Apparatus and method employing bi-directional converter for charging and/or supplying power
First Claim
1. A power system to provide power between a DC device and at least one of a primary alternating current AC device and a secondary alternating current AC device, the power system comprising:
- a bi-directional power converter comprising a set of alternating current AC terminals, a set of DC terminals, and a number of bridge legs electrically couplable between the set of AC terminals and the set of DC terminals, at least some of the bridge legs selectively operable to invert a current when the current is flowing from the set of DC terminals to the set of AC terminals and to rectify the current when the current is flowing from the set of AC terminals to the set of DC terminals; and
a first switch operable to selectively electrically couple and uncouple the secondary AC device respectively to and from the set of AC terminals of the bi-directional power converter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power system, such as an integrated power module comprising a bi-directional converter, functionally combines a power inverter and a charger such as a charger for charging one or more electrical storage devices such as batteries and/or super- or ultra-capacitors. A first switch selectively couples one or more AC devices to the bi-directional converter, and/or a second switch selectively couples a boosting circuit to one or more DC devices and/or reverses polarity of the coupling. The power system may have electric vehicle and/or vehicle-to-grid applications.
180 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A power system to provide power between a DC device and at least one of a primary alternating current AC device and a secondary alternating current AC device, the power system comprising:
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a bi-directional power converter comprising a set of alternating current AC terminals, a set of DC terminals, and a number of bridge legs electrically couplable between the set of AC terminals and the set of DC terminals, at least some of the bridge legs selectively operable to invert a current when the current is flowing from the set of DC terminals to the set of AC terminals and to rectify the current when the current is flowing from the set of AC terminals to the set of DC terminals; and
a first switch operable to selectively electrically couple and uncouple the secondary AC device respectively to and from the set of AC terminals of the bi-directional power converter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An integrated power module, comprising:
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a bi-directional power converter comprising a first set of terminals and a second set of terminals, the bi-directional power converter selectively operable to invert a current when the current is flowing from the second set of terminals to the first set of terminals and to rectify the current when the current is flowing from the first set of terminals to the second set of terminals; and
a first switch operable to selectively electrically couple and uncouple a first device respectively to and from the first set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An integrated power module, comprising:
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a bi-directional power converter comprising a first set of terminals and a second set of terminals, the bi-directional power converter selectively operable to invert a current when the current is flowing from the second set of terminals to the first set of terminals and to rectify the current when the current is flowing from the first set of terminals to the second set of terminals; and
a first multi-positional switch operable to;
in a first position, selectively electrically couple a first device to the first set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter and to selectively electrically uncouple a second device from the first set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter; and
in a second position, selectively electrically uncouple the first device from the first set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter and to selectively electrically couple the second device to the first set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. An integrated power module, comprising:
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a bi-directional power converter comprising a first set of terminals and a second set of terminals, the bi-directional power converter selectively operable to invert a current when the current is flowing from the second set of terminals to the first set of terminals and to rectify the current when the current is flowing from the first set of terminals to the second set of terminals;
a capacitor, an inductor and a diode electrically coupled with at least one switch of the bi-directional power converter as a boosting circuit; and
a first multi-positional switch operable to;
in a first position, electrically couple the boosting circuit to the second set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter, and in a second position, electrically uncouple the boosting circuit from the second set of terminals of the bi-directional power converter. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method of operating a power system, the power system comprising a first switch and a bi-directional power converter, the bi-directional power converter comprising a set of AC terminals, a set of DC terminals and a number of switching components electrically couplable between the set of AC terminals and the set of DC terminals, the method comprising:
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operating the first switch to at least one of;
electrically couple a secondary AC device to the set of AC terminals of the bi-directional power converter and electrically uncouple the secondary AC device from the set of AC terminals of the bi-directional power converter; and
operating the bi-directional power converter to at least one of;
rectify a current when the current is flowing from the set of AC terminals to the set of DC terminals bi-directional power converter and invert the current when the current is flowing from the set of DC terminals to the set of AC terminals of the bi-directional power converter. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of operating a power system, the power system comprising a bi-directional power converter, the method comprising:
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electrically coupling a first AC device to the bi-directional power converter;
rectifying a charging AC current supplied by the first AC device to the bi-directional power converter to produce a charging DC current;
charging a DC device electrically coupled to the bi-directional power converter using the charging DC current;
electrically uncoupling the first AC device from the bi-directional power converter;
inverting a discharging DC current supplied by the DC device to the bi-directional power converter to produce a discharging AC current; and
supplying the discharging AC current to a second AC device. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification