DC/DC CONVERTER

• US 20150015181A1
• Filed: 12/13/2012
• Published: 01/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Kondo, Ryota, Yamada, Masaki, Higaki, Yusuke
• Granted Patent: US 9,455,641 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 320/103
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0058 by employing soft switching techniques, i.e. commutation of transistors when applied voltage is zero or when current flow is zero using an auxiliary actively switched resonant commutation circuit connected to an intermediate DC voltage or between two push-pull branches of an inverter bridge H02M7/4811; in resonant inverters H02M7/4815; in inverters operating from a resonant DC source H02M7/4826
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/3353 having at least two simultaneously operating switches on the input side, e.g. "double forward" or "double (switched) flyback" converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/33584 Bidirectional converters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes

Abstract

In a DC/DC converter for bidirectional power transmission, a first switching circuit is connected between a first winding of a high-frequency transformer and a DC power supply, and a second switching circuit is connected between a second winding and a battery. In the first and second switching circuits, capacitors are connected in parallel to semiconductor switching devices, and first and second reactors are connected on AC input/output lines. Upon power transmission, the switching circuit on the primary side of the high-frequency transformer performs zero voltage switching, and the switching circuit on the secondary side performs a step-up operation by using the reactor.

Claims

1. A DC/DC converter for performing bidirectional power transmission between a first DC power supply and a second DC power supply, the DC/DC converter comprising:

a transformer;

a first converter section for converting power between DC and AC, the first converter section having a plurality of semiconductor switching devices and connected between the first DC power supply and a first winding of the transformer;

a second converter section for converting power between DC and AC, the second converter section having a plurality of semiconductor switching devices and connected between the second DC power supply and a second winding of the transformer; and

a control circuit for performing drive control of each semiconductor switching device in the first and second converter sections, thereby controlling the first and second converter sections, wherein

the first and second converter sections have capacitors respectively connected in parallel to the semiconductor switching devices, and first and second reactors connected on AC input/output lines, and

the control circuit,

upon power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply, controls each semiconductor switching device in the first converter section so as to perform zero voltage switching by using the first reactor, and when voltage of the second DC power supply is higher than voltage generated on the second winding of the transformer, controls the second converter section so as to perform a step-up operation by using the second reactor, and

upon power transmission from the second DC power supply to the first DC power supply, controls each semiconductor switching device in the second converter section so as to perform zero voltage switching by using the second reactor, and when voltage of the first DC power supply is higher than voltage generated on the first winding of the transformer, controls the first converter section so as to perform a step-up operation by using the first reactor.

3. The DC/DC converter according to claim 1, wherein

upon power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply, when voltage of the second DC power supply is higher than voltage generated on the second winding of the transformer and the control circuit controls the second converter section so as to perform a step-up operation, the control circuit controls the first converter section so that a time in which voltage is applied to the first winding of the transformer becomes a predetermined maximum time, and

upon power transmission from the second DC power supply to the first DC power supply, when voltage of the first DC power supply is higher than voltage generated on the first winding of the transformer and the control circuit controls the first converter section so as to perform a step-up operation, the control circuit controls the second converter section so that a time in which voltage is applied to the second winding of the transformer becomes a predetermined maximum time.

4. The DC/DC converter according to claim 1, wherein the first and second converter sections are each composed of a full-bridge circuit having two bridge circuits.

5. The DC/DC converter according to claim 4, wherein the control circuit controls the positive-side semiconductor switching device and the negative-side semiconductor switching device of each bridge circuit of the full-bridge circuit composing each of the first and second converter sections, at an ON time ratio of 50%, in the case where a short-circuit prevention time is ignored, and

controls, by drive signals having the same phase, a first reference device which is either the positive-side semiconductor switching device or the negative-side semiconductor switching device of one of the bridge circuits in the first converter section, and a second reference device which is either the positive-side semiconductor switching device or the negative-side semiconductor switching device of one of the bridge circuits in the second converter section.

6. The DC/DC converter according to claim 3, wherein the first and second converter sections are each composed of a full-bridge circuit having two bridge circuits, and

wherein the control circuit

controls the positive-side semiconductor switching device and the negative-side semiconductor switching device of each bridge circuit of the full-bridge circuit composing each of the first and second converter sections, at an ON time ratio of 50%, in the case where a short-circuit prevention time is ignored, and

controls, by drive signals having the same phase, a first reference device which is either the positive-side semiconductor switching device or the negative-side semiconductor switching device of one of the bridge circuits in the first converter section, and a second reference device which is either the positive-side semiconductor switching device or the negative-side semiconductor switching device of one of the bridge circuits in the second converter section.

7. The DC/DC converter according to claim 5, wherein the control circuit controls the first and second converter sections so that a first diagonal ON time in which the semiconductor switching device diagonally positioned with respect to the first reference device in the first converter section is ON simultaneously with the first reference device, and a second diagonal ON time in which the semiconductor switching device diagonally positioned with respect to the second reference device in the second converter section is ON simultaneously with the second reference device, in the case where a point at which both the first diagonal ON time and the second diagonal ON time become a set maximum ON time is defined as a reference point, when a control amount of power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply is to be increased with resect to the reference point the first diagonal ON time is retained at the maximum ON time and the second diagonal ON time is decreased, and when a control amount of power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply is to be decreased with respect to the reference point, the second diagonal ON time is retained at the maximum ON time and the first diagonal ON time is decreased, thereby performing bidirectional power transmission between the first DC power supply and the second DC power supply.

8. The DC/DC converter according to claim 6, wherein the control circuit controls the first and second converter sections so that a first diagonal ON time in which the semiconductor switching device diagonally positioned with respect to the first reference device in the first converter section is ON simultaneously with the first reference device, and a second diagonal ON time in which the semiconductor switching device diagonally positioned with respect to the second reference device in the second converter section is ON simultaneously with the second reference device, in the case where a point at which both the first diagonal ON time and the second diagonal ON time become a set maximum ON time is defined as a reference point, when a control amount of power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply is to be increased with respect to the reference point, the first diagonal ON time is retained at the maximum ON time and the second diagonal ON time is decreased, and when a control amount of power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply is to be decreased with respect to the reference point, the second diagonal ON time is retained at the maximum ON time and the first diagonal ON time is decreased, thereby performing bidirectional power transmission between the first DC power supply and the second DC power supply.

9. The DC/DC converter according to claim 7, wherein the maximum ON time is set based on a time for each semiconductor switching device in the first and second converter sections to perform the zero voltage switching.

12. The DC/DC converter according to claim 7, wherein the control circuit

feeds back a difference obtained by subtracting voltage of the first DC power supply or the second DC power supply from a voltage instruction value, thereby generating a current instruction value for current flowing between the first and second DC power supplies, and

in accordance with a polarity of the current instruction value, switches a power transmission direction between the first and second DC power supplies, and adjusts the first diagonal ON time of the first converter section or the second diagonal ON time of the second converter section.

13. The DC/DC converter according to claim 12, wherein

upon power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply, when a polarity of a first difference obtained by subtracting voltage of the second DC power supply from a voltage instruction value is positive, the control circuit retains a power transmission direction toward the second DC power supply and adjusts the second diagonal ON time of the second converter section, and when the first difference has become negative, the control circuit switches the power transmission direction to a power transmission direction toward the first DC power supply and adjusts the first diagonal ON time of the first converter section, and

upon power transmission from the second DC power supply to the first DC power supply, when a polarity of a second difference obtained by subtracting voltage of the first DC power supply from a voltage instruction value is positive, the control circuit retains a power transmission direction toward the first DC power supply and adjusts the first diagonal ON time of the first converter section, and when the second difference has become negative, the control circuit switches the power transmission direction to a power transmission direction toward the second DC power supply and adjusts the second diagonal ON time of the second converter section.

14. The DC/DC converter according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the first and second reactors are formed by leakage inductance of the transformer.

15. The DC/DC converter according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the first and second DC power supplies are formed by batteries, and charge and discharge of the batteries are performed by bidirectional power transmission between the first DC power supply and the second DC power supply.

16. The DC/DC converter according to claim 8, wherein the maximum ON time is set based on a time for each semiconductor switching device in the first and second converter sections to perform the zero voltage switching.

17. The DC/DC converter according to claim 8, wherein the control circuit

feeds back a difference obtained by subtracting voltage of the first DC power supply or the second DC power supply from a voltage instruction value, thereby generating a current instruction value for current flowing between the first and second DC power supplies, and

in accordance with a polarity of the current instruction value, switches a power transmission direction between the first and second DC power supplies, and adjusts the first diagonal ON time of the first converter section or the second diagonal ON time of the second converter section.

18. The DC/DC converter according to claim 17, wherein

upon power transmission from the first DC power supply to the second DC power supply, when a polarity of a first difference obtained by subtracting voltage of the second DC power supply from a voltage instruction value is positive, the control circuit retains a power transmission direction toward the second DC power supply and adjusts the second diagonal ON time of the second converter section, and when the first difference has become negative, the control circuit switches the power transmission direction to a power transmission direction toward the first DC power supply and adjusts the first diagonal ON time of the first converter section, and

upon power transmission from the second DC power supply to the first DC power supply, when a polarity of a second difference obtained by subtracting voltage of the first DC power supply from a voltage instruction value is positive, the control circuit retains a power transmission direction toward the first DC power supply and adjusts the first diagonal ON time of the first converter section, and when the second difference has become negative, the control circuit switches the power transmission direction to a power transmission direction toward the second DC power supply and adjusts the second diagonal ON time of the second converter section.

2. (canceled)

10-11. -11. (canceled)