Voltage measuring instrument with flying capacitor

• US 6,362,627 B1
• Filed: 12/29/1999
• Issued: 03/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Shimamoto, Takeshi, Nagagata, Nobuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, GLENN WARNER
• Application Number:
  US09/403,512
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 324/771, 324/426, 324/434, 324/73.1
• US Class Current: 324/434
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/25 using digital measurement techniques

Abstract

The voltage measuring apparatus of the present invention comprises: a capacitor configured of a plurality of capacitor elements and divided at a connection point into two sections of the same capacitance; a first switching device for connecting a voltage source to be measured to both terminals of the capacitor; a differential amplifier; a second switching device for connecting both terminals of the capacitor to inputs of the differential amplifier; and a third switch for connecting the connection point in the capacitor to signal reference potential of the differential amplifier in time synchronization with the second switching device.

Claims

1. A voltage measuring apparatus comprising:

(N+1) voltage detection terminals connected to N series connected voltage sources wherein N is an integer;

a capacitor;

a first multiplexer for selectively connecting odd-numbered ones of the voltage detection terminals to one terminal of the capacitor;

a second multiplexer for selectively connecting even-numbered ones of the voltage detection terminals to the other terminal of the capacitor;

wherein the second multiplexer and the first multiplexer act as a first switching device;

a buffer circuit;

a second switching device for connecting both terminals of the capacitor to the buffer circuit; and

,

a polarity corrector for making voltages from odd-numbered ones of the voltage sources the same in polarity as voltages from even-numbered ones of the voltage sources.

2. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the polarity corrector comprises an absolute value circuit.

3. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the polarity corrector is configured by providing the second switching device with a polarity selection function.

4. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the polarity corrector is configured of polarity selection switch that is provided between the capacitor and the first and the second multiplexers and that is synchronized in time with the first and the second multiplexers.

5. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switches in the apparatus comprise a semiconductor relay device which drives a gate of a MOS transistor in an optically isolated manner.

6. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a switch that is synchronized in time with the first and the second multiplexers is provided between the capacitor and the first and the second multiplexers.

7. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the capacitor comprises a plurality of capacitor elements divided at a connection point between two sections of the same capacitance, and

the voltage measuring apparatus further includes a differential amplifier connected to the second switching device, and

a third switch for connecting the connection point in the capacitor to a signal reference potential of the differential amplifier in time synchronization with the second switching device.

8. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a pair of switched that are synchronized in time with the first and second multiplexers are provided between the capacitor and the first and second multiplexers.

9. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a voltage divider for resistive-dividing the voltage appearing at both ends of the series connection of the N voltage sources, and a multiplexer for taking therein an output voltage of the voltage divider.

10. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a switch is provided between the voltage sources and the voltage divider.

11. A voltage measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a resistor is provided between the capacitor and the multiplexers.