Charge transfer apparatus and method therefore

A charge transfer apparatus comprising:

• an inductive section;
• a charge storage device coupled with the inductive section to form a resonant circuit with the inductive section;
• a first power terminal having a plurality of first nodes;
• a plurality of first switches coupling the first power terminal with the resonant circuit;
• and
• a control unit for controlling the operation of the plurality of first switches to interchange a first predetermined amount of charge between a first node of the plurality of first nodes and the energy storage element and to interchange a second predetermined amount of charge between a second node of the plurality of first nodes and the energy storage element, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined amount of charge interchanged between the charge storage device and the first node and the second predetermined amount of charge interchanged between the charge storage device and the second node is equal to a ratio of the currents drawn from the first node and the second node.

A charge transfer apparatus comprising:

• an inductive section;
• a charge storage device coupled with the inductive section to form a resonant circuit with the inductive section;
• a first power terminal having a plurality of first nodes;
• a plurality of first switches coupling the first power terminal with the resonant circuit;
• a control unit for controlling the operation of the plurality of first switches to interchange a first predetermined amount of charge between a first node of the plurality of first nodes and the charge storage device and to interchange a second predetermined amount of charge between a second node of the plurality of first nodes and the charge storage device, wherein the ratio of the first predetermined amount of charge interchanged between the charge storage device and the first node and the second predetermined amount of charge interchanged between the charge storage device and the second node is equal to a ratio of the currents drawn from the first node and the second node;
• a second power terminal having a plurality of second nodes;
• and
• a plurality of second switches coupling the second power terminal and the resonant circuit;
• the control unit for controlling the operation of the plurality of second switches to interchange a third predetermined amount of charge between a first second-node of the plurality of second nodes and the charge storage device and to interchange a fourth predetermined amount of charge between a second second-node ofthe plurality of second nodes and the charge storage device, wherein the ratio of the third predetermined amount of charge interchanged between the charge storage device and the first second-node and the fourth predetermined amount of charge interchanged between the charge storage device and the second second-node is equal to a ratio ofthe currents injected into the first node and the second node.

A charge transfer apparatus for directly transferring energy from an input terminal having a plurality of input nodes to an output terminal having a plurality of output nodes, said charge transfer apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of input switches coupled with the input nodes;
• a plurality of output switches coupled with the output nodes;
• a charge storage device coupled in series between the plurality of input switches and the plurality of output switches;
• an inductive section coupled in series with the charge storage device such that the inductive section and the charge storage device form a series resonant circuit;
• and
• a control unit for operating the plurality of input switches and the plurality of output switches, wherein the control unit simultaneously turns on two input switches and two output switches to forming a connection between two input nodes and two output nodes with the inductive section and the charge storage device in series, and, when a predetermined charge has been extracted from a one of the two input nodes, the control unit turns on a third input switch, and, when sufficient charge has been injected into a one of the two output nodes, the control unit turns on a third output switch.

An electronic transformer circuit for transferring power from an input terminal having a plurality of input nodes to an output terminal having a plurality of output nodes, the electronic transformer circuit comprising:

• a plurality of input switches coupled with the input node;
• an inductive section coupled with the plurality of input switches;
• a charge storage device coupled in series with the inductive section;
• a single-phase transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, the primary winding coupled in parallel with the charge storage device;
• a plurality of output switches, the secondary winding coupled in series with the plurality of output switches;
• and
• a control unit for operating of the plurality of input switches and the plurality of output switches, wherein the control unit alternately turns on the plurality of input switches, to transfer charge from the input terminal to the charge storage device, and turns on the plurality of output switches, to transfer charge from the charge storage device through the single-phase transformer to the output terminal.