Power converter apparatus and methods using adaptive node balancing
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorGeorge William Oughton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus includes a first winding and a second winding on a core and having first taps coupled in common to a first node of an inverter circuit. The apparatus further includes a switching circuit configured to selectively couple a second tap of the first winding to a second node of the inverter circuit and to selectively couple a second tap of the second winding to a third node of the inverter circuit. The switching circuit may be configured to provide a desired balance of first and second voltages at respective ones of the second and third nodes with respect to the first node. Related methods are also described.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- an inverter circuit;
- and
- a balancer circuit comprising:
- a first winding and a second winding on a core in a transformer arrangement and having first taps coupled in common to a first node of the inverter circuit;
- and
- a switching circuit configured to selectively couple a second tap of the first winding to a second node of the inverter circuit and to selectively couple a second tap of the second winding to a third node of the inverter circuit.
An apparatus comprising:
- a DC link comprising first and second DC buses;
- a balancer circuit coupled to the first and second DC buses and comprising:
- first and second windings on a core in a transformer arrangement and having first taps coupled in common to a neutral;
- first and second switches configured to selectively couple second taps of respective ones of the first and second windings to respective ones of the first and second DC buses;
- and
- a control circuit configured to control the first and second switches to balance voltages between the first and second DC buses and the neutral.
A method of operating an inverter, the method comprising:
- providing a first winding and a second winding on a core in a transformer arrangement and having first taps coupled in common to a first node of the inverter;
- and
- selectively coupling a second tap of the first winding to a second node of the inverter and a second tap of the second winding to a third node of the inverter using a balancer circuit separate from the inverter to balance first and second voltages at the second and third nodes with respect to the first node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.