Power converter
AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsAkira Mima, Hiroshi Kamizuma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power converter that can be made compact and lightweight is provided. The power converter includes a control circuit power supply, a power semiconductor module that includes power conversion elements, a control circuit board that operates with power from the control circuit power supply and controls the power conversion elements, and a capacitor connected to the power conversion elements. In the power converter, the control circuit power supply charges the capacitor through the control circuit board. With this configuration, hot swapping of the power converter from the converter system can be performed. A boosting circuit may boost voltage of the control circuit power supply to charge the capacitor.
Claims11
A power converter comprising:
- a control circuit power supply;
- a power semiconductor module that includes a power conversion element and an upper arm and a lower arm;
- a control circuit board that operates with power from the control circuit power supply and controls the power conversion element, wherein the control circuit board has a switch;
- a capacitor that is connected to the power conversion element;
- a boosting circuit that boosts voltage of the control circuit power supply to predetermined voltage required for charging the capacitor;
- and
- a capacitor charging control circuit for controlling the charging of the capacitor, wherein:
- the control circuit power supply charges the capacitor through the control circuit board,
- the boosting circuit has a primary side connected to the capacitor charging control circuit, and
- the boosting circuit has a first terminal on a secondary side connected to the switch and a second terminal on the secondary side connected to an emitter potential of the upper arm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.