# US 10,500,959 B2 · Single supply hybrid drive resonant gate driver > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,500,959 B2 - Document ID: US10500959B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/472,422 - Filed: 2017-03-29 - Published: 2018-10-04 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2017-03-29 - Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Applicants: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Inventors: Shuitao Yang; Yan Zhou; Lihua Chen; Fan Xu - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10500959B2 ## CPC - B60L 1/003: {to auxiliary motors, e.g. for pumps, compressors} - B60L 50/16: with provision for separate direct mechanical propulsion - B60L 58/10: for monitoring or controlling batteries - H03K 17/0406: {in composite switches} - H03K 17/041: without feedback from the output circuit to the control circuit {(H03K17/0403, H03K17/0406 take precedence)} - H03K 17/567: Circuits characterised by the use of more than one type of semiconductor device, e.g. BIMOS, composite devices such as IGBT - B60L 2210/10: DC to DC converters - B60Y 2200/92: Hybrid vehicles - B60Y 2300/91: Battery charging - B60Y 2400/112: Batteries - H02M 1/0054: {Transistor switching losses (periodically suspending operation of switching converter in low power mode H02M1/0035)} - H02M 1/08: Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters - H02M 7/487: Neutral point clamped inverters - H03K 2217/0036: Means reducing energy consumption - Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries - Y02T 10/7072: Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors - Y02T 10/72: Electric energy management in electromobility - Y02T 10/92: Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles - Y02T 90/12: Electric charging stations - Y10S 903/903: having energy storing means, e.g. battery, capacitor - B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES - H03K: PULSE TECHNIQUE (measuring pulse characteristics G01R; modulating sinusoidal oscillations with pulses H03C; transmission of digital information H04L; discriminator circuits detecting phase difference between two signals by counting or integrating cycles of oscillation H03D3/04; automatic control, starting, synchronisation or stabilisation of generators of electronic oscillations or pulses where the type of generator is irrelevant or unspecified H03L; coding, decoding or code conversion, in general H03M) - B60Y: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY - H02M: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF (transformers H01F; dynamo-electric converters H02K47/00; controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, control or regulation of electric motors, generators or dynamo-electric converters H02P) - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION - Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS ## Abstract A gate driver of a power device includes an inductor and a supply. The inductor is configured to, during a transitional period of the power device, convert a potential on a gate to a field, and the field to an opposite potential to toggle the gate and charge a floating capacitor to the opposite potential as an excess field collapses. The supply is configured to maintain the gate at the potential and generate the excess field during a non-transitional period. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A gate driver of a power device comprising: a supply; a capacitor; an inductor, and a circuit including a plurality of switching devices that are configured to (i) selectively couple the supply to a gate of the power device, (ii) selectively couple the capacitor to the gate and the inductor, and (iii) selectively couple the inductor to the gate, the circuit further including a controller that is configured to, during a transitional period of the power device, operate the switching devices to cause the inductor to convert a potential on the gate to a field, and the field to an opposite potential to toggle the gate and charge the capacitor to the opposite potential as an excess field collapses and, during a non-transitional period, operate the switching devices to cause the supply to maintain the gate at the potential and generate the excess field. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The gate driver of claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured to operate the circuit to, adjust, proportional to a voltage across the capacitor, a pre-charge time to reduce a difference between a pre-charge charge and an energy recovery charge. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The gate driver of claim 1, wherein the supply has a supply magnitude and the capacitor has an average magnitude over the transitional period such that the supply magnitude is greater than the average magnitude. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The gate driver of claim 1, wherein the supply is configured to apply a negative charge on the gate of the power device and the capacitor is configured to apply a positive charge on the gate of the power device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The gate driver of claim 4 wherein the circuit further includes a body diode of a pull-up switching device and a recirculating diode that are forward biased as the excess field collapses in the inductor to flow current to recharge the capacitor. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The gate driver of claim 5, wherein the pull-up switching device is a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) or a bipolar junction transistor (BJT). ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The gate driver of claim 5 wherein the switching devices include a pull-down switching device configured to latch, to a negative potential of the supply, the negative charge. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The gate driver of claim 1, wherein the supply is configured to apply a positive charge on the gate of the power device and the capacitor is configured to apply a negative charge on the gate of the power device. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The gate driver of claim 1, wherein the power device is a Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) or an Insulated Gate Bipolar Junction Transistor (IGBT). ### Claim 10 A method of recirculating a gate charge during transitioning of a power switch for a vehicle powertrain comprising: by a gate driver, latching, in an off state of the power switch, a negative charge onto a gate of a power switch by forming a conductive path from the gate through a pull-down switch and a resonant pull-down switch to a supply; inducing, responsive to a request to turn on the power switch, a field in an inductor by flowing a negative charge on the gate of the power switch by coupling the inductor to the gate through a resonant pull-up switch and a resonant pull-up diode; converting the field to a positive charge by opening the pull-down switch and the resonant pull-down switch; flowing the positive charge onto the gate through the resonant pull-up diode and the resonant pull-up switch and excess charge to a capacitor through an antiparallel diode across a pull-up switch that is coupled between the capacitor and the resonant pull-up switch; and latching the positive charge onto the gate via the capacitor by closing the pull-up switch. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the pull-up switch and resonant pull-up switch are metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) or bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10 further comprising, by a gate driver, during turn-off inducing a field in the inductor via a positive charge that is on the gate by closing the resonant pull-down switch to pass current through a resonant pull-down diode; converting the field to a negative charge by opening the pull-up switch and the resonant pull-up switch; flowing the negative charge onto the gate through the resonant pull-down diode and the resonant pull-down switch and creating an excess field by a supply; and latching the negative charge onto the gate by the supply by closing the pull-down switch. ### Claim 13 A gate driver of a power device comprising: a capacitor and a supply arranged with a first set of switching devices in a circuit in a push-pull configuration; a resonant circuit, including an inductor that is selectively couplable to the gate in a pull-up and a pull-down mode by a second set of switching devices and corresponding diodes; and a controller configured to operate the first set and the second set of switching devices to recirculate charge during turn-off by inducing a first field based on a positive charge from a gate of the power device caused by a positive potential of the supply, and in response to reversal of a voltage across the inductor, collapsing the first field to draw charge from the gate and to a capacitor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The gate driver of claim 13 wherein the controller is further configured to, adjust, proportional to a voltage across the capacitor, a pre-charge time to reduce a difference between a pre-charge charge and an energy recovery charge. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The gate driver of claim 13, wherein the supply has a supply magnitude and the capacitor has an average magnitude over the turn-off such that the supply magnitude is greater than the average magnitude. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The gate driver of claim 13, wherein the resonant circuit includes a low-side switch configured to latch the gate to a negative potential of the capacitor. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The gate driver of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured operate the first set and the second set to recirculate charge during turn-on by inducing a second field based on a negative charge from a gate caused by the negative potential, and in response to reversal of the voltage across the inductor, collapsing the second field to inject charge onto the gate.