Charge management system
First Claim
1. A method of operating a charge management system for distributing power from a power source to a load, the charge management system including a power distribution bus circuit operably connected to the power source and the load, and an intermediate energy storage circuit operably connected to the power distribution bus circuit, the method comprising:
- (i) operably connecting the power source to the load;
(ii) charging at least one energy storage capacitor in the intermediate energy storage circuit;
(iii) determining load current demand at the load, and based upon a determination that the load demands current that meets or exceeds a predetermined level, activating a discharge switch to operably connect the at least one energy storage capacitor in the intermediate energy storage circuit to at least one power bus capacitor in the power distribution bus circuit, thereby discharging at least some energy stored in the at least one energy storage capacitor and at least some energy stored in the at least one power bus capacitor to the load;
(iv) deactivating the discharge switch to operably disconnect the at least one energy storage capacitor from the at least one power bus capacitor; and
(v) repeating steps (ii) through (iv).
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A charge management system including a power distribution bus circuit for distributing energy from a power source to a load, and an intermediate energy storage circuit operably connected to a power distribution bus circuit for aiding in distribution of energy to the load. A charge management system controller may be configured to control the discharge of energy between the intermediate storage circuit and the power distribution bus circuit during one or more modes. Such a charge management system may enable the power distribution bus circuit to receive energy from the intermediate energy storage circuit before the power bus voltage drops in response to load demand, which may enable the power source to respond to perturbations in the power bus voltage and minimize inrush current from the power source. The system also may be used to soft-start high-power equipment, or absorb energy spikes associated with shut-down of such high-power equipment.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating a charge management system for distributing power from a power source to a load, the charge management system including a power distribution bus circuit operably connected to the power source and the load, and an intermediate energy storage circuit operably connected to the power distribution bus circuit, the method comprising:
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(i) operably connecting the power source to the load; (ii) charging at least one energy storage capacitor in the intermediate energy storage circuit; (iii) determining load current demand at the load, and based upon a determination that the load demands current that meets or exceeds a predetermined level, activating a discharge switch to operably connect the at least one energy storage capacitor in the intermediate energy storage circuit to at least one power bus capacitor in the power distribution bus circuit, thereby discharging at least some energy stored in the at least one energy storage capacitor and at least some energy stored in the at least one power bus capacitor to the load; (iv) deactivating the discharge switch to operably disconnect the at least one energy storage capacitor from the at least one power bus capacitor; and (v) repeating steps (ii) through (iv). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A charge management system for distributing power from a power source to a load via a power distribution bus circuit having at least one power bus capacitor, the charge management system comprising:
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an intermediate energy storage circuit operably connected to the power distribution bus circuit, the intermediate energy storage circuit having at least one energy storage capacitor, and at least one discharge switch configured to operably connect or disconnect the at least one energy storage capacitor to or from the at least one power bus capacitor; and a system controller operably connected to the power bus distribution circuit and the intermediate energy storage circuit; wherein, in an operational mode, the system controller is configured to; (i) operably connect the power source to the load; (ii) determine whether the voltage across the at least one energy storage capacitor is at or above a predetermined level, and based upon a determination that the voltage across the energy storage capacitor is below the predetermined level, the controller is configured to activate the energy storage capacitor charge switch to operably connect the at least one energy storage capacitor to the at least one energy source, thereby enabling charging of the at least one energy storage capacitor; (iii) determine load current demand at the load, and based upon a determination that the load demands current that meets or exceeds a predetermined level, activating the discharge switch to operably connect the at least one energy storage capacitor to the at least one power bus capacitor, thereby enabling discharging of at least some energy stored in the at least one energy storage capacitor and at least some energy stored in the at least one power bus capacitor to the load; and (iv) deactivating the discharge switch to operably disconnect the at least one energy storage capacitor from the at least one power bus capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification