1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions pertain to the field of power supplies, and among other things to the regulation of power supplies.
2. Background
Accurate regulation of power supplies is important in many areas. For instance in sensitive electronic devices such as computers and televisions maintaining a constant power supply is important for the operation of the computer or television. Additionally, the advantages of accurate power supply regulation include reduced overall power consumption and reduced damage to equipment by preventing voltage spikes during start up and operation.
Power supplies are regulated by keeping either a current or voltage delivered to a load within a specified range. A power supply is deemed to be in regulation if the load current or voltage is within the specified range and is deemed to be out of regulation if the load current or voltage is outside the specified range.
Problems associated with out of regulation conditions include damage to the load, improper load functioning, and the consumption of power when no power is necessary to operate the load. Therefore, power supplies that regulate output power provided to the load are desired.
A known regulated power supply is depicted in
A monolithic power supply control chip 40 includes a MOSFET 45 that is controlled by pulse width modulator 50. When MOSFET 45 is conducting, primary winding 25 has current flowing through it allowing transformer 30 to store energy. When MOSFET 45 is not conducting, the energy stored in the transformer 30 induces a voltage across the secondary winding 55 which is transferred to a load 60 connected at output terminals 65. A capacitor 70 is coupled to secondary winding 55 in order to maintain the voltage that is being supplied to the load 60 when MOSFET 45 is on.
A feedback circuit 75 is coupled to the load 60. The feedback circuit 75 includes a resistor 80, zener diode 85 and an optocoupler 90. A bias winding 95 is magnetically coupled to primary winding 25 and is used to supply power to the output of the optocoupler 90. When the voltage at load 60 is above combination of the reverse bias voltage of zener diode 85 and the forward voltage drop of light emitting diode 100, a current is generated in the phototransistor 105 by light emitting diode 100. The phototransistor 105 current flows from the bias winding 95 to the control terminal 110 of monolithic power supply control chip 40. The current provided to the control terminal 110 of monolithic power supply control chip 40 controls the duty cycle of MOSFET 45. When the control terminal 110 current increases the duty cycle of MOSFET 45 decreases and the amount of current through primary winding 25 decreases. Therefore, the power provided to the load 60 decreases. As the power supplied to the load 60 decreases, the load voltage decreases which in turn reduces the optocoupler 90 current increasing the duty cycle of MOSFET 45. Thus, the output voltage is regulated at a voltage equal to zener 85 reverse breakdown voltage plus the forward drop of LED 100 in an analog closed loop. Resistor 80 controls the gain of the analog loop.
It should be noted that pulse width modulator 50 is switching at some duty cycle to provide power to the feedback circuit 75 even when there is no load connected to the output terminals 65. This will cause power consumption from switching losses occurring at the operating frequency of the MOSFET 45.
The regulated power supply of
However, the addition of a feedback winding and pulse width modulation controller makes application of the regulated power supply of
It is therefore desired to create a power supply that is cost effective for low power solutions.
It is further desired to create a power supply that utilizes the minimum amount of components possible.
It is additionally desired to create a power supply that can respond quickly to load transients without losing output regulation.
A presently preferred DC to DC converter comprises an energy storage element that receives a first power level and that provides a second power level, a feedback circuit coupled to the energy storage element, and a regulator circuit coupled to the feedback circuit and to the energy storage element. When a feedback signal is above a threshold the regulator circuit is disabled and when the feedback signal is below said threshold level the regulator circuit is enabled.
In another embodiment a power supply comprises a transforming element that transfers energy and is coupled to receive a first power level and a regulator circuit coupled to the transforming element. The regulator circuit controlling input of the first power level to the transforming element. When an output voltage or current of the transforming element is above a threshold level the regulator circuit is disabled and when output voltage or current of the transforming element is below a threshold level the regulator circuit operates.
In yet another embodiment a regulator circuit comprises a feedback input, a switch operating when a control signal is received at its control terminal, an oscillator that provides a duty cycle signal comprising a high state and a low state. The control signal is provided when no feedback signal is provided and the duty cycle signal is in said high state.
In a further embodiment a power supply comprises an energy storage element coupled to receive a first power level and a regulation circuit coupled between the energy storage element and a source of the first power level. The regulation circuit prevents the energy storage element from receiving the first power level when a current or voltage at the input of the energy storage element is at or above a predetermined threshold level.
In an additional embodiment a power supply comprises a transforming element coupled to receive a first power level and a regulation circuit coupled between the transforming element and a source of the first power level. The regulation circuit prevents the transforming element from receiving the first power level when a current or voltage at the input of the transforming element is at or above a predetermined threshold level.
It is an object of an aspect of the present inventions to create a power supply that is accurately regulated with a minimum amount of time spent out of regulation.
It is another object of an aspect of the present inventions to create a power supply that is cost effective for low power solutions.
It is a further object of the present inventions to create a power supply that utilizes the minimum amount of components possible.
It is also an object of the present inventions to create a power supply that is low cost.
This and other objects and aspects of the present inventions are taught, depicted and described in the drawings and the description of the invention contained herein.
Referring to
To maintain second DC voltage 220 at a regulated level feedback circuit 260 is coupled to the positive terminal 270 of the load 230. A presently preferred feedback circuit 260 includes an optocoupler 280 and a zener diode 290. Feedback circuit 260 will trigger when the second DC voltage 220 is above a threshold level which is presently preferred to be a combination of the voltage drop across the light emitting diode 300 of optocoupler 280 (preferably one volt) and the reverse break down voltage of zener diode 290. Upon triggering feedback circuit 260 will activate phototransistor 310 of the optocoupler 280. The activation of phototransistor 310 causes a current to flow into the feedback terminal 320. The current input into feedback terminal 320 is utilized to disable regulation circuit 240. Disabling regulation circuit 240 prevents switching current at the operating frequency from flowing to energy storage element input 250 and prevents power from being supplied to the load 230. When regulation circuit 240 is not conducting a current source 330 is triggered within the regulation circuit 240. The current source 330 allows a small current to flow through a bypass terminal 340 of regulation circuit 240 to charge regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350. Regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350 is used to supply power to operate regulation circuit 240 when it is conducting. In this way when the second DC voltage 220 is above the desired threshold level virtually no power is supplied to the load and a minimum amount of power is being consumed by the DC to DC converter 200.
It is presently preferred that at the moment when second DC voltage 220 reaches a level below the threshold level, phototransistor 310 will cease conducting. When the phototransistor 310 is not conducting, no current flows into feedback terminal 320 and regulation circuit 240 is enabled. When the regulation circuit 240 is enabled a switching current at the operating frequency is supplied to the energy storage element input 250.
It is presently preferred, that the threshold level is equal to the regulated value of the output voltage, e.g. the second DC voltage 220. Alternatively, the output current can also be regulated by utilizing a current threshold. Referring to
Operation of the power supply 400 will now be described. An AC mains voltage is input into bridge rectifier 410 which provides a rectified signal to power supply capacitors 420 that provide input DC voltage 430 to primary winding 460. Regulation circuit 240, which preferably operates at a constant frequency and about constant duty cycle at a given input DC voltage 430, allows current to flow through primary winding 460 during its on state of each switching cycle and acts as open circuit when in its off state. When current flows through primary winding 460 transformer 450 is storing energy, when no current is flowing through primary winding 460 any energy stored in transformer 450 is delivered to secondary winding 470. Secondary winding 470 provides then provides the energy to capacitor 485. Capacitor 485 delivers power to the load 490. The voltage across the load 490 will vary depending on the amount of energy stored in the transformer 450 in each switching cycle which is turn dependent on the length of time current is flowing through primary winding 460 in each switching cycle which is presently preferred to be constant at a given input DC voltage 430. The presently preferred regulation circuit 240 allows the voltage delivered to the load to be maintained at a constant level.
It is presently preferred that the sum of the voltage drop across optocoupler 280 and the reverse break down voltage of zener diode 520 is approximately equal to the desired threshold level. When the voltage across the load 490 reaches the threshold level, current begins to flow through the optocoupler 280 and zener diode 520 that in turn is used to disable the regulation circuit 240. Whenever regulation circuit 240 is in the off-state the regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350 is charged to the operating supply voltage, which is presently preferred to be five point seven (5.7) volts by allowing a small current to flow from bypass terminal 340 to the regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350. Regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350 is used to supply power to operate regulation circuit 240 when it is in the on-state.
When the regulation circuit 240 is disabled, an open circuit condition is created in primary winding 460 and transformer 450 does not store energy. The energy stored in the transformer 450 from the last cycle of regulation circuit 240 is then delivered to secondary winding 470 which in turn supplies power to the load 490. Once the remaining energy in transformer 450 is delivered to the load 490 the voltage of the load 490 will decrease. When the voltage at the load 490 decreases below the threshold level, current ceases to flow through optocoupler 280 and regulation circuit 240 resumes operation either instantaneously or nearly instantaneously.
The presently preferred regulation circuit 240 has a current limit feature. The current limit turns off the regulation circuit 240, when the current flowing through the regulation circuit 240 rises above a current threshold level. In this way regulation circuit 240 can react quickly to changes such as AC ripple that occur in the rectified AC mains voltage, and prevents the propagation of the voltage changes to the load. The current limit increases the responsiveness of the regulation circuit to input voltage changes and delivers constant power output independent for the AC mains input voltage.
Although the presently preferred power supplies of
Advantages associated with the power supplies depicted in
Referring to
Operation of the low power supply 600 of
Referring to
Based upon Equation 1 the power supplied to the primary winding by high input voltage current 720 and low input voltage current 730 will be the same, assuming the same regulation circuit 240 is operating with the same current threshold limit 710 and at the same frequency (.function.). This is true regardless of the rate of rise of the primary winding current. This means that the power supplied to the load in the power supply of
The power supplied to the load is a function of the current limit 710 (I), frequency of operation (.function.) and the inductance of the primary winding (L). Since the inductance of the primary winding and current limit are determined by the circuit designer in designing the power supply, the designer can design in the power delivered to the load easily and effectively by utilizing the presently preferred regulation circuit 240.
It should be noted that the above discussion assumes, as is presently preferred, that the inductance of the primary winding is chosen such that the all of the energy input into the transformer is delivered in each cycle of operation. As a result, the presently preferred primary winding current begins at zero at the start of each cycle of operation. However, the present invention will still deliver power if the inductance of the primary winding is chosen such that not all of the energy input into the transformer is delivered in each cycle of operation and the primary winding current begins at a non-zero value at the start of each cycle of operation.
Referring to
Thermal shut down circuit 880 monitors the temperature of the primary winding by monitoring the temperature of regulation circuit 240 and provides the thermal status signal 870 as long as the temperature is below a threshold temperature. It is presently preferred that the threshold temperature is 135 degrees Celsius.
The inputs to latch 820 include an or-gate output signal 900 and and-gate output signal 910. The and-gate output signal is provided when no phototransistor 310 current is provided to feedback input 320. Feedback gate 920 provides output when enable signal 905 is received and clock signal 930 is provided by oscillator 840. Additionally, first current source 940 will pull enable signal 905 to a logic high state when the current present in the phototransistor 310 is less than the current source 940 current. In operation when enable signal 905 is high, the clock signal 930 is transferred to latch 820 by the and-gate 920, thereby setting the latch 820 and enabling that cycle to go through and turn on the MOSFET 800. Conversely, when the enable signal 905 is low, it blocks the clock signal from setting the latch 820, and keeps the MOSFET 800 off during that cycle.
Or-gate output signal 900 is provided by or-gate 945 when the current threshold limit 710 is reached or during the time when maximum duty cycle signal 830 is in an off state. In operation or-gate output signal 900 will be provided when the maximum duty cycle signal is off or when the current limit 710 is reached in order to turn off the MOSFET 800.
Current threshold limit monitoring is performed by current threshold comparator 950 that compares the voltage level across the MOSFET 800 on-resistance, if that voltage is above the current threshold limit voltage 960 the current limit signal is triggered and the MOSFET 800 is turned off and then will not begin conducting until the beginning of the next on-time when no current limit signal is provided.
In this way the presently preferred regulator circuit 240 turns off the MOSFET 800 after the current on cycle when the phototransistor 310 pulls the enable signal 905 low and creates a condition where there will be no additional power supplied to the load. When the phototransistor 310 current falls below the first current source 940 current, enable signal 905 is high due to the operation of current source 940 and MOSFET 800 will resume operation upon the beginning of the next on-period of the maximum duty cycle signal 830.
Bypass circuit 970, which includes current source 330, regulates the power level of regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350 at a voltage level which is presently preferred to be five point seven (5.7) volts. This is done by charging the regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350 when the MOSFET 800 is not conducting. Undervoltage circuit 860 prevent the MOSFET 800 from conducting again until the voltage at bypass terminal 340 reaches the desired voltage level.
Referring to
In operation bypass latch 1010 is turned on when the maximum duty cycle signal 830 is high and MOSFET 800 is conducting. However, the output of bypass latch 1010 is blocked by bypass and-gate 1015 from turning on the current source 330 during this time. When the maximum duty cycle signal 830 goes low MOSFET 800 turns off and the bypass and-gate 1015 will no longer block the output of bypass latch 1010 from turning on current source 330. When the current source 330 is turned on, it charges the regulation circuit power supply bypass capacitor 350. When the bypass terminal voltage 1037 at the bypass terminal 340 reaches the voltage threshold level, which is presently preferred to be five point seven (5.7) volts, the bypass latch 1010 is reset by the output of bypass comparator 1030 and current source 330 is turned off. In this way bypass MOSFET 1035 will conduct only when the maximum duty cycle signal 830 is low and regulation circuit power supply capacitor 350 will charge only when the MOSFET 800 is not conducting.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
It is presently preferred that regulation circuit 240 comprises a monolithic device.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
While the embodiments, applications and advantages of the present invention have been depicted and described, there are many more embodiments, applications and advantages possible without deviating from the spirit of the inventive concepts described herein. Thus, the inventions are not to be restricted to the preferred embodiments, specification or drawings. The protection to be afforded this patent should therefore only be restricted in accordance with the spirit and intended scope of the following claims.
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 12/330,277, filed Dec. 8, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/824,425, filed Jun. 28, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,477,534, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/389,184, filed Mar. 24, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,248,029 B2, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/066,026, filed Feb. 25, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,439 B2, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/805,661, filed Mar. 18, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,181 B1, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/438,207, filed May 13, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,747,444 B2, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/092,705, filed Mar. 6, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,471 B2, which is continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/927,273, filed Aug. 10, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,471 B1, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/630,477, filed Aug. 2, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,623 B1, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/032,520, filed Feb. 27, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,190 B1. U.S. application Ser. No. 12/330,277 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,477,534, 7,248,029 B2, 7,038,439 B2, 6,876,181 B1, 6,747,444 B2, 6,608,471 B2, 6,414,471 B1, 6,297,623 B1 and 6,226,190 B1 are hereby incorporated by reference.
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