US5561597A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Compact and efficient transformerless power conversion system
Assignee: NEWVAR LLC
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Filing: 1994-10-14
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Granted: 1996-10-01
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Expires: 2014-10-14
Abstract
Abstract A novel power conversion system includes an energy storage circuit including a plurality of capacitors forming multiple stages, wherein each of the multiple stages includes one or more of the capacitors; a charging circuit connected to the energy storage circuit and during a charging cycle charging the plurality of capacitors from a voltage source to a predetermined voltage; a circuit for inverting the polarity of the voltage across selected capacitors; and a discharging circuit connected to the energy storage circuit and during a discharging cycle extracting power from the plurality of connected capacitors at a transformed voltage. The energy storage circuit further includes an interstage coupling circuit that provides interconnections interconnecting the capacitor stages. During the charging cycle, the interstage coupling circuit assumes one of two modes and during the discharging cycle, it assumes the other of the two modes. In the first mode, the interconnections have low impedance and in the second mode, the interconnections have high impedance.
Inventors
- 👤 Rudolf Limpaecher
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 06:05
CPC Classifications
H; H03; H03K; H03K17/00; H03K17/08; H03K17/081; H03K17/0814; H03K17/08144; H02; H02M; H02M3/00; H02M3/02; H02M3/04; H02M3/06; H02M3/07; H02J; H02J3/00; H02J3/18; H02J3/1821; H02J3/1835; H02J3/1864; H02M3/10; H02M3/125; H02M3/135; H02M3/137; H02M3/142; H02M3/145; H02M3/155; H02M3/156; H02M3/158; H02M5/00; H02M5/02; H02M5/04; H02M5/22; H02M5/25; H02M5/257; H02M5/2573; H02M7/00; H02M7/02; H02M7/04; H02M7/12; H02M7/145; H02M7/155; H02M7/1552; H02M7/42; H02M7/44; H02M7/48; H02M7/4826; H02M7/483; Y; Y02; Y02B; Y02B70/00; Y02B70/10; Y02E; Y02E40/00; Y02E40/10; Y02E40/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 44
Claim 1
Independent Claim
199 words
A power conversion system comprising: an energy storage circuit including a plurality of capacitors forming multiple stages, wherein each of said multiple stages includes one or more of said plurality of capacitors; a charging circuit connected to said energy storage circuit, said charging circuit during a charging phase charging said plurality of capacitors from a voltage source to a predetermined voltage; a voltage inverting circuit connected to said energy storage circuit and which during an inverting phase inverts the polarity of the voltage across selected capacitors of said plurality of capacitors; and a discharging circuit connected to said energy storage circuit, said discharging circuit during a discharging phase extracting power from said plurality of connected capacitors at a transformed voltage, wherein said energy storage circuit further comprises an interstage coupling circuit that provides interconnections interconnecting said plurality of stages and wherein during the charging phase said interstage coupling circuit assumes one of two modes and during said discharging phase said interstage coupling assumes the other of said two modes, said two modes being a first mode and a second mode, in said first mode said interconnections having low impedance and in said second mode said interconnections having high impedance.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
199 words
A power conversion system comprising: an energy storage circuit including a plurality of capacitors forming multiple stages, wherein each of said multiple stages includes one or more of said plurality of capacitors; a charging circuit connected to said energy storage circuit, said charging circuit during a charging phase charging said plurality of capacitors from a voltage source to a predetermined voltage; a voltage inverting circuit connected to said energy storage circuit and which during an inverting phase inverts the polarity of the voltage across selected capacitors of said plurality of capacitors; and a discharging circuit connected to said energy storage circuit, said discharging circuit during a discharging phase extracting power from said plurality of connected capacitors at a transformed voltage, wherein said energy storage circuit further comprises an interstage coupling circuit that provides interconnections interconnecting said plurality of stages and wherein during the charging phase said interstage coupling circuit assumes one of two modes and during said discharging phase said interstage coupling assumes the other of said two modes, said two modes being a first mode and a second mode, in said first mode said interconnections having low impedance and in said second mode said interconnections having high impedance.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein the interstage coupling circuit comprises unidirectional devices to switch the impedance of the interconnections between low impedance and high impedance.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
16 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein said charging circuit is a resonant charging circuit.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
14 words
The power conversion system of claim 3 wherein said resonant charging circuit is resistor-free.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein said discharging circuit is a resonant discharging circuit.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The power conversion system of claim 5 wherein said resonant discharging circuit is resistor-free.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein during the charging phase said interstage coupling circuit is in said first mode and during said discharging phase said interstage coupling circuit is in said second mode.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
35 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein during the charging phase said interstage coupling circuit is in said second mode and during said discharging phase said interstage coupling circuit is in said first mode.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
52 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 further comprising a control circuit controlling the operation of the charging circuit, the inverting circuit and the discharging circuit, said control circuit establishing the charging phase, the inverting phase in which said inverting circuit inverts the polarity of said selected capacitors, and the discharging phase.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein the control circuit causes the inverting phase and the discharging phase to overlap in time.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
48 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein a complete cycle of operation includes at least one charging phase, an inversion phase and at least one discharging phase, and wherein said control circuit causes said power conversion system to go through multiple complete cycles of operation per second.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
29 words
The power conversion system of claim 11 wherein said control circuit causes said power conversion system to go through more than about 18 complete cycles of operation per second.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The power conversion system of claim 11 wherein said control circuit causes said power conversion system to go through more N complete cycles of operation per second, where N is in the thousands.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
51 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said inverting circuit includes a plurality of inductor circuits, each of which can be switchably coupled to a corresponding different one of the selected capacitors to form a resonant circuit which aids in inverting the polarity of a stored charge in that capacitor.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
The power conversion system of claim 14 wherein said inverting circuit comprises a plurality of unidirectional switching devices for electrically coupling each of said inductor circuits to its corresponding one of said plurality of capacitors.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
The power conversion system of claim 15 wherein each inductor circuit is connected across its corresponding capacitor and comprises an inductor in series with a unidirectional switch.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 further comprising a high frequency output filter through which the extracted power passes.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
The power conversion system of claim 17 further comprising a high frequency input filter through which said plurality of capacitors are charged during the charging phase.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein the charging circuit comprises an inductor which is connected in series with the voltage source.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
27 words
The power conversion system of claim 19 wherein the charging circuit comprises an inductor and a unidirectional switch which are connected in series with the voltage source.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
34 words
The power conversion system of claim 20 wherein the unidirectional switch of the charging circuit electrically couples the inductor of the charging circuit to said plurality of capacitors to form a resonance charging circuit.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
27 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein the charging circuit charges said plurality of capacitors so that the polarities of the charged series connected capacitors alternate.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
36 words
The power conversion system of claim 22 wherein the inverting circuit inverts the polarity of every other one of said plurality of capacitors so that the polarities of the charged series connected capacitors are the same.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
75 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of capacitors comprises N capacitor stages each of which includes two of said plurality of capacitors connected in series and has a first and second terminal and a charging terminal electrically coupled to the point at which the two capacitors in that stage are connected together, wherein said charging circuit charges said N capacitor stages through said charging terminals, and wherein N is an integer.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
40 words
The power conversion system of claim 24 wherein said charging circuit includes a switching means for electrically coupling the first and second terminals of each of said capacitor stages to a common point during the charging of said capacitor stages.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
33 words
The power conversion system of claim 25 wherein each of said plurality of inductor circuits is connected across the first terminal and charging terminal of a corresponding different one of said capacitor stages.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
13 words
The power conversion system of claim 24 wherein N is greater than one.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
59 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of capacitors are connected in series and wherein the series connected capacitors have a first terminal at one end and a second terminal at the other end and the discharging circuit electrically couples to the first and second terminals of said series connected capacitors to produce the transformed voltage.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
28 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein the charging circuit charges said plurality of capacitors so that the polarities of the charged capacitors are all the same.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
42 words
The power conversion system of claim 29 wherein the plurality of capacitors are connected in series and wherein the inverting circuit inverts the polarity of every other one of said series connected capacitors so that the polarities of the charged capacitors alternate.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
78 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of capacitors comprises N capacitor stages each of which includes two of said plurality of capacitors connected in series and has a first and second terminal and a discharging terminal electrically coupled to the point at which the two capacitors in that stage are connected together, wherein said discharging charging circuit extracts power from said N capacitor stages through said discharging terminals, and wherein N is an integer.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
61 words
The power conversion system of claim 31 wherein said inverting circuit comprises a plurality of inductor circuits and wherein each of said plurality of inductor circuits is connected across the first terminal and the discharging terminal of a corresponding different one of said N capacitor stages so as to invert the polarity of one of the two capacitors in that stage.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
35 words
The power conversion system of claim 1 wherein the discharge circuit comprises an output inductor and a unidirectional switch which couples power from the plurality of capacitors into the output inductor during the discharge phase.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
33 words
The power conversion system of claim 33 wherein the discharge circuit further comprises a unidirectional device preventing the output inductor from reversing the polarity of the plurality of capacitors during the discharge phase.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
47 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said discharging circuit transfers power to a load and wherein said control circuit monitors said load and controls the operation of the charging circuit, the inverting circuit and the discharging circuit to produce a regulated output to said load.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
26 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said control circuit operates said charging, inverting, and discharging circuits to produce a predetermined output current pulse shape.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
30 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said control circuit operates said charging, inverting, and discharging circuits to produce a sequence of output current pulse shapes of varying amplitude.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
33 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said voltage source is a DC voltage source and said control circuit operates said charging, inverting, and discharging circuits to synthesize an AC voltage output.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
50 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 further comprising a filter circuit that filters the transformed voltage to produce an output voltage, wherein said control circuit includes means for monitoring the output voltage and wherein said control circuit operates said charging, inverting, and discharging circuits to regulate the output voltage.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
57 words
The power conversion system of claim 39 further comprising a filter circuit that filters the AC voltage output to produce a filtered AC output voltage, wherein said control circuit includes means for monitoring the filtered AC output voltage and wherein said control circuit operates said charging, inverting, and discharging circuits to regulate the filtered AC output voltage.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
53 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said voltage source is an AC signal source of a frequency f s and wherein said control circuit operates said charging, inverting and discharging circuits to synthesize an AC output signal having a frequency f o that is different from the frequency f s .
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
91 words
The power conversion system of claim 9 wherein said charging circuit comprises a plurality of charge transfer circuits each connected to a different phase of a multiphase AC power line and said discharging circuit comprises a plurality of charge injection circuits each connected to a different phase of the multiphase AC power line and wherein said control circuit operates said plurality of charge transfer circuits and said plurality of charge injection circuits to transfer charge from one phase of said multiphase power line to another phase of said multiphase power line.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
38 words
The power conversion system of claim 42 wherein said control circuit selects the other phase into which charge is transferred so as to alter the phase angle of the AC signal into which the extracted power is injected.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1999-10-01 | 2000-04-01 | 2000-10-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-10-01 | 2004-04-01 | 2004-10-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2007-10-01 | 2008-04-01 | 2008-10-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |