Transformerless two-phase inverter

• US 6,643,156 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Issued: 11/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Versa Power Systems Ltd
• Original Assignee: Global Thermoelectric Inc. (Gentherm Incorporated)
• Inventors: Zubieta, Luis
• Primary Examiner(s): Sherry, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Laxton, Gary L.
• Application Number:
  US10/065,574
• Publication Number:
  US 20030090912A1
• Time in Patent Office: 369 Days
• Field of Search: 363/17, 363/98, 363/131, 363/132, 363/136, 363/137, 363/138
• US Class Current: 363/132
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/53871 with automatic control of output voltage or current

Abstract

A DC to two-phase AC inverter that includes three one-leg switch mode inverters circuits or a three-phase bridge circuit and a controller/driver circuit. The controller/driver circuit includes a triangular waveform generator and two sinusoidal reference waveform generators out of phase with each other, the sinusoidal waveforms generated at the desired AC output frequency, and the triangular waveform generated at a higher frequency. The controller/driver circuit is configured to drive one leg of the bridge circuit with a 50% duty cycle at the triangular waveform frequency and the other two legs at the triangular waveform frequency with pulse width modulated signals, the pulse widths of each signal varying with a discrete one of the sinusoidal waveforms. Each phase of two-phase AC is provided by the inverter between the leg driven at the 50% duty cycle and a discrete one of the other legs.

Claims

1. An apparatus for converting DC power to two-phase AC power, comprising:

(a)three one-leg switch inverters wherein a first leg produces VPhase1, the second leg produces Vneutral, and the third leg produces VPhase2 and wherein VPhase1 is out of phase with VPhase2;

(b)a controller/driver circuit having a switching waveform generator and first and second sinusoidal reference waveform generators, the sinusoidal waveforms generated at the desired AC output frequency, and the switching signal generated at a higher frequency;

(c)means for comparing the switching waveform with the first reference waveform to produce a first pulse width modulated signal which drives the first leg;

(d)means for comparing the switching waveform with the second reference waveform to produce a second pulse width modulated signal which drives the third leg;

(e)means for determining the slope of the switching waveform which drives the second leg with a 50% duty cycle.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first reference waveform is 180°

out of phase with the second reference waveform resulting in VPhase1 being 180°

out of phase with VPhase2.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the switching waveform is triangular.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reference waveforms have a frequency of 60 Hz.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the frequency of the switching waveform is at least 10 times the frequency of the reference waveforms.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the frequency of the switching waveform is greater than about 1 kHz.

7. A method of converting DC power to two-phase AC power utilizing a three-phase bridge circuit having a first leg, a second leg, and a third leg wherein the first leg produces VPhase1, the third leg produces VPhase2 and the second leg produces Vneutral and wherein VPhase1 is out of phase with VPhase2, comprising the steps of:

(a)generating a first reference sinusoidal waveform and a second reference sinusoidal waveform which is out of phase with the first reference waveform;

(b)generating a switching waveform having a higher frequency than the first and second reference waveforms;

(c)comparing the switching waveform with the first reference waveform to produce a first pulse width modulated signal which drives the first leg;

(d)comparing the switching waveform with the second reference waveform to produce a second pulse width modulated signal which drives the third leg;

(e)determining the slope of the switching waveform which drives the second leg with a 50% duty cycle; and

(f)filtering the switching waveform from VPhase1 Vneutral and from Vphase2 Vneutral.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the reference waveforms have a frequency of 60 Hz.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the switching waveform has a frequency greater than the reference waveform.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the switching waveform has a frequency of between about 1 KHz to about 10 Khz.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the switching waveform is triangular.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein one of the first or third legs is modulated to be voltage controlled and the other leg is modulated to be current controlled.