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US5546294A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Resonant converter with wide load range

Assignee: General Electric Co
•
Filing: 1995-07-24
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Granted: 1996-08-13
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Expires: 2015-07-24
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Abstract

Abstract Low-power auxiliary circuitry is added to a resonant converter for providing high efficiency operation, low EMI, and tight output voltage control over a wide load range. There is an auxiliary circuit corresponding to each half-bridge connection of main switching devices, each auxiliary circuit including a half-bridge connection of auxiliary switching devices with the junction therebetween coupled to the junction between the main switching devices of the corresponding half-bridge. Under heavy load conditions, sufficient energy is stored in the main resonant inductor to commutate the junctions joining the main switching devices in the resonant converter, resulting in zero-voltage switching for the main switching devices. Under light load conditions, a phase shift is introduced between the corresponding main and auxiliary switching devices, and the auxiliary resonant inductor currents are increased to a level sufficient for the sum of the main resonant inductor current and the corresponding auxiliary resonant inductor current to provide zero-voltage switching for all the bridge switching devices.

Inventors

  • 👤 Michael J. Schutten
  • 👤 Vlatko Vlatkovic
  • 👤 Robert L. Steigerwald

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 21:09
CPC Classifications
H; H02; H02M; H02M1/00; H02M1/44; H02M3/00; H02M3/22; H02M3/24; H02M3/28; H02M3/325; H02M3/335; H02M3/337; H02M3/3372; H02M7/00; H02M7/42; H02M7/44; H02M7/48; H02M7/53; H02M7/537; H02M7/5387; Y; Y02; Y02B; Y02B70/00; Y02B70/10; Y02P; Y02P80/00; Y02P80/10

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 113 words
A power converter, comprising: a resonant converter comprising a bridge connection of main switching devices and a resonant circuit comprising a main resonant inductance and a main resonant capacitance coupled to said main switching devices; and an auxiliary circuit corresponding to each half-bridge of said bridge connection of main switching devices, each of said auxiliary circuits comprising a half-bridge connection of auxiliary switching devices with a junction therebetween coupled to the junction between the main switching devices of the corresponding half-bridge, each of said auxiliary circuits further comprising an auxiliary resonant inductance coupled between the junction between the auxiliary switching devices and the junction between the main switching devices of the corresponding half-bridge.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 113 words
A power converter, comprising: a resonant converter comprising a bridge connection of main switching devices and a resonant circuit comprising a main resonant inductance and a main resonant capacitance coupled to said main switching devices; and an auxiliary circuit corresponding to each half-bridge of said bridge connection of main switching devices, each of said auxiliary circuits comprising a half-bridge connection of auxiliary switching devices with a junction therebetween coupled to the junction between the main switching devices of the corresponding half-bridge, each of said auxiliary circuits further comprising an auxiliary resonant inductance coupled between the junction between the auxiliary switching devices and the junction between the main switching devices of the corresponding half-bridge.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 23 words
The power converter of claim 1 wherein said bridge connection of main switching devices comprises a full-bridge connection of said main switching devices.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 27 words
The power converter of claim 1 wherein said bridge connection of main switching devices comprises a half-bridge connection of said main switching devices with a junction therebetween.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 28 words
The power converter of claim 1 wherein said resonant converter comprises a series resonant converter with said main resonant inductance and said main resonant capacitance connected in series.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 28 words
The power converter of claim 1 wherein said resonant converter comprises a parallel resonant converter with said main resonant inductance and said main resonant capacitance connected in parallel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 33 words
The power converter of claim 1 wherein said resonant converter comprises a series/parallel resonant converter comprising a combination of series and parallel connections of said main resonant inductance and said main resonant capacitance.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 19 words
The power converter of claim 1 wherein current in said auxiliary resonant inductors is controlled to provide zero-voltage switching.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 29 words
The power converter of claim 7 wherein the current in said auxiliary resonant inductors is controlled by controlling a phase shift between the corresponding main and auxiliary switching devices.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4916599A Cited
US4992919A Cited
US5267138A Cited
US5479337A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1999-08-13 2000-02-12 2000-08-13 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2003-08-13 2004-02-12 2004-08-13 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2007-08-13 2008-02-12 2008-08-13 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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