Rectifying bridge control circuit
AssigneesSTMicroelectronics (Tours) SAS, STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsLaurent Gonthier, Roberto Larosa, Giulio Zoppi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An AC/DC converter includes a first terminal and a second terminal to receive an AC voltage and a third terminal and a fourth terminal to deliver a DC voltage. A rectifying bridge is provided in the converter. A controllable switching or rectifying element has a control terminal configured to receive a control current. A first switch is coupled between a supply voltage and the control terminal to inject the control current. A second switch is coupled between the control terminal and a reference voltage to extract the control current. The first and second switches are selectively actuated by a control circuit.
Claims14
An alternating current to direct current (AC/DC) converter, comprising:
- a first terminal and a second terminal configured to receive an AC voltage;
- a third terminal and a fourth terminal configured to supply a first DC voltage;
- a rectifying bridge having input terminals respectively connected to the first and second terminals, and further having output terminals;
- a controllable switching element coupled between one of the output terminals and the third terminal, said controllable switching element having a gate;
- a first transistor switch that is selectively actuated to inject a first current into the gate for turning on the controllable switching element;
- and
- a second transistor switch that is selectively actuated to extract a second current from the gate for turning on the controllable switching element.
An alternating current to direct current (AC/DC) converter, comprising:
- a first terminal and a second terminal configured to receive an AC voltage;
- a third terminal and a fourth terminal configured to supply a first DC voltage;
- a rectifying bridge having input terminals respectively connected to the first and second terminals, and further having output terminals;
- a controllable switching element coupled between one of the output terminals and the third terminal, said controllable switching element having a gate;
- a first transistor switch that is selectively actuated by a first control signal to inject a first current into the gate for turning on the controllable switching element in a start-up at an initial phase of the AC voltage;
- and
- a second transistor switch that is selectively actuated by a second control signal to extract a second current from the gate for turning on the controllable switching element for phases of the AC voltage following said initial phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.