Variable mutual off time control for automotive power converter
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsBoris CURUVIJA, Baoming GE, Fan XU
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automotive power converter may be controlled by detecting a magnitude of current output by a phase leg of the automotive power converter, selecting a mutual off time for switches of the phase leg according to the magnitude, and generating pulse width modulation signals for the switches having the mutual off time to operate the switches to transfer power between a traction battery and electric machine.
Claims14
An automotive vehicle comprising:
- a traction battery;
- an electric machine;
- an inverter configured to transfer power between the traction battery and electric machine, and including a pair of switches defining a phase leg for the electric machine;
- and
- a controller configured to complementarily operate the switches with respective pulse width modulated signals that each have a duty cycle and collectively define a mutual off time between pulses, wherein the mutual off time varies according to a magnitude of current output by the phase leg such that as the magnitude increases, the mutual off time increases while the duty cycle remains constant and as the magnitude decreases, the mutual off time decreases while the duty cycle remains constant.
The automotive vehicle of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to select the mutual off time according to the magnitude.
A method for controlling an automotive power converter, the method comprising:
- detecting a magnitude of current output by a phase leg of the automotive power converter, wherein the phase leg is defined by a pair of switches;
- selecting a mutual off time according to the magnitude;
- and
- generating pulse width modulation signals for the switches having the mutual off time to transfer power between a traction battery and electric machine such that as the magnitude decreases the mutual off time decreases.
A power system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
- a power inverter including a pair of switches defining a phase leg;
- a current sensor configured to measure a magnitude of current output by the phase leg;
- and
- a controller configured to operate the switches with respective pulse width modulated signals that each have a duty cycle and collectively define a mutual off time between pulses, and to alter the mutual off time according to the magnitude such that the mutual off time decreases as the magnitude decreases while the duty cycle remains constant.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.