Having Current Protection (e.g., Over Current, Short, Etc.) Patents (Class 363/56.03)
  • Patent number: 6587051
    Abstract: As the application range of solar power generation systems widens, a number of relatively compact and lightweight inverters must be installed outdoors. However, an inverter has no burglarproof function at all. A burglarproof device which switches the state of the burglarproof function upon receiving a burglarproof function state change signal, and outputs an alarm signal when the output signal output in the alarm state from a connection detection section indicates that the power supply or load is disconnected is added to the inverter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Takehara, Naoki Manabe
  • Patent number: 6556458
    Abstract: An inverter device includes a DC power supply, an inversion section connected via a DC power supply line to the DC power supply to be supplied with DC voltage from the DC power supply, thereby delivering AC voltage, a current-detecting resistor connected to the DC power supply line and having both ends, and a current detector detecting current on the basis of voltage developed across both ends of the current-detecting resistor. The current detector includes a voltage-dividing resistor, connected between a level-shift power supply line having a predetermined level-shift voltage and one of the ends of the current-detecting resistor, the voltage-dividing resistor having a voltage-dividing point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Naoki Ohmura, Kazunobu Nagai
  • Patent number: 6519164
    Abstract: A method and circuit for clamping a voltage across a switching element in a forward converter circuit to a value equal to or less than the DC bus voltage. The disclosed circuit and method achieves voltage clamping in a circuit configuration in which two series connected direct current (DC) bus capacitors are connected in parallel with a switching element to be clamped. Clamping is further achieved by selecting capacitor values to be sufficiently large so as to maintain a constant voltage throughout each switching cycle of the switching element. The capacitors serve a second function in that they recover energy stored in the windings of an isolation transformer which would otherwise be dissipated in a conventional circuit design.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventors: DaFeng Weng, Jinrong Qian
  • Publication number: 20020163820
    Abstract: A power converter apparatus comprises a detection circuit, a control circuit and a time period generating circuit. The detection circuit detects whether a power device is in a short-circuit state. The control circuit sets, when the detection circuit has detected that the power device is in the short-circuit state, the power device in an inoperable state for a predetermined time period, and restores the power device to an operable state after the passing of the predetermined time period. The time period generating circuit defines the predetermined time period for setting the power device in the inoperable state, by measuring a time from the detection of the short-circuit state by the detection circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2002
    Publication date: November 7, 2002
    Inventor: Norihito Nakamura
  • Patent number: 6477068
    Abstract: An apparatus for supplying and controlling electrical power having a power source for supplying electrical power to a primary load and a secondary load, a capacitor connected to an input to the secondary load and control means operable to cause an operating condition of the apparatus to temporarily change from, a operating condition in which power from the power source is supplied to the primary and secondary loads to an alternative operating condition in which power from the power source is supplied to the primary load but is supplied to the secondary load thereby increasing the minimum voltage the capacitor can maintain at the input to the secondary load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Assignee: Lucas Industries Limited
    Inventors: David R Trainer, Anthony P O'Carrol, Paul A Kendall
  • Patent number: 6466465
    Abstract: A method reducing transient overshoot of an output signal of an uninterruptable power supply, the uniterruptable power supply including: (a) an inverter having at least one power switch; (b) a digital controller that generates a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal for controlling the power switch, the PWM signal having a fixed period TPWM and (c) an analog to digital signal corresponding to the sampled output signal, the method comprising the steps of (1) operating the A/D converter to sample the output signal at a first time to generate a first sampled output value; (2) operating the A/D converter to sample the output signal at a second time to generate a second sampled output value, the period between the second time and the first time being equal to TPWM; (3) generating a control input value that is equal to 1.5 times the second sampled output value minus 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: Liebert Corporation
    Inventor: Mohammad N. Marwali
  • Patent number: 6353545
    Abstract: An inverter apparatus is provided such that it can limit the inrush current to a smoothing capacitor of a converter at the instant of connection to AC power line. The inverter apparatus comprises a converter (3); an inverter (4); a first smoothing capacitor (12) between positive and negative buses that connect the output of the converter and the inputs of the inverter; a first resistor (14) connected in either the positive or negative bus between the first smoothing capacitors (12) and the converter (3); and the first switch means (16) connected in parallel with the first resistor. A second smoothing capacitor (11) connected in series with a parallel circuit of a second resistor (13) and second switch means (15) is connected between the positive and negative buses between the converter (3) and the switch means (16).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2002
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventor: Hidefumi Ueda
  • Patent number: 6351398
    Abstract: A power supply controller having a multi-function terminal. In one embodiment, a power supply controller for switched mode power supply includes a drain terminal, a source terminal, a control terminal and a multi-function terminal. The multi-function terminal may be configured in a plurality of ways providing any one or some of a plurality of functions including on/off control, external current limit adjustments, under-voltage detection, over-voltage detection and maximum duty cycle adjustment. The operation of the multi-function terminal varies depending on whether a positive or negative current flows through the multi-function terminal. A short-circuit to ground from the multi-function terminal enables the power supply controller. A short-circuit to a supply voltage from the multi-function terminal disables the power supply controller. The current limit of an internal power switch of the power supply controller may be adjusted by externally setting a negative current from the multi-function terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: Power Integrations, Inc.
    Inventors: Balu Balakrishnan, Alex B. Djenguerian, Leif O. Lund
  • Publication number: 20010048605
    Abstract: The object is to reliably detect a ground fault of a solar battery. To detect a ground fault position to take an efficient measure against the ground fault, DC power input from a solar battery is converted into AC power and supplied to a system. In a system interconnection inverter (utility connected inverter) having non-insulated input and output, the input voltage of a converter circuit and/or the intermediate voltage between the converter circuit and an inverter circuit are varied to control the potential to ground at each portion of the solar battery to a value other than a value close to zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2001
    Publication date: December 6, 2001
    Inventors: Seiji Kurokami, Naoki Manabe, Nobuyoshi Takehara
  • Patent number: 6320769
    Abstract: In a solar power generation apparatus using a solar battery having a relatively large ground capacitor and a power conditioner having a non-insulated input and output, a customer's ground fault interrupter may perform unwanted interruption due to a ground fault outside the customer's premises. To prevent this, when a ground fault is detected by a detector capable of detecting a ground fault within a shorter time than the customer's ground fault interrupter, the gate of inverter of the power conditioner is blocked, a switch is changed to an open state, and the input voltage of inverter is held at a voltage value higher than the peak value of the alternate current voltage of a power system until at least the switch changes to the open state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2001
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Kurokami, Naoki Manabe, Nobuyoshi Takehara
  • Publication number: 20010004322
    Abstract: In a solar power generation apparatus using a solar battery having a relatively large ground capacitor and a power conditioner having a non-insulated input and output, a customer's ground fault interrupter may perform unwanted interruption due to a ground fault outside the customer's premises. To prevent this, when a ground fault is detected by a detector capable of detecting a ground fault within a shorter time than the customer's ground fault interrupter, the gate of inverter of the power conditioner is blocked, a switch is changed to an open state, and the input voltage of inverter is held at a voltage value higher than the peak value of the alternate current voltage of a power system until at least the switch changes to the open state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2000
    Publication date: June 21, 2001
    Inventors: Seiji Kurokami, Naoki Manabe, Nobuyoshi Takehara
  • Patent number: 6239993
    Abstract: A circuit associated with a power converter, a method of operation thereof and a power converter employing the circuit or the method. The power converter has a primary switching circuit coupled to a tapped primary winding of an isolation transformer and a rectifier coupled to a secondary winding of the isolation transformer. The circuit is coupled across a tapped portion of the tapped primary winding. In one embodiment, the circuit includes: (1) an inductor, configured to reduce current spikes in the primary switching circuit caused by a reverse recovery phenomenon associated with the rectifier and to effect substantially zero voltage switching of a power switch of the primary switching circuit; and (2) a diode, coupled to the inductor via the tapped portion, configured to clamp a voltage across the rectifier. The tapped portion is configured to enable energy from the inductor to be recovered within the power converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Simon Fraidlin, Andrey Frolov, Sergey Louzanov, Anatoliy Polikarpov
  • Patent number: 6233164
    Abstract: The protection circuit comprises a storage capacitor which is coupled with a terminal of a secondary winding which charges said storage capacitor during the on-interval of the switching transistor. During the off-interval of the switching transistor the charge of the storage capacitor is fed to the driver stage or the control capacitor for closing or keeping closed the switching transistor when one of the secondary windings has a short circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2001
    Assignee: Thomson Multimedia S.A.
    Inventors: Kum Yoong Zee, Kian Meng Koh, Seng Huat Ng