In Inverter Systems Patents (Class 363/40)
  • Patent number: 10797584
    Abstract: A current source capable of generating a current of a first compensation portion for either or both reducing a harmonic current in an air conditioner or improving a fundamental power factor in the air conditioner is provided. If an excess of the current source is larger than a second compensation portion for either or both reducing a harmonic current in a power receiving path of a distribution board or improving a fundamental power factor in the power receiving path of the distribution board, a current obtained through superimposition of a current of a second compensation component and a current of the first compensation component is generated in the current source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Reiji Kawashima, Takayuki Fujita, Masaki Kouno
  • Patent number: 10770900
    Abstract: A method of controlling a grid-connected voltage source converter, VSC, using power-synchronisation control, wherein the method includes: determining an active power control error, determining a VSC phase angle based on an integration of a sum including a scaled active power control error and a scaled imaginary part of a voltage of common coupling, determining a damping component based on a virtual damping resistance, a VSC current vector and a reference current vector for the VSC current vector, determining a voltage vector based on a VSC voltage magnitude and the damping component, transforming the voltage vector to a current vector, comparing a magnitude of the current vector with a maximum threshold current value, and in case the magnitude of the current vector is greater than the maximum threshold current value: reducing the magnitude of the current vector to a value below the maximum threshold current value to obtain a limited current vector, transforming the limited current vector to a limited voltage
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventor: Lennart Harnefors
  • Patent number: 10763036
    Abstract: A composite electronic component that includes a first electronic component that includes a first element body, a first functional element that is provided inside the first element body, and first outer electrodes that are provided on one surface of the first element body and are electrically connected to the first functional element. A second electronic component includes a second element body, a second functional element that is provided inside the second element body, and second outer electrodes that are provided on one surface of the second element body and are electrically connected to the second functional element. A resin body, in which the first electronic component and the second electronic component are buried, exposes the first outer electrodes and the second outer electrodes from the resin body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Daisuke Ishida, Kazuhide Kudo
  • Patent number: 10707681
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for setting a virtual impedance ratio of a power conditioning unit (PCU). In one embodiment, the method comprises applying a disturbance to a virtual AC voltage of a power conditioning unit (PCU) operating in a virtual impedance droop control mode in which the PCU appears, from the perspective of a power grid coupled to the PCU, as a virtual AC voltage source in series with a virtual impedance; measuring the phase of the applied disturbance on the power grid; comparing the measured phase of the applied disturbance on the power grid to the phase of the disturbance; and adjusting, when the measured phase of the applied disturbance on the power grid differs from the phase of the disturbance by more than a threshold amount, a ratio of a resistive impedance of the virtual impedance to an inductive impedance of the virtual impedance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: Enphase Energy, Inc.
    Inventor: Donald Richard Zimmanck
  • Patent number: 10700625
    Abstract: A power conversion device includes a filter unit including an active noise canceler including an active element reducing low frequency components contained in common mode noise of noise and lower than a predetermined threshold frequency, and a passive filter including a passive element reducing normal mode noise of noise and high frequency components contained in the common mode noise of noise and equal to or higher than the threshold frequency. The active noise canceler includes a choke coil having a primary winding to which a first alternating current power is supplied and a secondary winding outputting a current, a filter circuit reducing a high frequency region of the current of the secondary winding, an amplifier circuit amplifying output of the filter circuit and securing a required amount of the current, and a current injection circuit injecting output of the amplifier circuit to each phase of the first alternating current power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Kobayashi, Shinsaku Kusube, Kazuyoshi Watabu
  • Patent number: 10700528
    Abstract: A method and a control arrangement for an electric power conversion system including a plurality of electric power converters, the control arrangement configured to collect data related to the electric power conversion system, determine an optimal configuration for each one of the electric power converters of the electric power conversion system on the basis of collected data through a simulation of the electric power conversion system generate, for each one of the electric power converters, a source code for a firmware of the electric power converter on the basis of the determined optimal configuration for the electric power converter in question, and re-program each one of the electric power converters with the respective source code generated for the electric power converter in question.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Jani Kangas, Tomi Riipinen
  • Patent number: 10677219
    Abstract: A method and a control system adapted to control a power conversion system connected to an AC power grid, wherein the control system is adapted to receive an externally provided reactive power reference and the control system includes a controller adapted to control the reactive power fed to the AC grid by the power conversion system and to produce a reactive current reference, an active current reference, a total current limiter for producing limited active and reactive current references. The total current limiter operates in reactive current priority limiting the active current reference. Further including means adapted to produce a capacity signal indicating the current capacity of the power conversion system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Peter Muszynski, Kalle Huju, Jussi Tamminen, Antti Vilhunen, Antti Virta
  • Patent number: 10680547
    Abstract: The disclosed examples provide an easy and low-loss solution to reduce voltage stress on motor and cable in inverter-fed motor systems by suppressing resonances on the motor cable with apparatus coupled between the inverter output and the motor cable. Disclosed examples include various methods to mitigate voltage stress on both motor and cable, including an output filter circuit with a cable side parallel RL circuit between an inverter output and a motor cable, and an inverter to provide an inverter output signal to the output filter circuit to drive a load through the motor cable, where the cable side parallel RL circuit includes a resistor coupled in series between the inverter output and the motor cable, and an inductor connected in parallel with the resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuan Xiao, Ye Zhang, Ehsan Al-Nabi, Richard L. Piekarz
  • Patent number: 10661877
    Abstract: A method for charging an auxiliary voltage source that provides power for at least one additional component, the additional component being in addition to an electric drive that is powered by a main voltage, is described. The method includes electrically connecting a protection and/or control circuit to the main voltage source via a DC-to-DC converter configured for power supply, and to the auxiliary voltage source via a reverse blocking valve. The method further includes electrically connecting the main voltage source to the auxiliary voltage source via a charging device. The method still further includes charging the auxiliary voltage source via the main voltage source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: Torqeedo GmbH
    Inventors: Jens Biebach, Philipp Krieger, Marc Hartmeyer
  • Patent number: 10666160
    Abstract: According to an embodiment of the invention, a power conversion device that includes a power converter, a direct current capacitor, a voltage sensor, a rectifying element, an electromagnetic contactor, and a control circuit is provided. The power converter includes a pair of direct current terminals connected to a direct current power supply, includes multiple alternating current terminals connected to an electric power system of alternating current, converts direct current power input from the direct current power supply into alternating current power, and supplies the alternating current power to the electric power system. The direct current capacitor is connected between the pair of direct current terminals. The voltage sensor detects a voltage value of the direct current capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI-ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsuguhiro Tanaka, Tatsuaki Ambo, Masahiro Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 10630202
    Abstract: A three phase inverter can include: a first converter and a second converter connected to an input source in parallel, respectively; a first single phase inverter connected to the first converter through a first inverter first input node and a first inverter second input node and providing a first inverter first output node and a first inverter second output node; a second single phase inverter connected to the second converter through a second inverter first input node and a second inverter second input node and providing a second inverter first output node and a second inverter second output node; and a common output node connected to the first inverter first output node and the second inverter first output node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
    Inventors: Noureldeen Mohamed Elsayad, Osama Mohammed
  • Patent number: 10530272
    Abstract: A voltage source converter includes a number of converter modules, one for each of a number of phases, connected in-series between two DC terminals. Each converter module includes an upper director valve in series with a lower director valve, where a junction between the two provides a primary AC terminal, an upper wayshaper section, a common waveshaper block and a lower waveshaper section in parallel with the valves, where the upper and lower waveshaper sections include multilevel cells and the common waveshaper block include at least one common waveshaper connected between the upper and lower waveshaper sections, a first switching element connected between a secondary AC terminal and the upper waveshaper section and a second switching element connected between the secondary AC terminal and the lower waveshaper section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Praveen Kumar Barupati, Hongbo Jiang, Alireza Nami, Sasitharan Subramanian, Vishal Vekhande
  • Patent number: 10523063
    Abstract: Disclosed are devices, systems, and methods for reducing common mode noise induced in wireless charging circuits of electronic devices. For an electronic device having an inductive receiving coil near an electric shielding layer, differences in parasitic capacitances of the loops of the inductive receiving coil with an electric shielding layer can induce common mode noise. Common mode noise is reduced by a noise-reduction capacitor from the inductive receiving coil to the electric shielding layer together with a grounding resistor from the electric shielding layer to a common ground of the wireless charging circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Weihong Qiu, Rohan Dayal, Zaki Moussaoui
  • Patent number: 10476464
    Abstract: A common mode filter device (2) comprises two LC-filters (21, 22) which are serially connected, two transformers (23, 25) and an active current control circuit (24). The transformers are dedicated to sensing a common mode current and injecting compensation currents driven by the current control circuit. The transformers provide electric isolation between the current control circuit and power-transferring connections of the common mode filter device. Continuing operation of an electrical apparatus which is power-supplied through the common mode filter device is also ensured in case of failure of the current control circuit, with the LC-filters still producing partial common mode filter function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Luc Rambaud, Stefan Mollov
  • Patent number: 10439507
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system to control a multi-phase converter having at least one power channel with a plurality of power modules, and involves detecting the voltage and the current of the power modules, calculating a command voltage based on a product of a programmed virtual resistance and the detected current, and transmitting a command voltage signal to the power modules based on the calculated command voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: GE ENERGY POWER CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY LTD.
    Inventors: Shyam Sunder Ramamurthy, Christopher Joseph Lee, Luke Anthony Solomon
  • Patent number: 10404156
    Abstract: There is provided a power converter which can suppress a surge voltage and reduce noise flowing from an input of a power changer. The power converter includes an inverter circuit 140, a capacitor 514 for smoothing DC power, a capacitor 515 for removing noise, and conductors 564p and 564n. The conductors 564p and 564n are connected to the capacitors 514 and 515 when power side terminals 562p and 562n are connected to an inverter circuit 140, and power source side terminals 561p and 561n are connected to a battery 136. In the conductors 564p and 564n, a parasitic inductance L1 between capacitor terminals 563p and 563n and capacitor terminals 560p and 560n is larger than a parasitic inductance L2 between capacitor terminals 563p and 563n and the power side terminals 562p and 562n.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Youhei Nishizawa, Kaname Sasaki, Yutaka Okubo, Yuki Fujita
  • Patent number: 10374504
    Abstract: A power unit includes: a plurality of power converters, a first output terminal of one of two adjacent power converters among the plurality of power converters is connected successively to a second output terminal of the other one of the two adjacent power converters; a local controller configured to output a plurality of control signals; and a plurality of driving circuits configured to output driving signals according to the plurality of control signals, to drive the plurality of power semiconductor switches to be turned on and off, wherein the control signals corresponding to the power semiconductor switches in the same position of the plurality of power converters are the same, the power semiconductor switches in the same position of the plurality of power converters are simultaneously turned on and off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Delta Electronics (Shanghai) CO., LTD
    Inventors: Jianping Ying, Ming Wang, Xiaobo Huang, Jun Liu
  • Patent number: 10367423
    Abstract: Each DC/DC converter includes a transformer, first and second switching circuits each formed of a plurality of legs having a plurality of semiconductor switching elements, capacitors, a discharge circuit connected in parallel to the secondary side capacitor, and a bypass switch for bypassing the capacitor. When detecting a malfunction in semiconductor switching elements, a control circuit turns OFF all of the semiconductor switching elements, and controls the bypass switch after discharge of the capacitor through the discharge circuit, so that the capacitor is bypassed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Takushi Jimichi, Nils Soltau, Murat Kaymak, Rik W. De Doncker
  • Patent number: 10170914
    Abstract: A Voltage Source Converter control system for active damping of a resonance oscillation in the VSC includes a regular Phase-Locked Loop 2, and a slow PLL 3. The control system is arranged such that an imaginary part of the AD is obtainable from the slow PLL. The slow PLL is configured for having a closed-loop bandwidth which is less than a frequency, in a synchronous dq frame, of the resonance oscillation to be dampened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventor: Lennart Harnefors
  • Patent number: 10158328
    Abstract: Various envelope tracking amplifiers are presented that can be switched between an ET (envelope tracking) mode and a non-ET mode. Switches and/or tunable components are utilized in constructing the envelope tracking amplifiers that can be switched between the ET mode and the non-ET mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: pSemi Corporation
    Inventors: Dan William Nobbe, Jeffrey A. Dykstra, Chris Olson, James S. Cable
  • Patent number: 10103689
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the photoelectric field, and provides a power supply system and a power supply method, so as to reduce costs of a lead between a positive electrode or a negative electrode of a photovoltaic panel and a direct current voltage source. The power supply system includes: a photovoltaic panel string, an inverter connected to the photovoltaic panel string, and a transformer connected to the inverter. The power supply system further includes a voltage controller. The voltage controller includes a first terminal, a second terminal, and a third terminal. The voltage controller further includes: a first sampling unit, a control unit connected to the first sampling unit, and an inverter unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yunyan Xu, Yongbing Gao
  • Patent number: 10044220
    Abstract: When the power is normally supplied from the commercial power supply, the storage battery is charged by reducing the DC voltage by the charge/discharge chopper. The switching unit is provided in the previous stage of the converter. When the commercial power supply is in an abnormal state, the three-phase AC converter is operated as three discharge choppers connected in parallel by supplying the power of the storage battery to the converter and boosting the power by the switching element included in the converter. The power of the storage battery is boosted by the charge/discharge chopper, and a part of the discharging power is supplied. One three-phase AC reactor is provided in the previous stage of the converter, and the three-phase AC reactor has three coils, magnetic leg iron cores having the coils winding around them, and one leg without a coil winding around it connected in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuichiro Konishi, Atsuo Nishihara, Keisuke Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 9987937
    Abstract: A two layer predictive controller for bidirectional inductive power transfer can include: a first layer controller generating a mutual inductance and a reference active power; and a second layer controller receiving the mutual inductance and the reference active power, and generating a primary phase shift, a secondary phase shift, and a differential phase shift; the primary phase shift configured to manage a magnitude of an output voltage of a primary inverter; the secondary phase shift configured to manage a magnitude of an output voltage of a secondary inverter; and the differential phase shift being a phase difference between the output voltage of the primary inverter and the output voltage of the secondary inverter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: The Florida International University Board of Trustees
    Inventors: Ahmed A. S. Mohamed, Osama A. Mohammed
  • Patent number: 9923449
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a damping apparatus of a converter system, which compensates an input voltage reference being transmitted to a converter to damp an output current of a harmonic filter that is connected between an output end of the converter and a system, including a voltage reference compensation unit configured to compensate for the input voltage reference using a ratio between inductances of inductors included in the harmonic filter; a capacitor voltage value compensation unit configured to compensate for a voltage value of a capacitor included in the harmonic filter using the ratio between the inductances of the inductors; and a voltage reference generation unit configured to generate a final voltage reference by subtracting the compensated voltage value of the capacitor from the compensated input voltage reference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: LSIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Byung-Geuk Cho
  • Patent number: 9837922
    Abstract: A method is disclosed in one embodiment for discharging DC link capacitors. In one form the method includes switching a first half bridge of a first converter unit to a positive state, in which its AC output is connected with its positive DC output, and simultaneously switching a second half bridge of a second converter unit to a negative state, in which its AC output is connected with its negative DC output, such that a DC link capacitor of the first converter unit and a DC link capacitor of the second converter unit are interconnected oppositely to each other and discharged via the electrical filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: ABB Technology Oy
    Inventors: Matthias Lüscher, Juerg Rauchenstein, Christian Stulz
  • Patent number: 9825556
    Abstract: An inverter includes a three-winding transformer, a DC-AC inverter electrically coupled to the first winding of the transformer, a cycloconverter electrically coupled to the second winding of the transformer, and an active filter electrically coupled to the third winding of the transformer. The DC-AC inverter is adapted to convert the input DC waveform to an AC waveform delivered to the transformer at the first winding. The cycloconverter is adapted to convert an AC waveform received at the second winding of the transformer to the output AC waveform having a grid frequency of the AC grid. The active filter is adapted to sink and source power with one or more energy storage devices based on a mismatch in power between the DC source and the AC grid. At least two of the DC-AC inverter, the cycloconverter, or the active filter are electrically coupled via a common reference electrical interconnect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: SunPower Corporation
    Inventor: Fernando Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 9812951
    Abstract: A power factor correction voltage controller is disclosed. In one embodiment, the controller has a linear PI compensator, a moving average filter, a non-linear error circuit, a hysteretic peak control, and an output power feedforward. The power factor correction voltage controller provides regulation of maximum and minimum voltage values but without allowing large periodic fluctuations in the input power/current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Pacific Power Source, Inc.
    Inventor: Maximiliano O. Sonnaillon
  • Patent number: 9806618
    Abstract: A first conversion circuit is electrically connected between a reference potential point and a first input point on a high potential side of a direct current power supply. A second conversion circuit is electrically connected between the reference potential point and a second input point on a low potential side of the direct current power supply. A voltage-regulating circuit is configured to adjust a magnitude of an applied voltage to the first conversion circuit and the second conversion circuit. The voltage-regulating circuit is configured to increase the magnitude of the applied voltage over time during a start time period from a start of supplying power from the direct current power supply until a first capacitor and a second capacitor are charged to a specified voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazunori Kidera, Mariko Kifuji
  • Patent number: 9748863
    Abstract: The cascaded multilevel inverter is considered to be a promising topology alternative for low-cost and high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) systems. However, the leakage current issue, resulting from the stray capacitances between the PV panels and the earth, remains a challenge in the photovoltaic cascaded multilevel inverter application. The present invention presents leakage current suppression solutions for the PV cascaded multilevel inverter by introducing properly arranged and designed passive filters. The embodiments of the invention do not include an active semiconductor device, and as such, the leakage current suppression techniques of the present invention retain the simple structure of the cascaded inverter and do not complicate the associated control system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.
    Inventors: Yan Zhou, Hui Li
  • Patent number: 9722484
    Abstract: A noise filter circuit uses open loop signal processing to process the signal that causes the noise and generate a signal to be fed back into the system to cancel noise currents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Juergen Stahl, Thomas Antonius Duerbaum, Jens Goettle, Alexander Pawellek, Anton Cornelis Blom, Hans Halberstadt, Frans Pansier
  • Patent number: 9667128
    Abstract: Power conversion systems and methods are presented for detecting filter capacitor resonance conditions in a power conversion system in which filter currents are measured and filtered using a bandpass filter, and one or more computed mean, RMS, and/or Fourier transform values are computed based on the filtered value(s). The computed measurement value or values are compared with a predetermined threshold and a suspected filter capacitor resonance condition is selectively identified based on comparison result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yogesh Popatlal Patel, Lixiang Wei
  • Patent number: 9531296
    Abstract: The present invention provides a power conversion device in which an on-pulse bias voltage and a neutral-point bias voltage do not interfere with each other. A power conversion device 1 of the present invention has a polarity judgment section 8 that judges a polarity of a neutral-point bias voltage VNPC calculated by a neutral-point potential fluctuation suppression control section 4 of a voltage command value control circuit 3, then on the basis of this polarity of the neutral-point bias voltage VNPC, selects a polarity of an on-pulse bias voltage VMPC by an on-pulse control section 5. With this control, it is possible to prevent for the polarities of the neutral-point bias voltage VNPC and the on-pulse bias voltage VMPC from being different then prevent for the both bias voltages from interfering with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: MEIDENSHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shota Urushibata, Masakazu Muneshima, Hui Zhang
  • Patent number: 9515577
    Abstract: There is provided a device including: an inverter 5 including switching elements 51-52 for outputting a U-phase voltage and switching elements 53-54 for outputting a W-phase voltage; midpoint capacitors 31-32; a midpoint stabilizer 2 configured to regulate a power storage amount of each of the midpoint capacitor 31 and the midpoint capacitor 32; and a controller 7 configured to control the switching elements 51-54 so as to supply a desired U-phase voltage and a desired W-phase voltage based on voltages between the U-phase voltage line and the neutral line and the voltage between the W-phase voltage line and the neutral line, and control the midpoint stabilizer 2 so as to adjust the midpoint potential in the O phase based on the condition of the midpoint potential in an O phase at a connecting point between the midpoint capacitor 31 and the midpoint capacitor 32.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazunori Kidera, Hideki Tamura, Ichirou Katou
  • Patent number: 9503013
    Abstract: To suppress a decline in the control accuracy of an applied voltage associated with an increase in quantum noise, and to increase the control accuracy of a motor speed. When generating a driving voltage signal supplied to a motor from a driving command signal, a motor-driving voltage control device reduces the gradation level and performs noise-shaping modulation before performing PWM modulation. Reducing the gradation level allows the degree of gradation of the driving voltage signal to be within the resolution range of the PWM modulation, and thus PWM modulation can be performed even when the driving voltage signal has a high frequency. Noise-shaping modulation reduces the level of quantum noise near the low frequency range by causing the quantum noise due to digitization, included in the driving voltage signal, to be biased toward the high frequency range side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: Schaft Inc.
    Inventors: Junichi Urata, Masayuki Inaba
  • Patent number: 9473210
    Abstract: A power transmitting device includes a resonance circuit, a first signal generating unit, and a second signal generating unit. The resonance circuit is used in non-contact power transmission. The first signal generating unit is connected to one end of the resonance circuit, and generates, with the use of a switching system, a first high-frequency signal including one or more harmonic components. The second signal generating unit is connected to an other end of the resonance circuit, and generates, with the use of a switching system, a second high-frequency signal including a specific harmonic component. The first high-frequency signal is adjusted in pulse width and input to the one end of the resonance circuit, and the second high-frequency signal is adjusted in pulse width and phase difference from the first high-frequency signal and input to the other end of the resonance circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Shinji Komiyama
  • Patent number: 9461538
    Abstract: It is presented a DC/DC converter for converting power between a first DC connection comprising a first positive terminal and a first negative terminal, and a second DC connection comprising a second positive terminal and a second negative terminal. The DC/DC converter comprises: a first multilevel converter and a second multilevel converter connected serially between the first positive terminal and the first negative terminal, wherein the second positive terminal is connected to a point between the first multilevel converter and the second multilevel converter; and a first filter connected between an AC terminal of the first multilevel converter and an AC terminal of the second multilevel converter, wherein the first filter comprises a capacitor and an inductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: ABB TECHNOLOGY LTD
    Inventors: Kailash Srivastava, Roberto Alves, Michal Lazarczyk
  • Patent number: 9450512
    Abstract: A method for the operational control of an inverter designed for DC/AC voltage conversion that has at least one direct-voltage input and that can be connected to a power supply grid via at least one alternating-voltage output, the inverter being involved in a power flow interaction with the grid in such a manner that, during operation of the inverter, a leakage current IA can occur, wherein the leakage current IA is controlled in the operational control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: SMA SOLAR TECHNOLOGY AG
    Inventors: Sven Bremicker, Karel De Brabandere, Tobias Mueller
  • Patent number: 9407169
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating AC power. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a DC/AC inversion stage capable of generating at least two of a single-phase output power, a two-phase output power, and a three-phase output power; and a conversion control module, coupled to the DC/AC inversion stage, for driving the DC/AC inversion stage to (i) generate the single-phase output power while an input power is less than a first threshold, and (ii) operate in burst mode while the input power satisfies a burst mode threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: Enphase Energy, Inc.
    Inventor: Martin Fornage
  • Patent number: 9407135
    Abstract: A power conversion apparatus includes a power converter, an LC filter, and a controller. The power converter is disposed between an AC power source and a load. The LC filter is disposed between the AC power source and the power converter. The controller controls the power converter to perform power conversion control between the AC power source and the load. The controller includes a command generator, an oscillation component acquirer, a regulator, and an actuator. The command generator generates an input current command including a command of an input current of the power converter. The oscillation component acquirer acquires an oscillation component of a current flowing through a capacitor of the LC filter. The regulator regulates the input current command based on the oscillation component acquired by the oscillation component acquirer. The actuator controls the power converter based on the input current command regulated by the regulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA YASKAWA DENKI
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kinomura, Takahiro Saeki
  • Patent number: 9392676
    Abstract: A discharge lamp lighting device includes: a DC power supply unit that outputs a DC current; an inverter that sequentially generates, from the DC current output from the DC power supply unit, a current pulse whose current direction alternately changes to supply the current pulse to a discharge lamp; and a control unit that controls operations of the DC power supply unit and the inverter to adjust a waveform of the current pulse to be supplied to the discharge lamp, wherein the control unit changes a pulse width of the current pulse every pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuo Okawa
  • Patent number: 9312779
    Abstract: A power converter, control apparatus and methods are presented for driving a permanent magnet motor or other load through a sine wave filter and a transformer, in which inverter output current is controlled using a current-frequency relationship to convert a desired frequency or speed value to a current setpoint, and the inverter output current is regulated to the current setpoint using a control algorithm with a bandwidth below the resonant frequency of the sine wave filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jingbo Liu, Thomas Nondahl, Peter Schmidt, Semyon Royak
  • Patent number: 9298204
    Abstract: A load control device includes an input and an output connectable to an AC source and an AC load, respectively, with one or more supply lines each corresponding to a phase in the load connecting the input and output. Line-side switches are connected between a line terminal and load terminal, and floating-neutral side switches are connected to the load terminal at one end and at a common neutral connection at another end. A controller determines a direction of current flow on each of the supply lines, determines a switching pattern for each of the line-side switches and each of the floating-neutral side switches based on the determined direction of current flow, and causes each of the line-side switches and floating-neutral side switches to operate in an On condition or an Off condition according to the determined switching pattern, such that a controlled uninterrupted current is provided to the AC load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Zeljko Radomir Jankovic, Vijay Bhavaraju, Bruno Patrice-Bernard Lequesne, Yakov Lvovich Familiant
  • Patent number: 9271432
    Abstract: A power conversion device includes an inverter that drives a motor; a fin that cools down the inverter; a first core including a through hole that allows passage of a positive side conductor that connects a power supply system and the inverter and a negative side conductor that grounds the inverter; a ground conductor that grounds the fin; a ground conductor that grounds a motor yoke via a capacitor; and a ground conductor including one end that is connected to the negative side conductor or the ground conductor and the other end that is grounded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryo Yokozutsumi, Akihiro Murahashi, Takushi Jimichi, Satoshi Azuma, Yasuhiro Shiraki
  • Patent number: 9225256
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for controlling the delivery of power from a DC source to an AC grid includes an inverter configured to deliver power from the unipolar input source to the AC grid and an inverter controller. The inverter includes an input converter, an active filter, and an output converter. The inverter controller includes an input converter controller, an active filter controller and an output converter controller. The input converter controller is configured to control a current delivered by the input converter to a galvanically isolated unipolar bus of the inverter. The output converter is configured to control the output converter to deliver power to the AC grid. Additionally, the active filter controller is configured to control the active filter to supply substantially all the power that is deliver by the output controller to the AC grid at a grid frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: SUNPOWER CORPORATION
    Inventors: Patrick L. Chapman, Brian T. Kuhn, Robert S. Balog, Jonathan W. Kimball, Philip T. Krein, Alexander Gray, Trishan Esram
  • Patent number: 9215807
    Abstract: The described embodiments relate generally to electronic components and more specifically to a capacitor array that can increase component density on a printed circuit board and reduce a distance to a ground plane. An array of capacitors can be formed by coupling a group of capacitors on their sides interspersed with interposer boards. The resulting configuration can increase component density and reduce an amount of resistance and effective series inductance between a set of power decoupling capacitors and an integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shawn X. Arnold, Jeffrey M. Thoma
  • Patent number: 9184158
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate; a diode-built-in insulated-gate bipolar transistor having an insulated-gate bipolar transistor and a diode, which are disposed in the substrate, wherein the insulated-gate bipolar transistor includes a gate, and is driven with a driving signal input into the gate; and a feedback unit for detecting current passing through the diode. The driving signal is input from an external unit into the feedback unit. The feedback unit passes the driving signal to the gate of the insulated-gate bipolar transistor when the feedback unit detects no current through the diode, and the feedback unit stops passing the driving signal to the gate of the insulated-gate bipolar transistor when the feedback unit detects the current through the diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kenji Kouno
  • Patent number: 9172271
    Abstract: According to one aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a method of operating a UPS system having a first UPS and a second UPS coupled in parallel to provide output power to a load from a power source, each of the first UPS and the second UPS having an inverter and having a bypass switch, with each UPS configured to operate in one of an inverter mode in which output power is derived from the power source through the inverter, and a bypass mode in which output power is derived from the power source bypassing the inverter, the method comprising powering on the first UPS and the second UPS in the inverter mode of operation, designating one of the first UPS and the second UPS as a master UPS, and controlling the bypass switch of the first UPS and the bypass switch of the second UPS using the master UPS.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC IT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mirza Akmal Beg, Eyob Demissie, Venkatraman Chennakesavan, Michael J. Ingemi
  • Patent number: 9130542
    Abstract: A noise filter disclosed herein is configured to suppress a common mode voltage that is generated in cables connected to an electric power converter. The noise filter includes: detecting capacitors connected to the cables, respectively, and configured to detect the common mode voltage; an operational amplifier having a positive input terminal via which the common mode voltage detected by the detecting capacitors is inputted; an emitter follower circuit having an input terminal connected to an output terminal of the operational amplifier and having an output terminal connected to a negative input terminal of the operational amplifier; and a transformer configured to apply a compensating voltage to each of the cables by applying a voltage at the output terminal of the emitter follower circuit to each of the cables in opposite phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Ishihara, Kazuji Yamazaki, Naoto Kikuchi, Yoshitoshi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 9118270
    Abstract: A motor control device includes a rectifier, an inverter connected to the rectifier via the DC link, a power failure detecting unit detecting power failure, a voltage detecting unit detecting a DC voltage at the DC link, an electric storage unit storing DC power, a charging unit that can make charging by boosting to a voltage higher than the DC voltage, a discharging unit discharging DC power, a resistance discharge device that performs resistance discharging of DC power at the DC link when the DC voltage after power failure is equal to or higher than a predetermined start level and that does not perform resistance discharging when the DC voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined stop level, and a discharging operation determining unit operating the discharging unit when the DC voltage at the DC link after power failure is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
    Inventors: Masakazu Niwa, Kenta Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9082540
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a common mode filter and a method of manufacturing the same. In order to implement a common mode filter with low shrinkage, high substrate sintered density, and high strength, the present invention provides a common mode filter including: a lower substrate; an insulating layer having a conductor pattern inside and provided on the lower substrate; an upper substrate provided on the insulating layer; and a ferrite core made of ferrite and provided in the center of the insulating layer, the lower substrate, and the upper substrate by penetrating the insulating layer, the lower substrate, and the upper substrate, and a method of manufacturing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yong Suk Kim, Sung Kwon Wi, Jeong Bok Kwak, Sang Moon Lee, Won Chul Sim, Young Seuck Yoo