Solid state circuit breaker and control method therefor
AssigneeLs Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorsDongjin Yun, Sunghee Kang, Woonghyeob Song
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a solid state circuit breaker, comprising: a semiconductor switch unit including a semiconductor switch that electrically connects or disconnects a power system and a load according to a voltage applied to a gate terminal; and a control unit that, when the semiconductor circuit breaker is turned on, controls the semiconductor switch to repeat turn-on and turn-off operations for a predetermined initial driving time so as to gradually alleviate the magnitude of inrush current caused by an initial connection between the power system and the load.
Claims20
A solid-state circuit breaker disposed between a power system and a load, the solid-state circuit breaker comprising:
- a semiconductor switch unit comprising a semiconductor switch that electrically connects or disconnects between the power system and the load depending on a voltage applied to a gate terminal thereof;
- a cut-off switch that physically connects or disconnects the solid-state circuit breaker and the load from the power system;
- and
- a control unit that controls, when the solid-state circuit breaker is turned on, the semiconductor switch to repeat turn-on and turn-off during a preset initial operation time period so as to gradually mitigate a magnitude of inrush current due to an initial connection between the power system and the load,
- wherein the control unit is further configured to:
- count, during an initial operation time period, a number of times in which a condition for executing a soft trip function is satisfied when a current level in the solid-state circuit breaker reaches a soft trip current level at which the soft trip function is executed;
- and
- operate the cut-off switch to physically separate between the power system and the load, when the number of times in which the condition for executing the soft trip function is satisfied is above a preset number of times, or when a current inside the solid-state circuit breaker is above a preset current level at which the cut-off switch operates.
A method of controlling a solid-state circuit breaker disposed between a power system and a load, the solid-state circuit breaker comprising a semiconductor switch, the method comprising:
- turning on, when the solid-state circuit breaker is turned on, the semiconductor switch to initially connect between the power system and the load;
- repeating turn-off and turn-on of the semiconductor switch so as to gradually mitigate a magnitude of inrush current due to an initial connection between the power system and the load during a preset initial operation time period, and
- wherein repeating of the turn-off and turn-on of the semiconductor switch further comprises:
- checking whether a current level in the solid-state circuit breaker has satisfied an execution condition of a soft trip function;
- checking a number of times in which the execution condition of the soft trip function is satisfied while the turn-off and turn-on of the semiconductor switch are repeated;
- and
- operating a cut-off switch to physically separate between the power system and the load when the execution condition of the soft trip function is satisfied a preset number of times or more.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.