Looking for breakthrough ideas for innovation challenges? Try Patsnap Eureka!

Semiconductor Power Conversion Apparatus

a technology of power conversion apparatus and semiconductor, which is applied in the direction of power conversion system, pulse technique, electronic switching, etc., can solve the problems of difficult to locate the charging current supply circuit close to the igbt, and the charge current supply circuit is difficult to charge current supply circuit, so as to reduce the number of clamping elements

Inactive Publication Date: 2008-04-10
HITACHI LTD
View PDF8 Cites 41 Cited by
  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for protecting an IGBT from an overvoltage by making an overvoltage protection circuit compact and supplying a charging current to a gate of the IGBT.
[0006] The object of the present invention is also attained by providing a semiconductor power conversion apparatus which includes a MOS gate semiconductor and an overvoltage protection circuit connected between a collector of the MOS gate semiconductor and a gate of the semiconductor, wherein, as a current supplied from the overvoltage circuit is greater, the value of a saturation current of a semiconductor element at the output stage of a gate driver is smaller.
[0011] With such an arrangement, since the need of connecting the clamping elements in parallel can be eliminated and the number of such clamping elements can be reduced unlike the prior art, a charging current supply circuit (overvoltage protection circuit) can be made compact.
[0012] Further, more charging current to the gate can be secured by suppressing a current shunted or branched to the gate driver. Accordingly, by suppressing the current shunted or branched to the gate driver, the IGBT can be protected from an overvoltage even without any need of increasing the size of the overvoltage protection circuit.

Problems solved by technology

In the prior art, however, since it is required to arrange a plurality of such series circuits each having the clamping element and the resistor, the size of the charging current supply circuit (overvoltage protection circuit) becomes large and therefore it is difficult to locate the charging current supply circuit close to the IGBT.

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
View more

Image

Smart Image Click on the blue labels to locate them in the text.
Viewing Examples
Smart Image
  • Semiconductor Power Conversion Apparatus
  • Semiconductor Power Conversion Apparatus
  • Semiconductor Power Conversion Apparatus

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

embodiment 1

[0026] Explanation will be made first as to the arrangement of an IGBT power conversion apparatus in accordance with an embodiment with use of FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG. 5 shows a major part of the power conversion apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 1 shows a major part of an arm 20 in FIG. 5.

[0027] First of all, the arrangement of the power conversion apparatus according to a first embodiment will be explained by referring to FIG. 5. In the power conversion apparatus of the present embodiment, 3 of two arms 20 connected in series are connected in parallel and also connected to a DC voltage source 21 via wiring lines 201 and 202. The wiring has been expressed by wiring lines 201 and 202. However, in order to reduce a parasitic inductance, the arm 20 is usually connected to the DC voltage source 21 via busbars or the like. As the DC voltage source 21, a DC capacitor may be used. Meanwhile, when the power conversion apparatus is an AC-to-DC conversion type, midpoi...

embodiment 2

[0035] A second embodiment will next be explained. The present embodiment is directed to protecting the IGBT 1 from an overvoltage by limiting a current shunted from a clamping element to a gate driver and supplying more gate charging current from the clamping element to the gate of the IGBT 1.

[0036] In the present embodiment, each arm 20 in FIG. 5 has such an arrangement as shown by an IGBT set 600 in FIG. 2. In the second embodiment, a resistor 19 is provided between a MOS FET 9b and a low-voltage side power line 4 of a gate driver 16 in an output stage of the gate driver. When a MOS FET 9a is turned ON and the MOS FET 9b is turned OFF, the gate potential of the IGBT 1 becomes a potential of a high-voltage side power line of the gate driver 16, the gate voltage of the IGBT 1 exceeds a threshold in such a manner that the IGBT is put in its ON state. When the MOS FET 9a is turned OFF and the MOS FET 9b is turned ON, on the other hand, charges are pulled out from the gate of the IGB...

embodiment 3

[0041] Explanation will next be made as to a third embodiment. Even in the present embodiment, a current branched from a clamping element to a gate driver is limited to supply more gate charging current to the gate of an IGBT 1, thus protecting the IGBT 1 from an overvoltage, similarly to the second embodiment.

[0042] In the present embodiment, each arm 20 in FIG. 3 has such an arrangement as shown by the IGBT set 600 in FIG. 2. The third embodiment is featured in that a reactor 28 is connected between an overvoltage protection circuit 65 and a gate driver 16.

[0043] When a MOS FET 9a is turned ON and a MOS FET 9b is turned OFF in an output stage 17 of the gate driver 16, the gate potential of the IGBT 1 is a potential on the high-voltage side power line of the gate driver, the gate voltage of the IGBT 1 exceeds a threshold, whereby the IGBT 1 is put in its ON state. When the MOS FET 9a is turned OFF and the MOS FET 9b is turned ON, on the other hand, charges are pulled out from the...

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

PUM

No PUM Login to View More

Abstract

A semiconductor power conversion apparatus capable of protecting an IGBT from an overvoltage by supplying a sufficient gate current to the gate of the IGBT. The IGBT is protected from the overvoltage by connecting clamping elements connected in series between a collector of the IGBT and the gate thereof, and by connecting a resistor to each of different junction points between the clamping elements connected in series.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to semiconductor power conversion apparatuses using semiconductor elements and more particularly, to a semiconductor power conversion apparatus which suppresses an overvoltage upon switching operation. [0002] In such a semiconductor power conversion apparatus having a MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) gate semiconductor, such as an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) power conversion apparatus, an IGBT element (device) is switched to achieve AC / DC power conversion, DC voltage conversion, AC voltage / frequency conversion, etc. However, when the IGBT is turned OFF, an energy, accumulated in the parasitic inductance of a wiring line when a current flows therethrough, causes a surge voltage to be applied to the IGBT. A method of preventing the destruction of the IGBT element caused by the surge voltage induced upon the turning off of the IGBT, that is, by the overvoltage applied to the IGBT, is disclosed, for example, in...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

Application Information

Patent Timeline
no application Login to View More
IPC IPC(8): H02H9/00
CPCH03K17/0828H03K17/6871H03K17/567H02M1/088H02M7/487H03K17/08
Inventor KATO, SHUJIMATSUDA, TOSHIHIKOIKIMI, TAKASHINAGATA, HIROSHI
Owner HITACHI LTD
Who we serve
  • R&D Engineer
  • R&D Manager
  • IP Professional
Why Patsnap Eureka
  • Industry Leading Data Capabilities
  • Powerful AI technology
  • Patent DNA Extraction
Social media
Patsnap Eureka Blog
Learn More
PatSnap group products

Browse by: Latest US Patents, China's latest patents, Technical Efficacy Thesaurus, Application Domain, Technology Topic, Popular Technical Reports.

© 2024 PatSnap. All rights reserved.Legal|Privacy policy|Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement|Sitemap|About US| Contact US: help@patsnap.com