Power system with phased controlled inrush limiter

A phase controlled drive circuit, comprising:

• a drive circuit operable to provide gate signals to an SCR bridge circuit;
• first means for generating a first ramp voltage signal;
• second means for generating a second ramp voltage signal;
• third means for periodically resetting the second ramp voltage signal to an initial value;
• and
• fourth means for placing the drive circuit in a first activation state when a sum of the first ramp voltage signal and the second ramp voltage signal exceeds a threshold value, and placing the drive circuit in a second activation state when the sum of the first ramp voltage and the second ramp voltage signal is less than the threshold value.

A method of phase controlling a drive circuit for driving an SCR bridge, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating a first phase signal;
• generating a second phase signal;
• periodically resetting the second phase signal to an initial value;
• comparing the sum of the first phase signal and the second phase signal to a threshold value;
• placing the drive circuit in a first activation state when a sum of the first phase signal and the second phase signal exceeds a threshold value, and placing the drive circuit in a second activation state when the sum of the first phase signal and the second phase signal is less than the threshold value.

A system phase controlling a drive circuit for driving an SCR bridge, the system comprising:

• means for generating a first phase signal;
• means for generating a second phase signal;
• means for periodically resetting the second phase signal to an initial value;
• means for comparing the sum of the first phase signal and the second phase signal to a threshold value;
• means for placing the drive circuit in a first activation state when a sum of the first phase signal and the second phase signal exceeds a threshold value, and placing the drive circuit in a second activation state when the sum of the first phase signal and the second phase signal is less than the threshold value.

A power system comprising a plurality of power supply units (“PSUs”), each PSU having an output that is coupled to the output of other PSUs in the power system, each PSU comprising:

• a power factor correction (“PFC”) assembly for receiving an AC input and generating a first DC output;
• a DC/DC converter assembly that is coupled to the PFC assembly, the DC/DC converter assembly receiving the first DC output and generating a second regulated DC output;
• an inrush limiting circuit, comprising:
• a drive circuit operable to provide gate signals to an SCR bridge circuit;
• and
• a phase control circuit comprising a first phase generator operable to generate a first phase signal, a second phase generator operable to generate a second phase signal, the second phase signal periodically reset to an initial value, and a drive circuit actuator operable to place the drive circuit in a first activation state when a sum of the first and second phase signals exceed a threshold value, and further operable to place the drive circuit in a second activation state when the sum of the first and second phase signals is less than the threshold value;
• and
• a control assembly that is coupled to the DC/DC converter assembly, the control assembly being operative to monitor the DC/DC converter assembly output and in response thereto to provide control signals to the DC/DC converter assembly, the control assembly comprising,
• a plurality of control assembly input circuits, the control assembly input circuits being operative to measure characteristics relating to the DC/DC converter assembly and operative to generate a measured characteristics output;
• a signal processor having a signal path to the control assembly input circuits, the signal processor being operative to receive the measured characteristics output, perform computations wherein the measured characteristics output is used in the computations, and generate a signal processor output;
• and
• a plurality of control assembly output circuits, the control assembly output circuits being operative to generate error signals based on the signal processor output.