Patents by Inventor Tzu-Chen Lin

Tzu-Chen Lin 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).

  • Patent number: 8040119
    Abstract: A valley detecting circuit and method are provided for a voltage across a switching device, which detect a voltage across the switching device to produce a first voltage proportional to the voltage across the switching device, clamp the first voltage to produce a second voltage, level shift the second voltage to produce a third voltage, and compare the second voltage with the third voltage to determine a valley for the first voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corp.
    Inventor: Tzu-Chen Lin
  • Patent number: 8004333
    Abstract: A controller which has functions of remote control, multiple protection and PWM inside. The controller can shut down and latch the converter, when a failure happens (such as under voltage and over voltage of output, and over power protection). But, under-voltage and over-power protection will also happen when Vin is decreased by AC interruption or Vin source is removed. This invention is to provide a method to reset the latch protection by detecting Vin and Vo voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang
  • Publication number: 20110095735
    Abstract: Disclosed are circuits and methods for use in a control circuit of a switching mode power supply for turning on a switching device in the switching mode power supply when the voltage across the switching device is at a minimum. A voltage detector is provided for detecting the voltage across the switching device to produce a detection voltage which is a function of the voltage across the switching device, and circuit arrangement is used to predict a valley timing for the voltage across the switching device by evaluating the time period that the detection voltage falls down from a first threshold to a second threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2011
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Applicant: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORP.
    Inventor: TZU-CHEN LIN
  • Patent number: 7907425
    Abstract: Disclosed are circuits and methods for use in a control circuit of a switching mode power supply for turning on a switching device in the switching mode power supply when the voltage across the switching device is at a minimum. A voltage detector is provided for detecting the voltage across the switching device to produce a detection voltage which is a function of the voltage across the switching device, and circuit arrangement is used to predict a valley timing for the voltage across the switching device by evaluating the time period that the detection voltage falls down from a first threshold to a second threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2011
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corp.
    Inventor: Tzu-Chen Lin
  • Publication number: 20110051463
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for a flyback power converter reduce the standby output voltage of the flyback power converter by switching the reference voltage provided by a shunt regulator of the flyback power converter or the ratio of voltage divider resistors of the shunt regulator, to reduce the standby power consumption by an output feedback circuit of the flyback power converter, the shunt regulator, and the voltage divider resistors, and thereby the power loss of the flyback power converter in standby mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2010
    Publication date: March 3, 2011
    Applicant: RICHPOWER MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: SHENG-HUA CHEN, TZU-CHEN LIN, PEI-LUN HUANG
  • Publication number: 20110018590
    Abstract: A feedback circuit for an isolated power converter includes an opto-coupler and a reversed polarity regulator. The opto-coupler provides a current related to an output voltage of the isolated power converter. When the isolated power converter enters light load, the output voltage rises and the reversed polarity regulator reduces the current to decrease the power consumption and thus improve the light load efficiency of the isolated power converter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2010
    Publication date: January 27, 2011
    Applicant: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORP.
    Inventors: LIANG-PIN TAI, TZU-CHEN LIN, CHENG-HSUAN FAN
  • Publication number: 20110012554
    Abstract: A charger has two pins for connecting with a battery therebetween, and an apparatus and method are proposed to determine to wake up or turn off the charger according to a voltage or a current detected from the two pins, to reduce the standby power consumption of the charger.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2010
    Publication date: January 20, 2011
    Applicant: RICHPOWER MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: KUN-YU LIN, TZU-CHEN LIN, PEI-LUN HUANG
  • Patent number: 7859862
    Abstract: A voltage detector circuitry extracts a signal on primary side of a transformer in a flyback converter, which is proportional to the output voltage of the converter without voltage drop on the rectifier diode and leakage inductance effect on the transformer, and good output regulation is achieved without opto-coupler. To accurately detect the output voltage on the primary side, the knee point of the voltage on an auxiliary winding of the transformer is detected. A current limit proportional to the input voltage of the converter is produced from the voltage on an auxiliary winding for stabilizing the output current in constant current mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2010
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corp.
    Inventor: Tzu-Chen Lin
  • Patent number: 7764521
    Abstract: A power converter has a transformer including a primary winding connected between a power input and a power switch, the power switch is switched to deliver power from the power input to a power output, an auxiliary winding provides an induced voltage in such a manner that when the power switch is at a first switch state, the induced voltage reflects an input information of the power converter, and when the power switch is at a second switch state, the induced voltage reflects an output information of the power converter. Two detection signals are generated from the input and output information, respectively, to implement multiple functions and protections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang
  • Publication number: 20100141320
    Abstract: A controller which has functions of remote control, multiple protection and PWM inside. The controller can shut down and latch the converter, when a failure happens (such as under voltage and over voltage of output, and over power protection). But, under-voltage and over-power protection will also happen when Vin is decreased by AC interruption or Vin source is removed. This invention is to provide a method to reset the latch protection by detecting Vin and Vo voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2009
    Publication date: June 10, 2010
    Applicant: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang
  • Patent number: 7701305
    Abstract: A frequency jittering circuit modulates a hysteretic band of an oscillator such that the clock generated by the oscillator has a jitter frequency, and thus a switching mode power supply operative on the clock will have a jittering switching frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Richtek Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang, Hung-Che Chou
  • Publication number: 20100008110
    Abstract: A flyback power converter includes a power switch connected to a primary side of a transformer, and a sensing signal is provided for a control circuit to switch the power switch so as for the transformer to convert an input voltage into an output voltage. The sensing signal is a function of the input voltage, and the control circuit extracts a variation of the sensing signal during a preset time period. The variation of the sensing signal is used to prevent the output ripple and the green mode entry point of the flyback power converter from varying with the input voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2009
    Publication date: January 14, 2010
    Applicant: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORP.
    Inventors: PEI-LUN HUANG, YU-MING CHEN, TZU-CHEN LIN
  • Publication number: 20090284994
    Abstract: A control circuit and method are provided for a flyback converter converting an input voltage to an output voltage, to compensate for an entry point of a burst mode of the flyback converter, so that the entry point is not affected by the input voltage, and audible noise resulted from a higher input voltage is reduced without impacting the light load efficiency of the flyback converter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2009
    Publication date: November 19, 2009
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang
  • Publication number: 20090279214
    Abstract: A power converter uses a PWM controller to provide a driver output to modulate the duty of the power converter. A protection apparatus and method compare a current sense input of the PWM controller with a reference voltage to assert a signal representing failure, count the number of cycles where the signal representing failure is asserted, and reset an enable signal to inhibit the driver output if the signal representing failure is asserted in several cycles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2009
    Publication date: November 12, 2009
    Applicant: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORP.
    Inventors: TZU-CHEN LIN, PEI-LUN HUANG
  • Publication number: 20090073725
    Abstract: A voltage detector circuitry extracts a signal on primary side of a transformer in a flyback converter, which is proportional to the output voltage of the converter without voltage drop on the rectifier diode and leakage inductance effect on the transformer, and good output regulation is achieved without opto-coupler. To accurately detect the output voltage on the primary side, the knee point of the voltage on an auxiliary winding of the transformer is detected. A current limit proportional to the input voltage of the converter is produced from the voltage on an auxiliary winding for stabilizing the output current in constant current mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Inventor: Tzu-Chen Lin
  • Publication number: 20080279324
    Abstract: A frequency jittering circuit modulates a hysteretic band of an oscillator such that the clock generated by the oscillator has a jitter frequency, and thus a switching mode power supply operative on the clock will have a jittering switching frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Publication date: November 13, 2008
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang, Hung-Che Chou
  • Publication number: 20080278973
    Abstract: A power converter has a transformer including a primary winding connected between a power input and a power switch, the power switch is switched to deliver power from the power input to a power output, an auxiliary winding provides an induced voltage in such a manner that when the power switch is at a first switch state, the induced voltage reflects an input information of the power converter, and when the power switch is at a second switch state, the induced voltage reflects an output information of the power converter. Two detection signals are generated from the input and output information, respectively, to implement multiple functions and protections.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2007
    Publication date: November 13, 2008
    Inventors: Tzu-Chen Lin, Pei-Lun Huang
  • Publication number: 20080123377
    Abstract: Disclosed are circuits and methods for use in a control circuit of a switching mode power supply for turning on a switching device in the switching mode power supply when the voltage across the switching device is at a minimum. A voltage detector is provided for detecting the voltage across the switching device to produce a detection voltage which is a function of the voltage across the switching device, and circuit arrangement is used to predict a valley timing for the voltage across the switching device by evaluating the time period that the detection voltage falls down from a first threshold to a second threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Inventor: Tzu-Chen Lin
  • Publication number: 20080116870
    Abstract: A valley detecting circuit and method are provided for a voltage drop across a switching device, which detect a voltage drop across the switching device to produce a first voltage proportional to the voltage drop across the switching device, clamp the first voltage to produce a second voltage, level shift the second voltage to produce a third voltage, and compare the second voltage with the third voltage to determine a valley for the first voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2007
    Publication date: May 22, 2008
    Inventor: Tzu-Chen Lin