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ICERGi patents cover advanced power electronics technologies. They focus on efficient energy conversion, smart grid integration, and renewable energy systems.
Our earlier Company name (until March 1st 2016) was Eisergy Limited and many of our filings may carry this name.
The present application relates to AC power supplies and in particular to power factor correction circuits in AC-DC converters. The application provides an active power factor correction (PFC) circuit in which zero voltage switching is inherently achieved using a passive snubbing approach employing a saturable transformer. The PFC circuit comprises an inductor, a capacitor, a switch and a rectifying bridge, arranged in a boost topology. A snubber is connected to one side of the first switch, and comprises a first winding of a transformer having a saturable core and a second winding in series with the inductor.
The present application relates to AC power supplies and in particular to power factor correction circuits in AC-DC converters. The application provides an active power factor correction circuit in which zero voltage switching is inherently achieved using a passive snubbing approach employing a saturable transformer.
A magnetic core is characterised by gaps between each leg and a top section and bottom section of the core. Alternatively two of the legs may include multiple gaps. A method of assembling a gapped magnetic core comprises applying an adhesive and a spacer on distinct areas of a first section and adhering a second section to the first section such that the spacer defines the thickness of the adhesive and the gap. A bobbin comprises two coplanar channels for receiving a first winding wherein a transverse path is provided between the channels in a different plane, so that the winding may follow a bent path to reduce the size of the bobbin. An isolated concentric path may be provided for a second winding.
The present application relates to magnetic components employed in switching power supplies. The application provides a gapped magnetic core construction in which the gap is distributed by placing gaps between the legs of the core and the top and bottom sections. The application also provides a bobbin construction having a reduced footprint for inductor and transformers.
A MOSFET or IGBT is turned on by a pulse coupled through transformer, inductor and rectifier, and is turned off by a pulse coupled through transformer. The use of LC resonance in the turn-on circuit allows elimination of a resistor that slows down the gate charging to reduce interference but wastes energy. The use of a smaller transformer with a lower turns ratio is made possible. The turn-off transistor may be activated through a turn-off transformer or upon expiry of a fail-safe period defined by discharge of the capacitor through resistor. Gate energy may be recovered during turn-off by use of third transformer or by use of transformer.The gate drive circuit may be used in a switching power supply or a motor drive.
The present application is directed to drive arrangement for semiconductor switches and in particular to a method of driving the gate of a switch with pulses corresponding to turn-on and turn-off commands through separate turn-on and turn-off transformers. The application provides a fail safe reset feature, a more efficient turn-on circuit and an energy recovery circuit for recovering energy from the gate upon turn-off. The application also provides a novel arrangement for assembling multiple pulse transformers on a circuit board.
A synchronous rectifier in a switching power converter, particularly a LLC resonant converter, comprises a transformer with a primary side winding, a secondary side winding and an auxiliary winding. The synchronous rectifier is operated to turn on at a first position and to turn off at a second position in a switching cycle of the switching power supply. A measurement is obtained from the auxiliary winding at a position after the second position and the second position in a subsequent switching cycle is adjusted based on a value derived from the obtained measurement. The auxiliary winding may be provided as a separate winding with no other function or it may have a function such as providing a bias supply to a primary side controller. The application provides a method for minimising body diode conduction losses.
The present application relates to the field of switching power supplies and in particular to switching power supplies in which a primary side is isolated from the secondary side and in which a synchronous rectifier on the secondary side is controlled from the primary side. The application provides a method for minimising body diode conduction losses.
The present application relates to a class of switching power supplies, which use a resonant isolation stage (typically LLC) fed directly or via a diode bridge from the line. Extension of the range of available gain values over frequency without material loss of efficiency is facilitated by usage of additional resonant elements. This capability allows the devices to provide narrow-range inputs to secondary-processing circuits, with the ability to achieve power factor correction if required. The conversion architecture is also compatible with optimal usage of energy storage elements suitable for use with switching power supplies.
A switching power converter configured in a bridgeless totem pole boost topology has an inductor which is switched to an output capacitor. The totem pole topology comprises a multilevel switching arrangement. The converter may be an AC DC converter and may be provided as a PFC stage in a power supply. The multilevel switching arrangement may comprise a plurality of switches arranged in series. The switching devices may be diodes or thyristors. The multilevel switching arrangement may also comprise flying capacitors. Further embodiments include: a pulse transformer for providing on and off control pulses to each of a pair of complementary switches; a multilevel resonant transition type converter, suitable for use in providing enhanced hold up from a bulk capacitor; a multi ratio bus converter using a multilevel converter with a plurality of nominally discrete gain values; and an integrated circuit for use in a switching power supply, the integrated circuit comprising a plurality of at least four FET type transistors.
The present application relates to switching power supplies and in particular to AC to DC switch mode power supplies, to methods of power factor correction for same and to devices and circuits that may be used generally in same. The application describes a number of multi-level approaches and circuits.
A current shaping or active filter circuit in a power supply having an AC input or output has a first control loop to effect control of current in the active filter circuit based on an emulated resistance control value and a second control function to provide the emulated resistance control value. The emulated resistance value is updated on a cycle or mid-cycle basis of the AC waveform, particularly at a zero crossing, peak or trough. The current shaping circuit may be a power factor correction (PFC) circuit. Also disclosed is a method of protecting a power factor correction circuit where a switching device is turned off in response to surge on an AC supply being detected. Also disclosed is a power factor correction circuit where a control signal provided to the PFC circuit to effect its operation is suspended where an AC input voltage exceeds a predetermined level during a switching cycle.
The present application related to switching circuits as employed in power supplies and more particularly to a method of controlling same. More specifically, the present application relates to current shaping circuits for use in power supplies and provides a method for controlling them which provides for stable operating conditions and fast transient response.