstract: The present application is directed at pin programming od controllers for power converters and provides for the programming of a plurality of different controller parameters using a single programming resistor. The value of the programming resistor is used as a pointer to select a table storing a plurality of different settings for the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Antoin Russell
  • Patent number: 11323019
    Abstract: A switched mode power supply converter comprises a circuit pulse matching circuit configured to negate output voltage disturbance or noise during switching operation of a power conversion. The current pulse matching circuit input is driven by, or from, a power converter switch node of the switched mode power supply converter. The current pulse matching circuit comprises a rate-of-voltage change detection circuit driven by the power converter switch node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK
    Inventors: Eamon O'Malley, Patrick Meehan, Karl Rinne
  • Publication number: 20220116036
    Abstract: The present application relates to electronics and in particular to switch drive circuits and more particularly to galvanically isolated switch circuits with power transfer from the switch driver input side to the switch side. More specifically, the present application provides a switch drive circuit using a single transformer to transfer control signals to a secondary side for control of the switch along with power to a secondary side circuit to drive the switch in response to the control signals. By detecting the control signal first before drawing current, the effects of leakage inductance in the transformer are reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Patent number: 11281268
    Abstract: The present application is directed at pin programming od controllers for power converters and provides for the programming of a plurality of different controller parameters using a single programming resistor. The value of the programming resistor is used as a pointer to select a table storing a plurality of different settings for the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Antoin Russell
  • Patent number: 11211929
    Abstract: The present application relates to electronics and in particular to switch drive circuits and more particularly to galvanically isolated switch circuits with power transfer from the switch driver input side to the switch side. More specifically, the present application provides a switch drive circuit using a single transformer to transfer control signals to a secondary side for control of the switch along with power to a secondary side circuit to drive the switch in response to the control signals. By detecting the control signal first before drawing current, the effects of leakage inductance in the transformer are reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Heyday Integrated Circuits SAS
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Patent number: 11201619
    Abstract: The present application relates to an isolated drive circuit, of the type commonly employed as high side drivers, for providing a drive signal to a semiconductor switch. The isolated drive circuit comprises a transformer with primary and secondary windings. The circuit further comprises a primary side circuit having a plurality of switches arranged in a bridge configuration with the primary winding positioned across the output of the bridge and a secondary side circuit connected to the secondary winding of the transformer and having a drive circuit output for providing a drive signal to the semiconductor switch. The advantage of this approach is that the entire circuit can be constructed as a module for use as a single component on a circuit board without requiring additional external components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: Heyday Integrated Circuits SAS
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Publication number: 20210376822
    Abstract: The present application provides a packaged gate drive circuit having a transformer. The transformer which is used to transfer both signals and power from a primary side to a secondary side. The windings of the transformer are formed using a combination of tracks and wirebond wires. The transformer is positioned in a well formed using a first insulating material and covered with a second insulating material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Inventors: Andrew Thompson, Joe Duigan, Karl Rinne
  • Publication number: 20210159775
    Abstract: The invention provides a circuit in a switched mode power supply converter, and method of controlling a circuit. The circuit comprises a current pulse matching circuit configured to negate output voltage disturbance/noise during switching operation of a power conversion. The current pulse matching circuit input is driven by, or from, a power converter switch node of the switched mode power supply converter. The current pulse matching circuit comprises a rate-of-voltage change detection circuit driven by the power converter switch node.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Inventors: Eamon O Malley, Patrick Meehan, Karl Rinne
  • Publication number: 20200373838
    Abstract: The invention describes an integrated switch mode power supply device comprising a switch mode regulator having a switching circuit coupled to an input voltage source to generate an output voltage from the input voltage and the switching circuit comprises at least two wide bandgap switches. An Nth order filter circuit is coupled to the switch mode regulator and configured to filter the output voltage to provide a supply voltage to a load, where N is greater than the integer two wherein the filter circuit comprises a LC or RC low pass filter comprising a plurality of LC or RC filter stages having a first filter stage and a last filter stage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2018
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Inventors: Patrick Meehan, Eamon O Malley, Karl Rinne
  • Publication number: 20200366200
    Abstract: The present invention provides an integrated switching regulator device which comprises a switching mode regulator comprising an input voltage source and a switching circuit coupled to the input voltage source to generate a pulsed voltage from the input voltage, and a low pass filter coupled to the switching regulator configured to filter the pulsed voltage to provide a regulated voltage to a load. The low pass filter comprises at least two LC stages, wherein the first LC stage comprises an air cored inductor and each subsequent LC stage comprises a non-air cored inductor. The switching circuit comprises two or more switching elements configurable to operate at a switching frequency of several MHz.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2018
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Inventors: Patrick Meehan, Eamon O Malley, Karl Rinne
  • Publication number: 20200280313
    Abstract: The present application relates to electronics and in particular to switch drive circuits and more particularly to galvanically isolated switch circuits with power transfer from the switch driver input side to the switch side. More specifically, the present application provides a switch drive circuit using a single transformer to transfer control signals to a secondary side for control of the switch along with power to a secondary side circuit to drive the switch in response to the control signals. By detecting the control signal first before drawing current, the effects of leakage inductance in the transformer are reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2018
    Publication date: September 3, 2020
    Applicant: Heyday Integrated Circuits SAS
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Publication number: 20200099376
    Abstract: The present application relates to an isolated drive circuit, of the type commonly employed as high side drivers, for providing a drive signal to a semiconductor switch. The isolated drive circuit comprises a transformer with primary and secondary windings. The circuit further comprises a primary side circuit having a plurality of switches arranged in a bridge configuration with the primary winding positioned across the output of the bridge and a secondary side circuit connected to the secondary winding of the transformer and having a drive circuit output for providing a drive signal to the semiconductor switch. The advantage of this approach is that the entire circuit can be constructed as a module for use as a single component on a circuit board without requiring additional external components.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2018
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Joseph Duigan
  • Publication number: 20200042061
    Abstract: The present application is directed at pin programming od controllers for power converters and provides for the programming of a plurality of different controller parameters using a single programming resistor. The value of the programming resistor is used as a pointer to select a table storing a plurality of different settings for the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Antoin Russell
  • Patent number: 10474210
    Abstract: The present application is directed at pin programming od controllers for power converters and provides for the programming of a plurality of different controller parameters using a single programming resistor. The value of the programming resistor is used as a pointer to select a table storing a plurality of different settings for the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Rohm Powervation Limited
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Antoin Russell
  • Publication number: 20180292874
    Abstract: The present application is directed at pin programming od controllers for power converters and provides for the programming of a plurality of different controller parameters using a single programming resistor. The value of the programming resistor is used as a pointer to select a table storing a plurality of different settings for the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2018
    Publication date: October 11, 2018
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Antoin Russell
  • Patent number: 10033267
    Abstract: The present application relates to power converters, particularly switch mode power converters sharing a load in which the converters are operated to share stresses between them. The application provides a controller (108) in which a stress share control loop (108a, 108b) is provided to ensure the associated converter is operating at an average stress. The stress share control loop has a proportional and an integral term in its feedback path. The integral term may be enabled or disabled. In use, the integral term is enabled in all but one controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: ROHM POWERVATION LIMITED
    Inventors: Karl Rinne, Basil Almukhtar, Elaine Sheridan