The present invention relates to a device whose DC voltage section has two or more capacitors connected in series, and more particularly to a circuit configuration of a switching power supply circuit whose DC voltage section supplies a DC voltage of different voltage specifications.
A related prior art technique disclosed in, for example, FIG. 6 of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-60118 provides a switching power supply circuit which converts received AC power to a DC voltage and, from this converted DC voltage, produces a DC voltage of different voltage specifications. Specifically, this switching power supply circuit receives DC power from its DC voltage section and performs switching control on the primary side of the transformer by use of a PWM control circuit to output a DC voltage of different voltage specifications. The switching power supply circuit, however, is disadvantageous in that the voltage of its DC voltage section increases with increasing voltage of the received AC power (for example, such high receiving voltages as 200 V and 400 V). This means that the power loss produced in resistors 8 and 9 used in the starting circuit of the switching power supply circuit increases substantially in proportion to the square of the increase in the receiving voltage. To solve the above problems, the invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-60118 provides a method in which power is supplied to a power control IC used as the above PWM control circuit through a resistor only when the switching power supply circuit is started. The current flowing through the resistor is cut off after the switching power supply circuit has begun to operate. In this arrangement, however, the circuit for performing the cutoff control on the current must employ an active device which has a withstand voltage matching the voltage of the DC voltage section, resulting in a complicated circuit and increased cost.
Other methods have been also used to solve the above problems, as described in FIG. 6 of the above Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-60118. Specifically, two or more resistors connected in series are installed in the starting circuit to divide the voltage; the dimensions of the resistor itself are increased to dissipate the heat produced in the resistor; the number of resistors connected in series is increased even when the voltage of each resistor does not exceed the maximum permissible voltage in order to spread the heat generation sources (resistors) in a wider area; or a sufficient heat dissipation space is provided around the resistor.
In the above switching power supply circuits, however, the voltage applied to the resistor of the starting circuit increases with increasing voltage Vi of the DC voltage section, causing the problems described in paragraphs (1) to (3) below.
(1) If the voltage or power to be applied to the resistor of the starting circuit exceeds its maximum permissible value, the resistor must be replaced by two or more resistors connected in series. The higher the voltage, the larger the number of the series-connected resistors, which is a factor in reducing the reliability and increasing the cost.
(2) Furthermore, the heat generated in the resistor due to the power loss increases with increasing voltage applied to the resistor, making it necessary to provide a sufficient heat dissipation space. This is a factor in increasing the equipment size and the cost.
(3) As for the related prior art technique of the invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-60118 which solves the above problems, it is disadvantageous in that the circuit for performing cutoff control on the current must employ an active device which has a withstand voltage matching the voltage of the DC voltage section. This means that an active device of high withstand voltage is required when the receiving voltage is high, which leads to an increase in the circuit complexity and the cost.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a small and inexpensive switching power supply circuit with a simple circuit configuration which lowers the voltage applied to a resistor of its starting circuit to reduce the power loss, especially when the receiving voltage is high.
To solve the above problems, the present invention utilizes the fact that with a high receiving voltage, it is necessary to install two or more series-connected smoothing capacitors in the DC voltage section, instead of just one smoothing capacitor. Specifically, according to the present invention, a switching power supply circuit comprises: a DC power supply section having two or more capacitors connected in series; and a PWM control circuit for receiving DC power supply from the DC voltage section and performing switching control on a primary side of a transformer in order for the switching power supply circuit to output a DC voltage of different voltage specifications; wherein a DC voltage of the DC voltage section is divided, and a power supply to the PWM control circuit is connected through a resistor to a dividing point of the voltage division. This arrangement reduces the power loss produced in the resistor for the above starting circuit as well as the size and cost.
Detailed description will be made below of the circuit configurations of switching power supply circuits according to preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The present embodiment of the invention connects the resistor R1 to the point A, whereas the related prior art technique connects the resistor R1 of the starting circuit to the point (portion) B located at a position after the smoothing capacitors CB1 and CB2. According to the present embodiment, the voltage VA at the point A is lower than the voltage Vi at the point B, making it possible to reduce the voltage applied to the resistor R1 and thereby lower the loss produced in the resistor R1. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the number of series-connected resistors and thereby reduce the heat dissipation space. As a result, the reliability can be enhanced.
Consider, by way of example, that the voltages applied to the capacitors CB1 and CB2 are made equal to each other and thereby the voltage VA at the voltage dividing point A is set equal to half of the voltage Vi at the point B. In such a case, the voltage applied to the resistor R1 is substantially half of that for the related prior art technique. At that time, the values of the resistors RB1, RB2, and R1 are set such that VA=Vi/2 based on Formula 1 described later.
In this case, if a current is drawn to the starting circuit from the voltage dividing point A at which the capacitors CB1 and CB2 are connected in series as shown in
Based on Formula 1, the values of the resistors RB1, RB2, and R1 are determined such that the voltage VA at the voltage dividing point A is set to a desired value. It should be noted that the value of RCTRL is determined based on the specifications of the PWM control circuit, separately. Furthermore, the relation VC<VA<Vi must hold.
As described above, the resistor R1, and the resistors RB1 and RB2 connected in parallel with the capacitors CB1 and CB2 can be set to appropriate values to stably set the voltages of the capacitors CB1 and CB2 to arbitrary values. Thus, the voltages applied to the capacitors CB1 and CB2 can be set to arbitrary values and balanced. Furthermore, the power supplied to the control circuit CTRL from the voltage dividing point A at which the capacitors CB1 and CB2 are connected to each other is set smaller than that for the related prior art technique.
In this case, if the value of the resistor RB1 is set equal to that of the resistor RB2, the voltage VA at the voltage dividing point A shown in
A thyristor Thy and a resistor RD collectively constitute an inrush current blocking circuit to the capacitors C1 and C2. In
In the above embodiments, the values of the resistors (impedance values) connected in parallel to the capacitors CB1 and CB2 are set such that the voltages applied to the capacitors are equalized. This arrangement is effective in efficiently using the capacities of the capacitors CB1 and CB2 since capacitors of the same rated voltage are usually used as the capacitors CB1 and CB2. Further, consider the case where with a high receiving voltage, the voltages applied to the capacitors exceed their withstand voltages or a certain margin must be provided for these voltages. In such a case, it is necessary to install two or more capacitors connected in series. The embodiments of the present invention utilize this series-connection arrangement to reduce the power loss produced in the starting resistor. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare a special capacitor for startup, resulting in a simple configuration and low cost.
The present invention can lower the voltage applied to the resistor for supplying power to a switching power supply and thereby reduce the power loss, resulting in a reduced amount of generated heat. Furthermore, the present invention makes it possible to miniaturize the device and reduce the cost.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20070058400 A1 | Mar 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10444762 | May 2003 | US |
Child | 11599220 | US |