Impulse current generator

Abstract

An electrical circuit for generating an impulse current is disclosed. The electrical circuit comprises an ungrounded full wave rectifier having a pair of inputs to receive an AC current and a pair of outputs to output an impulse current. The impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses. A smoothing capacitor connected between the outputs of the full wave rectifier filters the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current to generate a DC current.

Description

[0001] IMPULSE CURRENT GENERATOR

[0002] RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 63 / 530,632, which was filed August 3, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] A first aspect of the disclosure comprises an electrical circuit for generating an impulse current, which may be used in a power supply circuit. The electrical circuit comprises an ungrounded full wave rectifier having a pair of inputs to receive an AC current and a pair of outputs to output an impulse current. The impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses. A smoothing capacitor connected between the outputs of the full wave rectifier filters the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current to generate a DC current.

[0006] In some embodiments of the electrical circuit, the electrical circuit further comprises an inverter connected to the input of the ungrounded full wave rectifier to provide the AC current.

[0007] In some embodiments of the electrical circuit, the electrical circuit further comprises a DC-to-DC converter including a pair of inputs connected to the output of the full wave rectifier to receive the DC output current and a first pair of DC outputs to provide a regulated direct current output to a load.

[0008] In some embodiments of the electrical circuit, the DC-to-DC converter further comprises a second pair of DC outputs for outputting a regulated current to a connected battery. In some embodiments of the electrical circuit, the full wave rectifier comprises a bridge rectifier.

[0009] Another aspect of the disclosure comprises a power circuit including a power supply configured to output a direct current, an inverter connected to the power supply for converting the direct current from the power supply to an AC current, and an ungrounded full wave rectifier for converting the AC current output by the inverter into an impulse current. The impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses. The power circuit further comprises a smoothing capacitor connected between outputs of the ungrounded full wave rectifier to filter the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current, and a DC-to-DC converter having DC inputs connected to the outputs of the full wave rectifier and a first pair of DC outputs for providing a regulated DC current to a load.

[0010] In some embodiments of the power circuit, the DC-to-DC converter further comprises a pair of battery outputs for outputting a regulated DC current to a connected battery.

[0011] In some embodiments of the power circuit, in the full wave rectifier comprises a bridge rectifier.

[0012] Another aspect of the disclosure comprises a method of generating an impulse current. The method comprises receiving an AC current at an input of an ungrounded full wave rectifier and converting the AC current at the input of the ungrounded full wave rectifier to an impulse current at an output of the ungrounded full wave rectifier. The impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses. The method further comprises filtering the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current with a smoothing capacitor to generate a DC output current.

[0013] Some embodiments of the method further comprise inputting the DC output current to a DC-to-DC converter and generating a first regulated DC voltage to be applied to a load.

[0014] Some embodiments of the method further comprise generating a second regulated DC voltage in the DC-to-DC converter for charging a battery.

[0015] Some embodiments of the method further comprise generating the AC current by converting a DC input current from a DC power supply to the AC current using a power inverter.

[0016] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 illustrates an impulse generator circuit according to one exemplary embodiment.

[0018] Figure 2 illustrates a waveform of the impulse current.

[0019] Figure 3 illustrates a power circuit incorporating the impulse generator circuit of Figure 1 .

[0020] BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0021] Figure 1 illustrates an impulse current generator 10 for generating an impulse current. The impulse current generator 10 converts an AC current provided at an input of the impulse current generator 10 into an impulse current at an output of impulse current generator 10. An exemplary waveform 50 of the impulse current is shown in Figure 2. The impulse current comprises a series of pulses 52 with overshoots 54 at the leading edges of the pulses 52.

[0022] In one embodiment, the impulse current generator 10 includes a pair of inputs 12 to receive an AC input current and a pair of outputs 14. An ungrounded, full-wave rectifier 16 is connected between the inputs 12 and outputs 14 to convert the AC input current into an output current referred to herein as an impulse current due to the waveform. In the illustrated embodiment, the full-wave rectifier 16 is a bridge rectifier having four diodes D1 , D2, D3, and D4 arranged in a bridge. In the positive half of the sine wave, the current flows through D2, to a connected load, and back through D4 to the input. In the negative half of the sine wave, the current flows through D3 to the connected load, and back through D1 to the input. Because the bridge rectifier 16 is ungrounded, the waveform 50 produced at the output comprises a series of pulses 52 with overshoots 54 at the leading edges (Figure 2). As shown in Figure 1 , a capacitor C1 can be connected between the outputs 14 of the impulse current generator 10 to capture and store energy in the impulse current.

[0023] Figure 3 illustrates a power circuit 20 incorporating the impulse current generator 10. Power circuit 20 comprises battery 22, inverter 24, DC-to-DC converter 26, impulse current generator 10, and load 28.

[0024] Battery 22 supplies 12V DC to the input of the inverter 24. Inverter 24 converts the input DC current into an AC current and outputs a 115V AC current to the impulse current generator 10. The AC current can also, optionally, be applied to an AC load. The impulse current generator 10 converts the AC current into an impulse current as previously described with a voltage between approximately 120V to 140V. Energy stored in the impulse current is captured and stored by capacitor C1 and a DC current is applied to the input of the DC-to-DC converter 26. The DC-to-DC converter 26 may, for example, comprise a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller of the type used in solar installations. The MPPT controller tracks a maximum output current and a maximum output voltage of supplied current so that the power supply system supplies power to a power consumption device at a maximum power output, thereby improving power supply efficiency of the system. In the exemplary embodiment, the MPPT controller includes a first set of DC outputs, to which a load may be connected, and a second set of DC outputs connected to battery 22 and the input of inverter 24. Thus, battery 22 is connected in parallel between the DC-to-DC converter 26 and inverter 24. Energy not consumed by the loads can be used to charge battery 22.

[0025] In one exemplary embodiment, battery comprises a 12V, 35 ampere hour (AH) battery, such as the MIGHTY MAX ML35-12 Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery. Inverter 24 comprises a 500 Watt (W) DC to AC power inverter such as the BESTEK Model MRI5011 BU power inverter. The DC-to-DC converter comprises a EPEVER Tracer model 4215BN 40A MPPT controller. The full-wave rectifier comprises a 10A glass passivated bridge rectifier such as the GBJ1010 bridge rectifier from Diodes Incorporated. Capacitor C1 comprises a 82 uf 5000 vdc capacitor.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . An electrical circuit for generating an impulse current, the electrical circuit comprising: an ungrounded full wave rectifier having a pair of inputs to receive an AC current and a pair of outputs to output an impulse current, wherein the impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses and a smoothing capacitor connected between the outputs of the full wave rectifier to filter the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current to generate a DC current.

2. The electrical circuit of claim 1 , further comprising an inverter connected to the input of the ungrounded full wave rectifier to provide the AC current.

3. The electrical circuit of claim 2, further comprising a DC-to-DC converter including: a pair of inputs connected to the output of the full wave rectifier to receive the DC output current; and a first pair of DC outputs to provide a regulated direct current output to a load.

4. The electrical circuit of claim 3, wherein the DC-to-DC converter further comprises a second pair of DC outputs for outputting a regulated current to a connected battery.

5. The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the full wave rectifier comprises a bridge rectifier.

6. An power circuit comprising: a power supply configured to output a direct current; an inverter connected to the power supply for converting the direct current from the power supply to an AC current; an ungrounded full wave rectifier for converting the AC current output by the inverter into an impulse current, wherein the impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses; a smoothing capacitor connected between outputs of the ungrounded full wave rectifier to filter the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current; and a DC-to-DC converter having DC inputs connected to the outputs of the full wave rectifier and a first pair of DC outputs for providing a regulated DC current to a load.

7. The electrical circuit of claim 5, wherein the DC-to-DC converter further comprises a pair of battery outputs for outputting a regulated DC current to a connected battery.

8. The electrical circuit of claim 6, wherein the full wave rectifier comprises a bridge rectifier.

9. A method of generating an impulse current, the method comprising: receiving an AC current at an input of an ungrounded full wave rectifier; converting the AC current at the input of the ungrounded full wave rectifier to an impulse current at an output of the ungrounded full wave rectifier, wherein the impulse current comprises a series of pulses with overshoots and undershoots at leading edges of the pulses; and filtering the overshoots and undershoots in the impulse current with a smoothing capacitor to generate a DC output current.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising inputting the DC output current to a DC-to-DC converter and generating a first regulated DC voltage to be applied to a load.11 . The method of claim 10, further comprising generating a second regulated DC voltage in the DC-to-DC converter for charging a battery.

12. The method of claim 9, further generating the AC current by converting a DC input current from a DC power supply to the AC current using a power inverter.

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