Switched mode power supply responsive to current derived from voltage across energy transfer element input

• US 20030035303A1
• Filed: 09/11/2002
• Published: 02/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Power Integrations Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Power Integrations Incorporated
• Inventors: Matthews, David Michael Hugh, Balakrishnan, Balu
• Granted Patent: US 6,597,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 363/16
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0009 Devices or circuits for detecting current in a converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/335 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/33507 with automatic control of the output voltage or current, e.g. flyback converters H02M3/33561, H02M3/33569 take precedence

Abstract

A switched mode power supply having a regulated reflected voltage. In one embodiment, a switched mode power supply includes a power supply regulator coupled between a positive input supply rail of the power supply and a primary winding of an energy transfer element. The reflected voltage across the primary winding of the transfer element is related to the output voltage across a secondary winding of the energy transfer element according to the turns ratio of the energy transfer element. The power supply regulator is coupled to regulate the reflected voltage across the primary winding, thereby regulating the output voltage across secondary winding. In one embodiment, the reflected voltage across the primary winding is sensed through a current representative of the reflected voltage received by the power supply regulator.

Claims

1. A power supply, comprising:

an energy transfer element having an energy transfer element input and an energy transfer element output;

a power switch coupled between the energy transfer element input and a positive input supply rail; and

control circuitry coupled to the energy transfer element input and to the power switch, the control circuitry to switch the power switch in response to a current derived from the voltage at the energy transfer element input.

2. The power supply of claim 1 further comprising an opto-coupler including:

an input light emitting diode (LED) coupled to the energy transfer element output and an output of the power supply; and

an output transistor coupled to the control circuitry.

3. The power supply of claim 2 wherein a current through the output transistor is coupled to be received by the control circuitry and is responsive to the current derived from the voltage at the energy transfer element input.

4. The power supply of claim 1 wherein the energy transfer element comprises a transformer having a primary winding coupled to the energy transfer element input and a secondary winding coupled to the energy transfer element output.

5. The power supply of claim 4 wherein the voltage at the energy transfer element input comprises a reflected voltage across the primary winding.

6. The power supply of claim 1 wherein the power switch comprises a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET).

7. The power supply of claim 6 wherein the MOSFET is an n-channel MOSFET having a source terminal coupled to the energy transfer element input, a drain terminal coupled to the positive input supply rail and a gate terminal coupled to the control circuitry.

8. The power supply of claim 4 further comprising a first capacitor coupled in parallel with the primary winding during an off cycle of the power switch, the first capacitor decoupled from the primary winding during an on cycle of the power switch, the control circuitry coupled to the first capacitor, wherein the current derived from the voltage at the energy transfer element input is responsive to a voltage across the energy transfer element output.

9. The power supply of claim 1 wherein the control circuitry comprises a pulse width modulator coupled to the power switch, the pulse width modulator to pulse width modulate the power switch in response to the current derived from the voltage at the energy transfer element input.

10. The power supply of claim 1 wherein the control circuitry comprises a on/off control circuitry coupled to the power switch, the on/off control circuitry to adjust cycles of a control signal coupled to be received by the power switch in response to the current derived from the voltage at the energy transfer element input.

11. The power supply of claim 1 wherein the control circuitry disables switching of the power switch in response to the current derived from the voltage at the energy transfer element input exceeding a threshold amount.

12. The power supply of claim 1 wherein the control circuitry and the power switch are included on a single monolithic chip having as few as three electrical terminals.