Back to results
US 10,554,201 B2Granted
Solid state switch system
AssigneeABB Schweiz AG
InventorsPietro Cairoli, Lukas Hofstetter, Matthias Bator, Ricardo Bini, Munaf Rahimo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A solid state switch for connecting and disconnecting an electrical device has at least one FET-type device and at least one thyristor-type device coupled in parallel to the at least one FET-type device. A gate driver is operative to send gate drive signals to the at least one FET-type device and to the at least one thyristor-type device for providing current to the electrical device. The gate driver is constructed to control a split of the current as between the at least one FET-type device and the at least one thyristor-type device.
Claims35
A solid state switch system for connecting and disconnecting an electrical device to/from a power source, comprising:
- a first terminal constructed for coupling to and receiving power from a power source;
- a second terminal constructed for delivering power from the power source to the electrical device;
- at least one FET-type device coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal;
- at least one thyristor-type device coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal in parallel to the at least one FET-type device;
- and
- a gate driver operative to send gate drive signals to the at least one FET-type device and to the at least one thyristor-type device for providing current to the electrical device;
- wherein the gate driver is constructed to control a split of the current as between the at least one FET-type device and the at least one thyristor-type device,
- wherein the gate driver is operative to receive a command signal to supply current to the electrical device, and
- wherein the gate driver is constructed to either:
- (1) delay a control signal to turn on the at least one FET-type device by a first time delay from the start of the command signal and wherein the gate driver is constructed to delay a control signal to turn on the at least one thyristor-type device by a second time delay from the start of the command signal, or
- (2) delay a control signal to turn off the at least one FET-type device by a third time delay from the end of the command signal, and wherein the gate driver is constructed to delay a control signal to turn off the at least one thyristor-type device by a fourth time delay from the end of the command signal.
8 more elements
A solid state switch system for connecting and disconnecting an electrical device to/from a power source, comprising:
- a first terminal constructed for coupling to and receiving power from a power source;
- a second terminal constructed for delivering power from the power source to the electrical device;
- at least one FET-type device coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal;
- at least one thyristor-type device coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal in parallel to the at least one FET-type device;
- and
- a gate driver operative to send gate drive signals to the at least one FET-type device and to the at least one thyristor-type device for providing current to the electrical device;
- wherein the gate driver is constructed to control a split of the current as between the at least one FET-type device and the at least one thyristor-type device,
- wherein the gate driver is operative to receive a command to stop supplying the current to the electrical device;
- and wherein the gate driver is constructed to:
- (1) turn off the at least one FET-type device in response to the command while the at least one thyristor-type device is still turned on, or
- (2) simultaneously turn off the at least one FET-type device and turn on the at least one thyristor-type device in response to the command.
8 more elements
A solid state switch system for connecting and disconnecting an electrical device to/from a power source, comprising:
- a first terminal constructed for coupling to and receiving power from a power source;
- a second terminal constructed for delivering power from the power source to the electrical device;
- at least one FET-type device coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal;
- at least one thyristor-type device coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal in parallel to the at least one FET-type device;
- and
- a gate driver operative to send gate drive signals to the at least one FET-type device and to the at least one thyristor-type device for providing current to the electrical device;
- wherein the gate driver is constructed to control a split of the current as between the at least one FET-type device and the at least one thyristor-type device,
- wherein the at least one FET-type device has a first power loss profile based on the rated current associated with the electrical device;
- wherein the at least one thyristor-type device has a second power loss profile based on an inrush current and a start current associated with the electrical device;
- and wherein the gate driver is constructed to control a split of the current based on a threshold determined via a correlation between the first power loss profile and the second power loss profile.
7 more elements
A solid state switch system for connecting and disconnecting an electrical device to/from a power source, comprising:
- a command input operative to provide a command signal for commanding connection or disconnection of the electrical device;
- at least one FET-type device coupled to the electrical device and the power source;
- at least one thyristor-type device coupled to the electrical device and the power source in parallel to the at least one FET-type device;
- a first gate driver circuit coupled to the at least one FET-type device and operative to provide a first gate drive signal to the at least one FET-type device, wherein the first gate drive signal is a continuous signal;
- a second gate driver circuit coupled to the at least one thyristor-type device and operative to provide a second gate drive signal to the at least one thyristor-type device;
- and
- an isolated power supply coupled to the first gate driver circuit and operative to supply power to the first gate driver circuit for generating the first gate drive signal.
4 more elements
A method of operating a solid state switch to connect and disconnect an electrical device to/from a power source, comprising:
- receiving a command signal;
- connecting the electrical device to the power source by activating at least one FET-type device after a first time delay subsequent to the command signal becoming high;
- activating at least one thyristor-type device after a second time delay subsequent to the command signal becoming high;
- disconnecting the electrical device from the power source by deactivating the at least one FET-type device after a third time delay subsequent to the command signal becoming low;
- and
- activating the at least one thyristor-type device simultaneous with deactivating the at least one FET-type device.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.