Gate drive circuit for semiconductor switching devices
AssigneeFuji Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorSatoki Takizawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gate drive circuit includes first and second transistors for turning on and off semiconductor switching devices. The circuit includes a DC power supply for driving the first and second transistors. The gate drive circuit further includes a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a DC power supply being a power supply for the third and fourth transistors with a voltage value lower than the voltage value of the DC power supply, thereby making lower the impedance of the path of a current flowing from the DC power supply to the gates of the switching devices through the third transistor than the impedance of the path of a current flowing from the DC power supply to the gates of the switching devices through the first transistor.
Claims8
A gate drive circuit commonly connected to gates of a group of switching devices to drive the group of switching devices, the group of switching devices being voltage-driving type semiconductor switching devices, the gate drive circuit comprising:
- a first switch for turning-on the group of the switching devices;
- a second switch connected in series to the first switch to turn-off the group of the switching devices;
- a first current limiting resistor limiting current flowing in the first switch;
- a second current limiting resistor limiting current flowing in the second switch;
- at least a first DC power supply as a power supply for driving the first switch and the second switch;
- a third switch configured to be turned-on by a turning-on instruction signal to the first switch to turn-on the group of the switching devices;
- a fourth switch configured to be turned-off by a turning-off instruction signal to the second switch to turn-off the group of the switching devices;
- and
- a second DC power supply connected across a DC circuit including the third switch and the fourth switch as a power supply for driving the third switch and the fourth switch with a voltage value lower than the voltage value of the first DC power supply, thereby making lower an impedance of a path of a current flowing from the second DC power supply to the gates of the group of the switching devices through the third switch in a turned-on state than an impedance of a path of a current flowing from the first DC power supply to the gates of the group of the switching devices through the first switch in a turned-on state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.