Push-pull inverter with snubber energy recovery
First Claim
1. A power inverter comprising:
- a DC-to-AC converter circuit including a transformer having a primary winding coupled to a DC bus and a secondary winding coupled to an AC bus, said primary winding having a first switch and first free-wheeling diode coupled to a first end, and a second switch and second free-wheeling diode coupled to a second end;
a snubber circuit coupled to each end of the primary winding, and configured to limit voltage transients on the primary winding; and
a third switch coupling the first end of the primary winding to the snubber circuit, thereby forming a first DC-to-DC converter from the third switch, the primary winding, and the first free-wheeling diode, said first DC-to-DC converter operative to control energy transfer between the snubber circuit and the DC-to-AC converter circuit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A power inverter comprises a push-pull inverter circuit that includes a transformer having a primary winding coupled to a DC bus and a secondary winding coupled to an AC bus, main power switches coupling each end of the primary winding to a DC return, and one or more supplemental power switches coupling at least one end of the primary winding to a snubber bus. The supplemental switch at a given end of the primary winding forms a buck-mode converter in combination with the primary winding and the associated free-wheeling diode at that end of the primary winding, and can be controlled by a switching controller to effect energy transfer between the snubber bus and DC bus. The switching controller can be configured to control power flow between the DC, AC, and snubber buses by controlling the common-mode and differential-mode voltages of the primary winding via main/supplemental power switch control.
-
Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A power inverter comprising:
-
a DC-to-AC converter circuit including a transformer having a primary winding coupled to a DC bus and a secondary winding coupled to an AC bus, said primary winding having a first switch and first free-wheeling diode coupled to a first end, and a second switch and second free-wheeling diode coupled to a second end; a snubber circuit coupled to each end of the primary winding, and configured to limit voltage transients on the primary winding; and a third switch coupling the first end of the primary winding to the snubber circuit, thereby forming a first DC-to-DC converter from the third switch, the primary winding, and the first free-wheeling diode, said first DC-to-DC converter operative to control energy transfer between the snubber circuit and the DC-to-AC converter circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A power inverter comprising:
-
a push-pull inverter circuit comprising an inverter circuit transformer having a switched primary winding with a first switch and first free-wheeling diode at a first end of the primary winding and a second switch and second free-wheeling diode at a second end of the primary winding; a snubber circuit to limit voltage transients on the primary winding; and a first DC-to-DC converter circuit formed using the primary winding and operative to control energy transfer between the snubber circuit and the push-pull inverter circuit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A power inverter comprising:
-
a push-pull inverter circuit comprising a transformer having a primary winding coupled to a DC bus and a secondary winding coupled to an AC bus, main power switches coupling each end of the primary winding to a DC return, and one or more supplemental power switches coupling at least one end of the primary winding to a snubber circuit of the power inverter; and a switching controller configured to control power flow between the DC, AC, and snubber buses by controlling a common-mode and differential-mode voltages of the primary winding via switching control of the main and supplemental power switches. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
Specification