Partial Time Active Clamp Flyback Related Application/claim of priority

This application is related to and claims priority from US provisional application serial number 62/075,518, filed November 5, 2014, and which provisional application is incorporated by reference herein.

1. Introduction And Summary of the Present Invention

0001 The Flyback converter is the most popular converter for off line applications.

Applications include AC to DC adapters for laptops, tablets, cellular phones, and many other portable devices. Key to the Flyback topology's popularity is a simple design offering a wide operating range compared to other topologies. Also, in discontinuous mode the Flyback converter has discrete energy packets leading to higher efficiency at low output power. High efficiency at low output power is vitally important because the adapter is used for charging mobile devices and the majority of the users will leave an adapter plugged in requiring the adapter to be in standby or low power output mode. It has been statically proven that the standby power called vampire power causes more losses than the inefficiency of the unit while charging the mobile device.

0002 In today's modern world of green efficiency and ever reduction in size of mobile devices the Flyback's ability to reduce standby power is not enough. Green initiatives require adapters to have higher efficiencies in all power modes. Another, possibly stronger, pressure for increased efficiency is reduction in size for cost and portability. When the adapter's size is reduced its ability to dissipate heat is also reduced. Not increasing the adapter's efficiency would lead to uncomfortable even dangerous operating temperatures. Decreasing the size of the adapter demands the efficiency of popular Flyback converter be increased in all power modes.

0003 Several methods for increasing a Flyback's efficiency are in use today. Two methods in common use are synchronous rectification of the secondary and using the Flyback's ability to resonate to provide near zero or zero volt switching (ZVS). Synchronous rectification in the secondary decreases the loss associated with a diode rectifier. The resonant ZVS decreases the power needed to switch the MOSFETS at the cost of increased complexity of finding the valley point in the resonant waveform. Turning on the first ring is called boundary mode and turning on after the first ring is called discontinuous mode. The method to move the ring to a desired location by shorting the winding has been presented in patent application serial number 14/274,598, which is incorporated by reference (and a copy of that application is Exhibit A hereto). The present invention presented in this application addresses another source of power loss/savings. This method of this invention involves recycling the leakage energy and steering the primary and secondary current to improve the efficiency. This invention is independent of the shorting winding invention presented in the previous patent application but can be very useful when combined with the invention of that application.

0004 As seen from the following description, the present invention provides an inductive power supply circuit with a transformer, a primary and a secondary in which there is leakage energy in the transformer, with a method of improving efficiency that comprises storing the leakage energy in the primary and recycling the stored energy to the secondary during the reset period of the transformer. The method preferably provides an active clamp circuit portion that is turned on during the reset period of the transformer, and causes the leakage energy to be transferred to the secondary and portion of it to be stored in the transformer , returning back to the primary at the end of the dead time period decreasing the voltage across the primary switch towards zero. Moreover, the method preferably also includes providing the inductive power supply circuit with a shorting circuit portion, and configuring the power supply circuit to share voltage between the shorting circuit portion and the active clamp portion and reduces the voltage rating of the clamp switch.

0005 In addition, the present invention provides in an inductive power supply circuit with a transformer, a synchronous rectifier, a primary and a secondary, in which there is leakage energy in the transformer, a method of improving efficiency by providing an active clamp circuit that shuts off in predetermined timing relation to the synchronous rectifier, to produce different residual currents to reduce the turn on voltage across the main switch, while reducing the voltage stress on the main switch.

0006 Still further, the present invention provides a method of controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit that includes a primary and a secondary, comprising

0007 a. providing an inductive circuit with a choke that stores and releases energy, a switch having a closed state in which it causes the choke to store energy and another switch having a closed state in which it causes the choke to release energy, the inductive circuit configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the choke has been substantially released,

0008 b. shorting the choke to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the choke prior to initiating storage of energy in the choke, and

0009 c. recycling leakage energy and shaping the current in the primary and secondary to improve the efficiency.

0010 Additionally, the present invention provides a method of controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit that includes a primary and a secondary, comprising

0011 a. providing an inductive circuit with a transformer that stores and releases energy, a switch having a closed state in which it causes the transformer to store energy and another switch having a closed state in which it causes the transformer to release energy, the inductive circuit configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the transformer has been substantially released,

0012 b. shorting the transformer during a reset period of the transformer to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the transformer prior to initiating storage of energy in the

transformer, and

0013 c. .storing leakage energy in the primary and recycling the stored energy to the

secondary during the reset period of the transformer.

0014 Other features of the present invention will be clear from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

0015 Figure 1 shows a simplified Flyback circuit and its associated voltage waveform of the drain voltage of main primary switch;

0016 Figure 2 shows a circuit equivalent to Figure 1 with a typical clamp circuit;

0017 Figure 3 shows that if the active clamp is turned on only during the reset of transformer and not the full off period, the energy that is bounced back to the winding causes larger ringing during the discontinuous time;

0018 Figure 4 shows a circuit that combines the circuit of exhibit A combined with the active clamp turned on only during the reset of transformer and not the full off period, so that the energy that is bounced back to the winding causes larger ringing during the discontinuous time;

0019 Figure 5 shows the current and voltage waveforms for the circuit of Figure 4;

0020 Figure 6 shows a comparison between secondary currents with a conventional clamp and secondary currents with different capacitance values for the active clamp;

0021 Figure 7 shows a particular implementation of the clamp circuit combined with the shorting MOSFET circuit in a way that a low voltage rating P channel MOSFET can be used; and 0022 Figure 8 shows timing waveforms for the circuit of Figure 7.

0023 Detailed Description

0024 2. Active Clamp to Recycle Leakage Energy

0025 Presented in Figure 1 shows a simplified Flyback circuit and its associated voltage waveform of the drain voltage of main primary switch (3). The voltage stress when the switch turns off is the sum of the input voltage, the reflected output voltage, and a leakage inductance spike. The reason there is a spike is that it takes extra voltage to transfer the current flowing in the primary to the secondary. This is caused by the leakage inductance of the transformer. It is part of the inductance of the transformer that is not coupled to the secondary. All transformers consist of two basic modeled components. One is the leakage inductance (15) the other is the mutual inductance (14). The mutual inductance is the component that allows current to move between primary and secondary while the leakage inductance resists the movement. The equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 2 with a typical clamp circuit.

0026 To deal with the voltage spike a clamp circuit, formed by 10, 11 and 12, is employed that absorbs the energy in the leakage inductance transferring it to a capacitor and then finally dissipating it in a resistor. Therefore, the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the transformer is lost. Because the same peak primary current in a flyback flows in both the leakage inductance and mutual inductance, the energy in each inductor is proportional by the inductance value. The ratio of the two energies is the ratio of the leakage inductance to the mutual inductance. This means that if a Flyback converter is producing 100 watts on the output and if the leakage inductance is 1% of the mutual inductance 1 watt is dissipated in a typical clamp. With converters approaching efficiencies of 95%, 1% power loss is a large portion. If this energy were to be saved, the efficiency of the converter would improve by 1%. One method of energy recovery is to store it in a capacitor like a normal clamp but instead of dissipating it, if the energy were to be transferred back to the winding this energy would be saved. Unfortunately, this is not as simple as it first seems. If too small of a capacitor is used there would be ringing between the clamp capacitor, the leakage in the circuit, and the parasitic capacitance of the flyback converter. The energy would just bounce back and forth dissipating in any resistance between them and will not transfer completely to the secondary. The capacitor chosen has to be large enough that half the ringing period is at least the reset time to reduce energy flow back and forth. If done correctly the energy would be transferred completely to the secondary and not allowed to return back. A switch is needed that controls the current into and out of the capacitor so that at the point that the reset is finished the capacitor would hold its voltage until the next reset. Normal active clamps use all of the off time to store and release the leakage inductance energy. But if the active clamp is turned on only during the reset of transformer and not the full off period, the energy that is bounced back to the winding causes larger ringing during the discontinuous time as shown in figure 3. If this is combined with serial number 14/274,598 (Exhibit A) this extra energy can be used to add on to the energy needed to soft switch the converter or at least help to lower the voltage where the primary switch turns on. Shown in figure 4 is this circuit that employs these combined ideas. The current and voltage waveforms are shown in figure 5. tarting at time TO, the main primary switch (3) is on and all other switches are off. Current ramps up in the primary winding (1) of the transformer from 0 amps to the programed peak current at time Tl . At time Tl, the main switch turns off but the current continues to flow into the main switches and the transformer's parasitic capacitances shown as single capacitance (4). There is also secondary parasitic capacitance of the transformer and the output switch. This is also modeled as a single capacitance (5). As the voltage across the primary increases the voltage in the secondary decreases. Depending on the amount of leakage inductance and the values of the primary and secondary parasitic capacitances a small portion of the primary current is steered to the secondary during the time drain voltage is increasing to discharge the secondary capacitance. At time T2, the voltage on the main switch reaches a value large enough to forward bias the body diode of the clamp switch (16). At this point most of the primary current diverts from charging the parasitic capacitance of the main switch and primary winding to charging the clamp capacitor since the capacitance of the clamp is larger than the parasitic capacitance of the rest of circuit. The secondary current that diverted during the drain voltage increase continues to discharge the output parasitic capacitance until the body diode (7) of the secondary switch turns on. This occurs slightly after the primary current is diverted in the clamp. If the capacitor in the clamp is a large enough value, the capacitor (11) at the start of time T2 has a slightly larger voltage than the reflective output voltage. This slight voltage difference ramps down the current in the primary and ramps up the current in the secondary. Because charge has to balance in the clamp capacitor in steady state, the extra voltage that appears on the capacitor is exactly the voltage needed to steer the current so that integral of current over time is zero. If too much charge comes in, the voltage in the capacitor will increase and on the next cycle less would come in due to the larger voltage. If the capacitor is smaller, its voltage changes during the reset period but the average voltage is equal to voltage that an equivalent larger capacitor would have. There are some advantages in choosing the right capacitor value. If a small capacitance is chosen then at time T2 the voltage where the current is diverted from charging the main switch to charging the capacitor occurs earlier. This creates a softer or rounded voltage waveform. In either case, at T3 the clamp switch is turned on with a slight delay from T2 so that the drop across the clamp diode is reduced. The current into the clamp continues to ramp down until it crosses zero. At that point all the primary current that was stored in the transformer has been diverted to the secondary. Since the capacitor must balance the charge, the current continues to ramp down and become negative. This means that the clamp starts to deliver current and this current is transferred to the secondary. The current in the secondary is now the addition of the normal magnetizing current plus the increasing current from the clamp. The energy that was originally stored in the leakage then transferred to the clamp capacitor is now being sent to the secondary. There are different current shapes that can be tailored from the clamp depending on the value of capacitance, the amount of leakage inductance, and the reset time. The capacitance has to be large enough that when the reset cycle finishes there is still some current flowing from the clamp to the secondary. When the magnetizing current contribution reaches zero the leakage inductance stills contains some energy from the current of the clamp. If the converter runs with extra push back current then the clamp and secondary is allowed to stay on longer past this point. It does not matter if the energy of the clamp or the energy of the secondary is used for push back current since the clamp delivered most of its energy to the secondary during most of the reset time. Now the energy in the transformer is the combination of the leakage energy and the magnetizing energy. It was found out it is slightly more efficient to keep the clamp on longer than the secondary switch so that it provides the push back. This makes sense since the current needed for soft switching is being used to discharge mostly the parasitic capacitance of the primary switch. If more energy is used from the clamp the system will rebalance the clamp due to the charge balance mentioned before. At T4, both the clamp switch and the secondary synchronous rectifier are off. The current flowing into the primary winding (1) discharge the parasitic capacitance (4) of the primary switch, primary winding. It also charges the parasitic capacitance (5) of the secondary switch and secondary winding. At T5, the shorting MOSFET (17) is activated shorting the winding keeping the primary voltage at line voltage. The current in the transformer circulates through the shorting MOSFET conserving the stored energy in the magnetizing and leakage inductance. At time T6 the shorting MOSFET turns off. The sequence between T5 to T6 gives the converter the ability to lower the frequency of the converter to control power by increasing the time between T5 and T6. When the shorting switch turns off at T6 the energy in both the leakage inductance and mutual inductance are allowed to continue to discharge the parasitic capacitances of the primary MOSFET and the primary winding while charging the parasitic capacitance of the secondary synchronous rectifier and secondary winding. The amount of energy was controlled by the timing of T4 when the clamp and synchronous rectifier were turned off. This energy is now used at T6 to control how much to discharge the parasitic capacitances. When this energy is exhausted at T7, the primary switch is turned on at a lower than normal voltage thus reducing turn on losses. The sequence now repeats since T7 is the same TO. ot only is the energy in the leakage inductance recycled, it is used to help to reduce the turn on losses of the main switch. There are three more benefits to this active clamp circuit. The clamp slows the transition of the current between the primary and secondary. At first sight this does not seem to be an advantage but there are three benefits from it. First, the frequency content of the current waveform in the primary is reduced since the transition times are slower this reduces proximity and skin effect losses in the winding because the amount of losses are dependent on the frequency content of the waveform. Second benefit has to do with timing. Since the current in the synchronous rectifier in the secondary ramps more slowly, there is less dissipation in the rectifier due to turn on timing mismatch. The reduction in dissipation in the rectifier due to turn on mismatch is due to the reduction in the power dissipation through the body diode. The synchronous rectifier turn on can be delayed without affecting dissipation tremendously. In a converter with a conventional clamp the timing is more critical and cannot be perfect so it is a source of dissipation. The third benefit is there is a reduction of root mean square current in the secondary. The normal current waveform in the secondary is a saw tooth triangular waveform. By adding the clamp a portion of the current is delayed to the middle of the waveform. Thus the peak current is reduced which reduces the RMS current of the secondary. See figure 6 for the comparison between secondary currents with a conventional clamp and secondary currents with different capacitance values for the active clamp.

0029 Shown in figure 7 is a particular implementation of the clamp circuit combined with the shorting MOSFET circuit in a way that a low voltage rating P channel MOSFET can be used. In this circuit the clamp MOSFET controls the voltage only during the times the transformer is resetting. The shorting MOSFET is turned on at the same time as the clamp MOSFET. The stress on the P channel is the reflected secondary voltage only. The clamp capacitor has the voltage stress of both the line voltage plus the reflected secondary voltage. When the primary switch is on, the shorting MOSFET has the input voltage as stress while the clamp MOSFET has the reflected voltage. The diode in series with shorting MOSFET insures that the shorting MOSFET voltage stress is clamped to line voltage and also is used in the circuit to control the shorting direction when the shorting MOSFET activates. In this circuit the voltage stresses of the input line and reflected voltages are shared between the shorting MOSFET and the clamp MOSFET while the clamp capacitor has a larger voltage stress. In most situations this is more economical than having a higher voltage rated clamp MOSFET. Timing waveforms are shown in figure 8.

0030 From figure 6, it can be seen that some capacitance values produce lower RMS current waveforms while keeping the primary voltage waveform without spikes. The reset times in a flyback converter do vary somewhat but this variation is minimized when the peak current and frequency are both controlled. With this in mind, the clamp capacitor value that produces the most efficient waveforms can be chosen.

0031 The following information is believed useful to appreciate the timing concepts of a convention flyback, the flyback of Exhibit A, and a flyback according to the principles of the present invention, as will be readily understood by those in the art from this application.

0032 Initially, in a flyback converter, dead time, resonant time and rest period are different times, as will be appreciated by those in the art.

0033 In a conventional flyback converter, the time sequence is as follows:

1 , The transformer is energized by the primary (considered to be on time)

2. Energy in the transformer is released to the secondary until the transformer runs out of energy (considered to be reset time)

3/The transformer sits with no energy and waits for the next on time (called dead time). During this time the transformer rings since all switches are off or open. So you could argue that it is also the resonant transition time but the ringing does not stop.

0034 For the flyback of application serial number 14/274,598 (Exhibit A):

1. The transformer is energized by the primary

2. The transformer is reset but kept in reset a little longer by keeping the output switch on longer to accumulate energy in reverse direction somewhat (push back)

3. The transformer sits with a little extra energy but is not allowed to ring since it is shorted by a third switch (or switch network)

4. The short is released and the transformer is allowed to ring down once (portion of a full ring) then transformer is reenergized (back to #1). This is what applicant calls the resonant transition time.

5. Thus, once can see that applicant has somewhat changed the reset very little but

changed the dead time portion a lot. 0035 For a flyback with clamp and transition, according to the principles of the present invention, the sequence is:

1. The transformer is energized by the primary

2. The transformer is reset, but the clamp is also turned on during this time, energy of the leakage and reset are mixed together and sent to output. Reset is kept on a little longer by clamp, output switch, or both.

3. The transformer sits with a little extra energy (from extra on time as before) but is not allowed to ring since it is shorted by a third switch (or switch network)

4. The short is released and transformer is allowed to ring down once (portion of a full ring) then transformer is reenergized (back to #1). This is what we call the resonant transition time.

So the principal difference with the clamp concept of serial number 14/274,598 (Exhibit A) is that the energy of the leakage inductance is added to the reset energy of the transformer and we have a choice of which of the switches (clamp or output switch or both) to turn off last.

0036 Thus, as seen from the forgoing description, the present invention provides an inductive power supply circuit with a transformer, a primary and a secondary in which there is leakage energy in the transformer, with a method of improving efficiency that comprises storing the leakage energy in the primary and recycling the stored energy to the secondary during the reset period of the transformer. The method preferably provides an active clamp circuit portion that is turned on during the reset period of the transformer, and causes the leakage energy to be transferred to the secondary and portion of it to be stored in the transformer , returning back to the primary at the end of the dead time period decreasing the voltage across the primary switch towards zero. Moreover, the method preferably also includes providing the inductive power supply circuit with a shorting circuit portion, and configuring the power supply circuit to share voltage between the shorting circuit portion and the active clamp portion and reduces the voltage rating of the clamp switch. 0037 In addition, the present invention provides in an inductive power supply circuit with a transformer, a synchronous rectifier, a primary and a secondary, in which there is leakage energy in the transformer, a method of improving efficiency by providing an active clamp circuit that shuts off in predetermined timing relation to the synchronous rectifier, to produce different residual currents to reduce the turn on voltage across the main switch, while reducing the voltage stress on the main switch.

0038 Still further, the present invention provides a method of controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit that includes a primary and a secondary, comprising

0039 a. providing an inductive circuit with a choke that stores and releases energy, a switch having a closed state in which it causes the choke to store energy and another switch having a closed state in which it causes the choke to release energy, the inductive circuit configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the choke has been substantially released,

0040 b. shorting the choke to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the choke prior to initiating storage of energy in the choke, and

0041 c. recycling leakage energy and shaping the current in the primary and secondary to improve the efficiency.

0042 Additionally, the present invention provides a method of controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit that includes a primary and a secondary, comprising

0043 a. providing an inductive circuit with a transformer that stores and releases energy, a switch having a closed state in which it causes the transformer to store energy and another switch having a closed state in which it causes the transformer to release energy, the inductive circuit configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the transformer has been substantially released,

0044 b. shorting the transformer during a reset period of the transformer to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the transformer prior to initiating storage of energy in the transformer, and

0045 c. .storing leakage energy in the primary and recycling the stored energy to the secondary during the reset period of the transformer.

0046 To summarize, the benefits of this invention are reduction of voltage spike on the primary due to leakage inductance, reduction of the RMS current in the secondary winding and synchronous rectifier, reduction in high frequency content of both primary and secondary current, less constraint on the synchronize rectifier turn on timing, recycling of the leakage energy, and reuse of the leakage energy for near zero volt switching.

6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

Resonant Transition Controlled Flyback

Related Application/Claim of Priority

This application is related to and claims priority from US provisional application serial number 61/821,884, filed May 10, 2013, which provisional application is incorporated by reference herein.

Introduction

0001 The present invention relates to an induction circuit in which resonant transition control involves shorting the winding of an inductor or transformer to delay the natural ringing transition. The principles of the present invention can be applied, e.g., to an induction circuit that is part of a flyback converter.

0002 The Flyback converter is the most popular converter for off line applications.

Applications include AC to DC adapters for laptops, tablets, cellular phones, and many other portable devices. Key to the Flyback topology's popularity is a simple design offering a wide operating range compared to other topologies. Also, in discontinuous mode the Flyback converter has discrete energy packets leading to higher efficiency at low output power. High efficiency at low output power is vitally important because the adapter is used for charging mobile devices and the majority of the users will leave an adapter plugged in requiring the adapter to be in standby or low power output mode. It has been statically proven that the standby power called vampire power causes more losses than the inefficiency of the unit while charging the mobile device.

0003 In today's modern world of green efficiency and ever reduction in size of mobile devices the Flyback's ability to reduce standby power is not enough. Green initiatives require adapters to have higher efficiencies in all power modes. Another, possibly stronger, pressure for increased efficiency is reduction in size for cost and portability. When the adapter's size is reduced its ability to dissipate heat is also reduced. Not increasing the adapter's efficiency would lead to uncomfortable even dangerous operating 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

temperatures. Decreasing the size of the adapter demands the efficiency of popular

Flyback converter be increased in all power modes.

0004 Several methods for increasing a Flyback's efficiency are in use today. Two methods in common use are synchronous rectification of the secondary and using the Flyback's ability to resonate to provide near zero or zero volt switching (ZVS). Synchronous rectification in the secondary decreases the loss associated with a diode rectifier. The resonant ZVS decreases the power needed to switch the MOSFETS at the cost of increased complexity of finding the valley point in the resonant waveform. Turning on the first ring is called boundary mode and turning on after the first ring is called discontinuous mode. To keep high efficiency at low power, the control method has to find the first resonant valley or any number of valleys after the reset cycle in order to reduce the frequency and still maintain some near zero volt switching. This is especially important at high input voltage (high line) where the switching burden is the highest. Higher input voltage increases the amount of energy dissipated in capacitive losses when switching MOSFETs. To alleviate the high line power losses associated with higher voltages synchronous rectification can be used to extend the reset cycle so that reverse current accumulates in the transformer. This increases the size of the resonant transition reducing the voltage at which the MOSFET turns on at. Because this increase in resonant ring energy does use power, control becomes more complicated in trading off the added energy versus power loss by switching at a higher voltage. Another problem that arises from adding extra energy into the resonant ring down is the increase of the energy in the resonant ring up which can cause the synchronous rectifier in the secondary to falsely turn on causing the convertor to actually pull power from the load instead of delivering power.

0005 Various patents have emerged that use complicated methods to control the ring, control the synchronous rectifier in the secondary to ignore the ring up, timing the transition between boundary to burst to discontinuous mode, etc. What is needed is a simple method to control resonant switching on the Flyback topology, prevent ring back, be compatible with low power, and not have complex mode changes, and be compatible 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

with synchronous rectification.

Summary of the present invention

0006 The present invention simplifies the control while improving the efficiency of the Flyback converter in all situations. The invention provides a very simple and novel approach to solving all the problems presented with Flyback converter topology. Moreover, the principles of the invention are applicable, e.g., to an induction circuit that can not only be part of a flyback circuit, and also to an induction circuit that can be part of other converters and transformers, e.g. boost circuits, SEPIC circuits, and two transistor forward circuits.

0007 More specifically, the present invention provides a resonant transition control method and circuit that involves shorting the winding of an inductor or transformer to delay the natural ringing transition. The present invention provides for controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit has a choke that stores and releases energy, a switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to store energy and another switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to release energy. The inductive circuit is configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the choke has been substantially released. The invention is characterized in that it provides for shorting the choke to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the choke prior to initiating storage of energy in the choke.

0008 With an inductive circuit according to the present invention, after the energy in the choke is substantial released and before the pause, the switch device that releases the energy remains closed for an extra period of time so that energy is increased in the choke in the opposite direction of the original energized state, thus adding with the energy in the parasitic capacitance and increasing the natural ring energy or amplitude.

0009 The invention can provide for controlling the load versus frequency and pulse size of the inductive circuit, to produce optimal frequency and pulse size for the inductive circuit. 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

0010 In addition the release switch device releases energy that is directed to remain in the on state for a longer period of time, and the amount of energy stored in the reverse direction is increased and tailored for a specific load and input voltage.

0011 In one implementation the invention is designed so that the inductive circuit is provided as part of a flyback circuit.

0012 In another implementation the inductive circuit is provided as part of a boost circuit.

0013 In yet another implementation the inductive circuit is provided as part of a SEPIC circuit.

0014 In still another implementation the inductive circuit is provided as part of a two transistor forward circuit.

0015 These and other features of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings

Brief Description of the Drawings

0016 Figure 1 illustrates a simple flyback circuit;

0017 Figure 2 illustrates a typical flyback voltage and current waveforms on a primary switch;

0018 Figure 3 shows the waveforms for the flyback converter at high line;

0019 Figure 4 is the waveform of the inductive circuit of the flyback converter;

0020 Figure 5 shows what happens if the switch does not turn on at the first ring;

0021 Figure 6 shows what would happen if the ring down of the inductive circuit during the resonant ring down, according to the present invention;

0022 Figure 7 shows a typical frequency versus load of a flyback converter with a complex control method;

0023 Figure 8 shows a typical boundary mode flyback converter operating a full load at high 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

input and low input;

0024 Figure 9 shows the flyback converter of Figure 8, using the shorted winding technique of the present invention;

0025 Figure 10 shows implementation of the principles of the present invention for optimizing tradeoff between circulating current and switch losses;

0026 Figures 11 and 12 show implementation of the principles of the present invention to a boost converter circuit and Figure 17 shows implementation to a SEPIC circuit;

0027 Figures 13 and 14 show implementation of the principles of the present invention to a two transistors forward circuit; and

0028 Figures 15 and 16 show how the inductive circuit, according to the present invention, can be controlled by a microcomputer.

Detailed description

0029 As described above, the principles of the present invention are particularly applicable to an inductor circuit that can be part of a converter or transformer such as flyback circuits, boost circuits, SEPIC circuits, and two transistor forward circuits. The invention is described herein in connection with such circuits, and from the description, the manner in which the present invention can be applied to various comparable types of converters and transformers will be apparent to those in the art.

0030 Presented in Figure 1 is a simple Flyback circuit comprising an inductive circuit with a primary switch and secondary switch. And presented in Figure 2 is a typical Flyback voltage and current waveforms on the primary switch. Notice that after the reset cycle at time t2 the winding starts to ring. This ringing is caused by the parasitic capacitances of the primary switch, the synchronous rectifier or diode in the secondary, and the interwinding capacitance of the transformer windings. Note that there are discrete times in which it is more efficient to re-turn on the primary switch. This would occur at any 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

valley location where the voltage at turn on would be the lowest. In Figure 2 the primary switch turned on at the ideal time, it turned on at the valley point on the second ring down. The controller has adjusted the frequency so that the switch would turn on at the valley.

0031 Figure 3 shows the waveforms for the flyback converter at high line. Since the unit is at high line the valley voltages are not close to zero. The maximum ringing amplitude, with no extra energy added, is equal to the reflected output voltage during reset. For example, if the input voltage is 100 and the transformer has a turns ratio of 1 : 1 and is producing an output voltage of 40 the lowest the turn on point would be 100-40 which is equal to 60. Turn on loss, assuming linear capacitance in the circuit, is proportional to the square of the voltage at turn on and that would be 60 squared. If the switch would turn on at the top of the ring the dissipation would be proportional to 140* 140, a huge difference between the two (more than 5 times larger in this example). This amount of dissipation difference cannot be ignored.

0032 Figure 4 is the waveform of the inductor circuit of the flyback converter if the synchronous rectifier is held on a little longer than is needed to increase the energy of the ringing (referred in this document as push back energy). This energy is taken from the output and there is a penalty that this energy has to be restored once used. The peak current in the primary is increased to compensate for the extra energy needed by the output. This increases the overall circulating current but improves the efficiency of each turn on provided that the primary switch takes advantage of it. Figure 4 has the primary switch turning on at the first ring (boundary mode) which is another improvement of the energy dissipated at turn on. There is a tradeoff between the extra conduction losses caused by the increase in circulating current and benefiting from the reduction in switching losses at turn on but in all cases some improvement can be realized by increasing some amount of this energy.

0033 Figure 5 shows what happens if the switch does not turn on at the first ring. If the switch does not turn on the first ring, the push back energy stored by the synchronous rectifier 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

causes the ring to come back up past the rectification point. If the synchronous rectifier circuit is triggered by drop across it, the circuitry would turn on the switch again and produce again a large ring. This in turn puts energy back again into the ring in a process that does not end. This would produce larger amounts of circulating current that would kill the efficiency of the unit. What is shown in Figure is a "semi smart control" that did not add energy on the second try but it got "fooled" the first time. This control would be more complex and even with this control there would be more power dissipated since the unit invested energy in trying to produce a large ring but did not utilize it due to the lower output load requirements.

0034 As presented many complicated solutions have been tried and patented to solve this problem. A simpler solution is needed. So the question was asked, "How to stop the resonant ring from going up?" A simple solution has been discovered, in accordance with the present invention. This solution is to short the winding of the transformer leaving the energy stored in the transformer. Continuing even further short the winding during the resonant ring down. Basically this captures the energy for use any time the primary switch needs to be turned on as well as preventing the ring up.

0035 Figure 6 shows what would happen if we could control the ring down by shorting the winding. This solves the synchronous rectification problem because the only time the converter would ring would be to turn on. In other words, the converter can turn on the first ring exactly like Figure 4 only that the ring down is delayed by keeping the winding shorted until the control needs to turn on.

0036 This not only solves the synchronous rectifier false turn on problem, it also solves all other problems previously described. The ability to now store the energy for primary switch turn on creates opportunities for improvements at all points in the operating range.

0037 Shown in figure 7 is a typical frequency versus load of a Flyback with a complex control method. Notice that the frequency has abrupt discontinuities. This is due to the changes 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

in this particular control IC of changing to a different valley (a change in the number of rings before a turn on happens). During these abrupt changes the feedback loop is subjected to something similar to a transient load change. It is even possible for the unit oscillate between two different valley positions producing unpredictable ripple on the output. Because of this some IC provide hysteresis between these modes complicating the design of the control chip.

0038 By controlling the resonant transition timing fully, according to the principles of the present invention, there is no difference between boundary mode and discontinuous mode if the winding is kept shorted. They merge into the same mode. The unit will always be in discontinuous mode but with the benefits of boundary mode of having a large first resonant transition. The control loop would not go through any jumps or discontinuities when a new valley position is changed. Complex control schemes that counted the number of rings are eliminated. Burst control methods in which a few boundary mode cycles are produced followed by dead times is not needed. Valley detection algorithms are not needed (the resonant transition happens at a fixed delay from the release of the short). The frequency would go down from high load to no load smoothly unlike boundary mode schemes in which the frequency would actually increase from full load to lighter load and would have an abrupt frequency change when the unit changed to discontinuous mode or burst mode. The control would be simplified on both the synchronous rectification and also for primary switch control that required in the past all these mode changes, protection, and valley detection.

0039 Figure 8 shows a typical boundary mode Flyback operating at full load at high input and low input. Notice that the frequency at high line is much higher than for the same power than low line. At high line a lower frequency would be desirable since the losses at turn on are higher; reducing the frequency would mitigate the higher losses. Unfortunately, the opposite happens which further aggravates the losses. Figure 9 shows the same Flyback using the shorted winding technique. Notice that the frequency is the same or lower for high line. In fact the frequency of operation can be chosen. Resonant control 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

of the winding allows for another degree of freedom. Since the amount of time the winding is shorted can be changed, the switching frequency can be chosen at any load or input voltage. This allows the unit to optimize the efficiency at every load and input situation. High line efficiency was improved by decreasing the frequency and not wasting the push back energy in extra ringing cycles. The push back energy is fully utilized when the primary switch turns on.

0040 Because of the extra degree of freedom, the control would be able to tailor the optimum operating conditions for a particular Flyback converter. A table of values that stores the frequency and peak current settings for a particular input line and load can be stored on a micro-controller or a power versus frequency line can be designed in an analog controller.

0041 The table can also contain the amount of push back energy required at these conditions that would change the turn off time of the synchronous rectifier. This would change the amount of energy invested in for every load condition. This would optimize the tradeoff mentioned before between circulating current and switching losses.

0042 The penalty of this idea is that an extra switch is needed to control the short on the winding. Compared with the increase complexity of the control without the switch, this method has been found to be more economical. The improvement in efficiency at high input voltage and light loads reduces the overall size and cost of the converter. Shown in Figure 10 is one embodiment of the new idea. By using the diode Dl in series with MOSFET M2, a shorting direction can be defined without interfering with the natural reset in the secondary. The shorting MOSFET M2 is turn on during the reset time so that it turns on at zero voltage. The topology is also compatible with a diode rectified secondary and can give an efficiency improvement path for existing Flyback converter designs.

0043 While this idea was implemented on a Flyback converter it can be applied to other topologies. One transistor forward converter, two transistor forward converter, boost 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

converter, interleaved 2 transistor converter, buck converter, resonant converter, and

SEPIC converters and others can apply this idea. Any converter that has a ringing transition can be interrupted in the middle of the transition to provide dead time and reduce the operating frequency. This idea is more suited to converters that are designed to run in discontinuous and boundary mode conditions. To illustrate this point, a boost converter with synchronous rectifier and a winding shorting switch is shown in Figure

11 along with typical waveforms shown in Figure 12.

0044 A two transistor forward implementation is shown in Figure 13 with waveforms in Figure 14. The current in the output choke must reach zero before the reset is done in the primary otherwise the output choke could "steal" some of the energy in the ringing transitions. Interleaving with another 2 transistor forward will alleviate this limitation and the output choke current can be continuous without impacting the ZVS transitions in the primary.

0045 As illustrated by Figures 15 and 16, the circuit can be controlled by a micro -computer 17 so that the optimal frequency and pulse size are tailored by a table in the microcontroller or a circuit that changes the load vs. frequency and pulse size (e.g. the micro computer 17 controls primary and secondary switches SW 1, SW 2, and shorting switch SW 3 to tailor the frequency and pulse size), and the micro computer can also be used to tailor the amount of energy stored in the reverse winding for a specific load and input voltage).

0046 Figure 16 describes the voltage waveform on SWl and the magnetizing current in transformer 14. At tO the SWl is turned on and is left on until tl . The magnetizing current in the transformer increases as in a normal Flyback converter. At tl when SWl turns off the current in winding 12 charges capacitor 15, When the voltage on winding 13 reaches the output voltage SW2 is turned. The magnetizing current then flows in winding 13 producing output current into load 11 and capacitor 16. The magnetizing current decreases as it delivers energy to the output. At t2, the magnetizing current crosses zero and then reverses from the output back into transformer 14. At a specified 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

current or in other words energy controlled by control circuit 17, SW2 turns off. The reverse current magnitude represents energy stored in the transformer that will be used to near zero or zero volt switch SWl later in the cycle. At time t4, SW3 is turned on effectively shorting winding 12 and preventing the energy stored to be used. The current stored at t2 and any extra energy from voltage on SWl moving from Vin plus reflective output voltage to Vin is conserved by SW3 and circulates in winding 12 until time t5 when SW3 is turned off. At this time, energy stored is used to discharge capacitor 15 to a determined turn on voltage (Vvalley). At this lowest voltage point t6, SWl is turned on which is a start of a new cycle (same as tO). The time between t4 and t5 can be tailored to control the frequency, this in combination with the time SWl is on determine the frequency and power per cycle for the unit at a certain load condition. By having the flexibility of controlling the time between t4 and t5, the frequency can be tailored for maximum efficiency at any load condition.

0047 Finally, as described above, the present invention can also be implemented in SEPIC converters. Single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) is a type of DC-DC converter allowing the electrical potential (voltage) at its output to be greater than, less than, or equal to that at its input; the output of the SEPIC is controlled by the duty cycle of the control transistor. Figure 17 shows a SEPIC circuit topology that implements the principles of the present invention.

0048 Thus, as seen from the foregoing description, applicants have provided a new and useful concept for simplifying control of an inductive circuit (e.g. in a flyback converter) while improving the efficiency of the flyback converter in all situations. The invention provides a very simple and novel approach to solving all the problems presented with flyback converter topology. Moreover, the principles of the invention are applicable, e.g., to an induction circuit that can not only be part of a flyback circuit, and also to an induction circuit that can be part of other converters and transformers, e.g. boost circuits, SEPIC circuits, and two transistor forward circuits. The present invention provides a resonant transition control method and circuit that involves shorting the winding of an inductor or transformer to delay the natural ringing transition. The present invention 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

provides for controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit has a choke that stores and releases energy, a switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to store energy and another switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to release energy. The inductive circuit is configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the choke has been substantially released. The invention is characterized in that it provides for shorting the choke to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the choke and initiate storage of energy in the choke. With an inductive circuit according to the present invention, after the energy in the choke is substantial released and before the pause, the switch device that releases the energy remains closed for an extra period of time so that energy is increased in the choke in the opposite direction of the original energized state, thus adding with the energy in the parasitic capacitance and increasing the natural ring energy or amplitude. The invention can provide for controlling the load versus frequency and pulse size of the inductive circuit, to produce optimal frequency and pulse size for the inductive circuit. In addition the release switch device releases energy that is directed to remain in the on state for a longer period of time, and the amount of energy stored in the reverse direction is increased and tailored for a specific load and input voltage.. From the foregoing description, the manner in which the present invention can be applied to various comparable types of converters and transformers will be apparent to those in the art.

6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

Claims

1. A resonant transition control method that involves shorting the winding of an inductor or transformer to delay the natural ringing transition.

2. A method of controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit, comprising a. providing an inductive circuit with a choke that stores and releases energy, a switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to store energy and another switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to release energy, the inductive circuit configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the choke has been substantially released and b. shorting the choke to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the choke prior to initiating storage of energy in the choke.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the inductive circuit is configured such that after the energy in the choke is substantial released and before the pause, the switch that releases the energy remains closed for an extra period of time so that energy is increased in the choke in the opposite direction of the original energized state thus adding with the energy in the parasitic capacitance increases the natural ring energy or amplitude.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising controlling the load versus frequency and pulse size of the inductive circuit, to produce optimal frequency and pulse size for the inductive circuit.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the release switch device that releases energy is

controlled to remain in the on state for a longer period of time, enabling the amount of energy stored in the reverse direction to be increased and tailored for a specific load and input voltage. 6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the inductive circuit is provided as part of a flyback

circuit.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the inductive circuit is provided as part of a boost circuit.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the inductive circuit is provided as part of a SEPIC

circuit.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the inductive circuit is provided as part of a two

transistor forward circuit.

6294.115 PCT Exhibit A text from application serial number 14/274,598

Abstract of the Disclosure

A new and useful method and inductive circuit is provided that provides a resonant transition control that involves shorting the winding of an inductor or transformer to delay the natural ringing transition. The present invention provides for controlling the natural ring of an inductive circuit has a choke that stores and releases energy, a switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to store energy and another switch device having a closed state in which it causes the choke to release energy. The inductive circuit is configured with parasitic capacitance that would normally produce natural ringing when energy in the choke has been substantially released. The invention is characterized in that it provides for shorting the choke to trap and hold current and pause the natural ringing until power is directed to the inductive circuit to release shorting of the choke and initiate storage of energy in the choke.

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