Gate driver

• US 10,809,326 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2018
• Issued: 10/20/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Precision Healthcare LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GE Precision Healthcare LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wang, Ruxi, Mainali, Krishna, Sabate, Juan Antonio, Liu, Xiaohu, Tao, Fengfeng
• Primary Examiner(s): Assouad, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): Curtis, Sean
• Application Number:
  US15/882,835
• Publication Number:
  US 20190235035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 324322
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3607 RF waveform generators, e.g. frequency generators, amplitude-, frequency- or phase modulators or shifters, pulse programmers, digital to analog converters for the RF signal, means for filtering or attenuating of the RF signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3614 RF power amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/3852 Gradient amplifiers; means for controlling the application of a gradient magnetic field to the sample, e.g. a gradient signal synthesizer
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/346 Preventing or reducing leakage fields using magnetic shields H01F27/36; using auxiliary windings H01F27/38
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/42 Circuits specially adapted for the purpose of modifying, or compensating for, electric characteristics of transformers, reactors, or choke coils circuits for controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, for the purpose of obtaining a desired output H02P13/00; impedance networks H03H
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0006 Arrangements for supplying an adequate voltage to the control circuit of converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0058 by employing soft switching techniques, i.e. commutation of transistors when applied voltage is zero or when current flow is zero using an auxiliary actively switched resonant commutation circuit connected to an intermediate DC voltage or between two push-pull branches of an inverter bridge H02M7/4811; in resonant inverters H02M7/4815; in inverters operating from a resonant DC source H02M7/4826
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/08 Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/083 for the ignition at the zero crossing of the voltage or the current
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/01 Resonant DC/DC converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/33573 Full-bridge at primary side of an isolation transformer
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/00 Electronic switching or gating, i.e. not by contact-making and –breaking gated amplifiers H03F3/72; switching arrangements for exchange systems using static devices H04Q3/52
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/133 in field-effect transistor switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/691 using transformer coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/0081 Power supply means, e.g. to the switch driver
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes

Abstract

A gate driver circuit is provided. The gate driver circuit includes an isolated gate driver power supply circuit. The isolated gate driver power supply circuit includes a coreless transformer and a resonance converter coupled to the coreless transformer. A method of manufacturing an isolated gate driver power supply circuit for a gate driver circuit is also provided.

Claims

1. A gate driver circuit, comprising:

an isolated gate driver power supply circuit, comprising;

a coreless transformer comprising a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are linked by an interlink wire to reduce capacitance coupling between the primary winding and the secondary winding; and

a resonance converter coupled to the coreless transformer, wherein the resonance converter is configured to enable the isolated gate driver power supply circuit to generate an output voltage independent of load.

2. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are magnetically coupled together.

3. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are concentrically arranged with respect to each other.

4. The gate driver circuit of claim 3, wherein the resonance converter comprises a plurality of capacitors, and the plurality of capacitors comprises a first capacitor and a second capacitor respectively coupled to the primary winding and the secondary winding in series.

5. The gate driver circuit of claim 4, wherein the resonance converter is configured to compensate for leakage inductance of the coreless transformer.

6. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the resonance converter is configured to enable zero voltage switching by the isolated gate driver power supply circuit.

7. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the gate driver circuit is configured to be disposed and utilized within a scan room having a magnetic resonance imaging system.

8. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the isolated gate driver power supply circuit comprises a power source configured to provide power to the isolated gate driver power supply circuit, and a rectifier configured to provide a power output from the isolated gate driver power supply.

17. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the interlink winding is crossed.

18. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are integrated into a printed circuit board (PCB).

19. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the interlink winding is integrated into a printed circuit board (PCB).

20. The gate driver circuit of claim 1, wherein a spacer fixes a position of the interlink winding relative to the primary winding and the secondary winding.

9. A gradient driver system for a magnetic resonance imaging (MM) system, comprising:

a gate driver circuit, comprising;

an isolated gate driver power supply circuit, comprising;

an air core transformer comprising a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are linked by an interlink wire to reduce capacitance coupling between the primary winding and the secondary winding; and

a resonance converter coupled to the air core transformer, wherein the resonance converter is configured to compensate for leakage inductance of the air core transformer, and wherein the resonance converter is configured to enable the isolated gate driver power supply circuit to generate an output voltage independent of load.

10. The gradient driver system of claim 9, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are magnetically coupled together.

11. The gradient driver system of claim 10, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are concentrically arranged with respect to each other.

12. The gradient driver system of claim 11, wherein the resonance converter comprises a plurality of capacitors, and the plurality of capacitors comprises a first capacitor and a second capacitor respectively coupled to the primary winding and the secondary winding in series.

13. The gradient driver system of claim 9, wherein the gate driver circuit is configured to be disposed and utilized within a scan room having the MM system.

14. The gradient driver system of claim 9, wherein the isolated gate driver power supply circuit comprises a power source configured to provide power to the isolated gate driver power supply circuit, and a rectifier configured to provide a power output from the isolated gate driver power supply.

15. A method of manufacturing an isolated gate driver power supply circuit for a gate driver circuit, comprising:

coupling a coreless transformer to a resonance converter, wherein the coreless transformer comprises a primary winding and a secondary winding, wherein the primary winding and the secondary winding are linked by an interlink wire to reduce capacitance coupling between the primary winding and the secondary winding, and wherein the resonance converter is configured to enable the isolated gate driver power supply circuit to generate an output voltage independent of load;

coupling a power supply to the coreless transformer; and

coupling a rectifier to the resonance converter.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the resonance converter comprises a first capacitor and a second capacitor, and coupling the coreless transformer to the resonance converter comprises coupling a first capacitor and a second capacitor respectively to the primary winding and the secondary winding in series.