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US6750633B2 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Electrical circuit for generating a three-phase alternating current

Assignee: Semikron GmbH and Co KG
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Filing: 2002-11-18
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Granted: 2004-06-15
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Expires: 2022-11-18
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Abstract

Abstract An electrical circuit for producing a three-phase AC current from a low-power generator (10 kW to 5 MW) and for feeding the current into a power grid has a forward mode where energy flows from the generator to the power grid or to an energy-storage device and a reverse mode where energy flows from the power grid or from the energy-storage device back to the generator. To support the forward mode, the circuit has a generator-adjacent circuit stage with diode rectifiers and booster circuits, an intermediate circuit stage with two capacitor groups arranged in series, and a grid-adjacent circuit stage with an inverter. To support the reverse mode, the circuit has diode rectifiers and booster circuits in the grid-adjacent circuit stage, the two capacitor groups of the intermediate circuit stage, and an inverter in the generator-adjacent circuit stage.

Inventors

  • 👤 Dejan Schreiber

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 05:10
CPC Classifications
H; H02; H02M; H02M7/00; H02M7/66; H02M7/68; H02M7/72; H02M7/79; H02M7/797; H02J; H02J3/00; H02J3/38; H02J3/40; H02M5/00; H02M5/40; H02M5/42; H02M5/44; H02M5/453; H02M5/458; H02M5/4585; H02M7/02; H02M7/04; H02M7/12; H02M7/21; H02M7/217; H02M7/219; H02P; H02P9/00; H02P9/04; H02P2101/00; H02P2101/15

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 216 words
An electrical circuit for connecting a three-phase generator to a three-phase power grid, wherein the generator has a star-like circuit layout with a center point and is driven at a variable rpm-rate; said electrical circuit having a forward mode where energy flows from the generator either to the power grid or to an energy-storage device and a reverse mode where energy flows either from the power grid or from the energy-storage device to the generator, said electrical circuit comprising a) to support the forward mode: a generator-adjacent circuit stage with generator-adjacent diode rectifiers and generator-adjacent booster circuits, an intermediate circuit stage with two capacitor groups arranged in series and with a midpoint between the capacitor groups, and a grid-adjacent circuit stage with a grid-adjacent inverter; b) to support the reverse mode: grid-adjacent diode rectifiers and grid-adjacent booster circuits in the grid-adjacent circuit stage, the two capacitor groups in the intermediate circuit stage, and a generator-adjacent inverter in the generator-adjacent circuit stage; wherein the generator-adjacent and grid-adjacent diode rectifiers, booster circuits and inverters together comprise three generator-adjacent inductive elements, three grid-adjacent inductive elements, six generator-adjacent transistors and six generator-adjacent rectifier diodes, six grid-adjacent transistors and six grid-adjacent rectifier diodes; and wherein the electrical circuit further comprises a neutral conductor connected to said center point and said midpoint.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 216 words
An electrical circuit for connecting a three-phase generator to a three-phase power grid, wherein the generator has a star-like circuit layout with a center point and is driven at a variable rpm-rate; said electrical circuit having a forward mode where energy flows from the generator either to the power grid or to an energy-storage device and a reverse mode where energy flows either from the power grid or from the energy-storage device to the generator, said electrical circuit comprising a) to support the forward mode: a generator-adjacent circuit stage with generator-adjacent diode rectifiers and generator-adjacent booster circuits, an intermediate circuit stage with two capacitor groups arranged in series and with a midpoint between the capacitor groups, and a grid-adjacent circuit stage with a grid-adjacent inverter; b) to support the reverse mode: grid-adjacent diode rectifiers and grid-adjacent booster circuits in the grid-adjacent circuit stage, the two capacitor groups in the intermediate circuit stage, and a generator-adjacent inverter in the generator-adjacent circuit stage; wherein the generator-adjacent and grid-adjacent diode rectifiers, booster circuits and inverters together comprise three generator-adjacent inductive elements, three grid-adjacent inductive elements, six generator-adjacent transistors and six generator-adjacent rectifier diodes, six grid-adjacent transistors and six grid-adjacent rectifier diodes; and wherein the electrical circuit further comprises a neutral conductor connected to said center point and said midpoint.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 64 words
The electrical circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a first group of switches between the grid-adjacent inverter and the three phases of the power grid and a second group of switches between the grid-adjacent inverter and the energy-storage device, and wherein at any time only one or the other but not both of the groups of switches can be in a closed state.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 36 words
The electrical circuit of claim 2 , wherein if the second group of switches is closed and the electrical circuit is operating in the forward mode, the energy-storage device is being charged through the electrical circuit.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 32 words
The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the transistors are switching transistors, and wherein each of the switching transistors is arranged in an anti-parallel pair with one of the diode rectifiers.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 42 words
The electrical circuit of claim 4 , wherein the transistors comprise six insulated gate bipolar transistors arranged in three parallel half-bridges in the generator-adjacent circuit stage, and six insulated gate bipolar transistors arranged in three parallel half-bridges in the grid-adjacent circuit stage.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 31 words
The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the generator-adjacent inductive elements comprises at least one of an internal inductance of the generator and an inductance outside the generator.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 20 words
The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the generator comprises a synchronous generator with permanent or externally generated excitation.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 14 words
The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the generator comprises an asynchronous generator.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2007-06-15 2007-12-15 2008-06-15 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2011-06-15 2011-12-15 2012-06-15 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2015-06-15 2015-12-15 2016-06-15 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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