Power generator with improved controllability of phase of phase current

A power generator comprising:

• at least two-phase armature windings;
• a switching unit including, for each of the at least two-phase armature windings, a pair of a high-side switching element with a first diode parallely connected thereto and a second low-side switching element with a second diode parallely connected thereto, the switching unit being configured to rectify, through at least one of the high-side switching element, the first diode, the second low-side switching element, and the second diode, a voltage induced in each of the at least two-phase armature windings;
• a phase detector that directly detects a phase of a phase current, the phase current being generated based on the voltage induced in each of the at least two-phase armature windings;
• and
• a controller configured to operate, in a phase control mode, to turn on each of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element within an on period, the on period being delayed since a start of a conductive period of a corresponding one of the first and second diodes, the on period of each of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element being determined based on the detected phase of the phase current.

A power generator comprising:

• a rotor including a field winding;
• at least two-phase armature windings, when the field winding is energized with the rotor being rotated to generate a rotating magnetic field, each of the at least two-phase armature winding being configured to induce a voltage therein based on the generated rotating magnetic field;
• a switching unit including, for each of the at least two-phase armature windings, a pair of a high-side switching element with a first diode parallely connected thereto and a second low-side switching element with a second diode parallely connected thereto, the switching unit being configured to rectify, through at least one of the high-side switching element, the first diode, the second low-side switching element, and the second diode, a voltage induced in each of the at least two-phase armature windings;
• a voltage regulator having a switching element connected with the field winding, the voltage regulator being configured to control a duty cycle of the switching element to thereby regulate an output of the switching unit;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• operate, if a rotational speed of the rotor is higher than a first preset value and lower than a second preset value higher than the first preset value, and a value of the duty cycle of the switching element is equal to or higher than a preset value, in a phase control mode to turn on each of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element within an on period, the on period being delayed since a start of a conductive period of a corresponding one of the first and second diodes;
• and
• operate, if at least one of the rotational speed of the rotor is equal to or lower than the first preset value, the rotational speed of the rotor is equal to or higher than the second preset value, and the value of the duty cycle of the switching element is lower than the preset value, in a synchronous control mode to turn on and off each of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element such that the on period of each of the high-side switching element and the low-side switching element is within the conductive period of a corresponding one of the first and second diodes.