PARALLEL INVERTER SCHEME FOR SEPARATING CONDUCTION AND SWITCHING LOSSES

• US 20170250623A1
• Filed: 07/14/2016
• Published: 08/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: MALY, Doug
• Granted Patent: US 9,853,570 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/003 relating to inverters
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/50 using propulsion power supplied by batteries or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0054 Transistor switching losses periodically suspending operation of switching converter in low power mode H02M1/0035
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/088 for the simultaneous control of series or parallel connected semiconductor devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/493 the static converters being arranged for operation in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/537 using semiconductor devices only, e.g. single switched pulse inverters
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 21/06 Rotor flux based control involving the use of rotor position or rotor speed sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 27/08 with pulse width modulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries

Abstract

In one example embodiment, a controller is coupled to a first inverter and a second inverter forming a parallel inverter scheme. The first inverter and the second inverter are configured to provide power to a load. The controller is configured to control the first inverter to operate according to a first operating state, while the second inverter is off, and turn off the first inverter before transition from the first operating state to a second operating state. The controller is further configured to control the second inverter to at least partially operate during the transition.

Claims

1. A controller coupled to a first inverter and a second inverter forming a parallel inverter scheme, the first inverter and the second inverter configured to provide power to a load, the controller configured to,

control the first inverter to,

operate according to a first operating state, while the second inverter is off, and

turn off the first inverter before transition from the first operating state to a second operating state;

and

control the second inverter to at least partially operate during the transition.

2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to,

at least partially turn on the second inverter, and

turn off the first inverter after partially turning on the second inverter such that the operation of the first inverter and the operation of the second inverter partially overlap before the first inverter is turned off.

3. The controller of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to,

turn on the first inverter in the second operating state before turning off the at least partially operating second inverter such that the operation of the first inverter and the operation of the second inverter partially overlap before the at least partially operating second inverter is turned off, and

turn off the at least partially operating second inverter.

4. The controller of claim 2, wherein

the first inverter includes a first plurality of pairs of switches,

the second inverter includes a second plurality of pairs of switches, and

in controlling the second inverter to at least partially operate, the controller is configured to turn on one or more of the second plurality of pairs of switches of the second inverter corresponding to one or more of the first plurality of pairs of switches of the first inverter that operate differently in the second operating state compared to the first operating state.

5. The controller of claim 1, wherein

the first inverter is comprised of a first plurality of transistors, and

the second inverter is comprised of a second plurality of transistors.

6. The controller of claim 5, wherein each of the first plurality of transistors and the second plurality of transistors are power switches.

7. The controller of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to supply a first set of voltages to the first inverter and a second set of voltages to the second inverter for controlling the first inverter and the second inverter based on current requirements and feedback from the first inverter and the second inverter.

8. A voltage command generator coupled to a parallel inverter scheme having a first inverter and a second inverter, the voltage command generator configured to,

receive a plurality of voltage commands from a machine controller;

and

generate a first command and second command based on each of the received voltage commands to,

control the first inverter to,

operate according to a first operating state, while the second inverter is off, and

turn off the first inverter before transition from the first operating state to a second operating state; and

control the second inverter to at least partially operate during the transition.

9. The voltage command generator of claim 8, wherein the voltage command generator is configured to,

at least partially turn on the second inverter, and

turn off the first inverter after partially turning on the second inverter such that the operation of the first inverter and the operation of the second inverter partially overlap before the first inverter is turned off.

10. The voltage command generator of claim 9, wherein the voltage command generator is configured to,

turn on the first inverter in the second operating state before turning off the at least partially operating second inverter such that the operation of the first inverter and the operation of the second inverter partially overlap before the at least partially operating second inverter is turned off, and

turn off the at least partially operating second inverter.

11. The voltage command generator of claim 9, wherein

the first inverter includes a first plurality of pairs of switches,

the second inverter include a second plurality of pairs of switches, and

in controlling the second inverter to at least partially operate, the voltage command generator is configured to turn on one or more of the second plurality of pairs of switches of the second inverter corresponding to one or more of the first plurality of pairs of switches of the first inverter that operate differently in the second operating state compared to the first operating state.

12. The voltage command generator of claim 8, wherein

the first inverter is comprised of a first plurality of transistors, and

the second inverter is comprised of a second plurality of transistors.

13. The voltage command generator of claim 12, wherein each of the first plurality of transistors and the second plurality of transistors are power switches.

14. The voltage command generator of claim 8, wherein the machine controller is configured to provide the plurality of voltage commands according to current requirements and feedback from the first inverter and the second inverter.

18. The parallel inverter scheme of claim 9, wherein

the first inverter includes a first plurality of pairs of switches,

the second inverter include a second plurality of pairs of switches, and

while at least partially operating, the second invertor is configured to turn on one or more of the second plurality of pairs of switches of the second inverter corresponding to one or more of the first plurality of pairs of switches of the first inverter that operate differently in the second operating state compared to the first operating state.

19. The parallel inverter scheme of claim 8, wherein

the first inverter is comprised of a first plurality of transistors, and

the second inverter is comprised of a second plurality of transistors.

20. The parallel inverter scheme of claim 12, wherein each of the first plurality of transistors and each of the second plurality of transistors are power switches.

15. A parallel inverter scheme comprising:

a first inverter configured to,

receive voltage commands from a machine controller,

operate according to a first operating state, while a second inverter of the parallel inverter scheme is off, and

turn off before transition from the first operating state to a second operating state; and

the second inverter configured to,

receive the voltage commands from the machine controller, and

at least partially operate during the transition.

16. The parallel inverter scheme of claim 15, wherein,

the second inverter is configured to at least partially turn on, and

the first inverter is configured to turn off after the second inverter is turned on such that the operation of the first inverter and the operation of the second inverter partially overlap before the first inverter is turned off.

17. The parallel inverter scheme of claim 16, wherein

the first inverter is configured to turn on in the second operating state before the at least partially operating second inverter is tuned off such that the operation of the first inverter and the operation of the second inverter partially overlap before the at least partially operating second inverter is turned off, and

the at least partially operating second inverter is configured to turn off.