Regulator for inductively coupled power distribution system
First Claim
1. In a power supply system having a power source for producing an AC signal that is resonantly and inductively coupled to a pickup circuit, apparatus for regulating a DC voltage on an output of the pickup circuit to a predetermined level, comprising:
- (a) means connected to the output of the pickup circuit, for producing a regulated reference voltage having a magnitude substantially less than the predetermined level;
(b) divider means, connected to the output of the pickup circuit, for providing a comparison voltage that varies as a function of the DC voltage output from the pickup circuit and has a magnitude less than said DC voltage;
(c) comparator means, for producing a signal that varies as a function of the difference between the regulated reference voltage and the comparison voltage; and
(d) shunt means, connected to receive the signal from the comparator means, for cyclically shunting a current flowing through the pickup circuit so that the current circulates within the pickup circuit and does not reach its output, for an interval of time that varies as a function of said signal and with a frequency no greater than that of the AC signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A regulator circuit for use with a connectorless power supply system in which power is inductively supplied to a plurality of remote loads. A sinusoidal current, at a frequency of 38 kHz, is provided by a power distribution system (10), and circulates through a supply loop (68), which is disposed under the floor of an aircraft cabin. Three parallel connected capacitors (78, 80, and 82) and a multi-turn coil (70) that is inductively coupled to the supply loop comprise a resonant tank circuit in which current circulates. The voltage developed across the tank circuit is half wave rectified, filtered, and supplied to a load connected circuit. An op-amp (134) compares the potential across the load to a regulated voltage. The output of the op-amp is used to control the period of time during which an N channel FET (96) shunts current to regulate the output voltage. Because the N channel FET is only permitted to shunt current to control the output voltage when the potential of the AC current flowing in the tank circuit passes through zero with a negative slope, the regulator circuit produces minimal EMI. The regulator circuit controls the output voltage with respect to variations in the inductive coupling between the supply loop and the pickup coil, and with respect to variations in the connected load.
97 Citations
18 Claims
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1. In a power supply system having a power source for producing an AC signal that is resonantly and inductively coupled to a pickup circuit, apparatus for regulating a DC voltage on an output of the pickup circuit to a predetermined level, comprising:
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(a) means connected to the output of the pickup circuit, for producing a regulated reference voltage having a magnitude substantially less than the predetermined level; (b) divider means, connected to the output of the pickup circuit, for providing a comparison voltage that varies as a function of the DC voltage output from the pickup circuit and has a magnitude less than said DC voltage; (c) comparator means, for producing a signal that varies as a function of the difference between the regulated reference voltage and the comparison voltage; and (d) shunt means, connected to receive the signal from the comparator means, for cyclically shunting a current flowing through the pickup circuit so that the current circulates within the pickup circuit and does not reach its output, for an interval of time that varies as a function of said signal and with a frequency no greater than that of the AC signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. In a power supply system having a power source for producing an AC signal that is resonantly coupled to a pickup circuit, a method for regulating a DC voltage on an output of the pickup circuit to a predetermined level, comprising the steps of:
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(a) producing a regulated reference voltage having a magnitude substantially less than the predetermined level; (b) providing a comparison voltage that varies as a function of the DC voltage of the output of the pickup circuit and has a magnitude less than said DC voltage; (c) producing a signal that varies as a function of the difference between the regulated reference voltage and the comparison voltage; and (d) cyclically shunting a current used to produce the DC voltage for an interval of time that varies as a function of said signal and with a frequency no greater than that of the AC signal. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. In a power supply system having a power source for producing an AC signal that is resonantly and inductively coupled to a pickup circuit, apparatus for regulating a DC voltage on an output of the pickup circuit to a predetermined level, comprising:
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(a) means connected to the output of the pickup circuit, for producing a regulated reference voltage having a magnitude substantially less than the predetermined level; (b) a variable voltage divider network for providing a comparison voltage that varies as a function of the DC voltage output from the pickup circuit and has a magnitude less than said DC voltage, including means for adjusting the magnitude of the comparison voltage to determine the level of the DC voltage on the output of the pickup circuit; (c) comparator means, for producing a signal that varies as a function of the difference between the regulated reference voltage and the comparison voltage; and (d) shunt means connected to receive the signal from the comparator means, for shunting a current flowing through the pickup circuit so that the current circulates within the pickup circuit and does not reach its output, for an interval of time that varies as a function of said signal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a power supply system having a power source for producing an AC signal that is resonantly coupled to a pickup circuit, a method for regulating a DC voltage on an output of the pickup circuit to a predetermined level, comprising the steps of:
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(a) producing a regulated reference voltage having a magnitude substantially less than the predetermined level; (b) providing a comparison voltage by dividing the DC voltage on the output of the pickup circuit with an adjustable voltage divider network, said comparison voltage varying as a function of the DC voltage on the output of the pickup circuit and having a magnitude less than said DC voltage; (c) producing a signal that varies as a function of the difference between the regulated reference voltage and the comparison voltage; and (d) shunting a current used to produce the DC voltage for an interval of time that varies as a function of said signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification