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.
Claims19
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 coupled to the third and fourth terminals;
- wherein the rectifying bridge includes a first controllable rectifying element coupled between the first terminal and the third terminal, said first controllable rectifying element having a first control electrode;
- a first transistor switch that is selectively actuated to apply a positive potential at a power supply node to the first control electrode;
- and
- a second transistor switch that is selectively actuated to couple the first control electrode to the fourth terminal.
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 comprising:
- a first diode coupled between the first terminal and the fourth terminal;
- a second diode coupled between the second terminal and the fourth terminal;
- a first controllable rectifying element coupled between the first terminal and the third terminal, said first controllable rectifying element having a first control electrode;
- a second controllable rectifying element coupled between the secondt terminal and the third terminal, said second controllable rectifying element having a second control electrode;
- a first transistor switch that is selectively actuated to apply a positive potential at a power supply node to the first and second control electrodes;
- and
- a second transistor switch that is selectively actuated to couple the first and second control electrodes to the fourth terminal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.