High voltage pulse generating circuit
AssigneeNGK Insulators, Ltd.
InventorsTatsuhiko Hatano, Takeshi Sakuma
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Abstract
In a high voltage pulse generating circuit, inductive energy is accumulated in an inductor due to electrical continuity of a first semiconductor switch by turning on a second semiconductor switch, and a high voltage pulse is generated by the inductor due to turning off of the first semiconductor switch by turning off the second semiconductor switch. In the case where both edge voltages of the first semiconductor switch and the second semiconductor switch are off the normal range, a failure diagnosis circuit is provided for stopping drive of the second semiconductor switch.
Claims8
A high-voltage pulse generating circuit having an inductor, a first semiconductor switch, and a second semiconductor switch which are connected in series with each other across a DC power supply unit, and a diode having a cathode terminal connected to an end of said inductor whose other end is connected to an anode terminal of said first semiconductor switch, and an anode terminal connected to a gate terminal of said first semiconductor switch, wherein an induced energy is stored in said inductor when said first semiconductor switch is rendered conductive as said second semiconductor switch is turned on, and said inductor generates a high-voltage pulse when said first semiconductor switch is turned off as said second semiconductor switch is turned off, wherein:
- a failure diagnosing circuit de-energizes said second semiconductor switch if the voltage across said first semiconductor switch and said second semiconductor switch falls out of a normal range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.