Hisaichi Irie

PWM technique for power MOSFET inverter

A sinusoidal PWM (pulsewidth-modulated) inverter suitable for use with power MOSFETs is described. The output waveforms in the proposed PWM inverter are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A modulating signal for the three-phase PWM inverter is obtained by adding the harmonic components of integer multiples of three to the three-phase sine waves. By using the proposed modulating signal, the amplitude of the fundamental component is increased about 15% more than that of a conventional sine-wave inverter and the commutation number of the inverter is decreased to two-thirds of a conventional one. >

Trapezoidal Modulating Signal for Three-Phase PWM Inverter

Trapezoidal wave is suitable for the modulating signal of the microcomputer-based pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverter for the use of motor drives because the switching patterns can be generated by means of on-line computation. The waveform is changed from a rectangular to a triangular wave.

Immittance converters suitable for power electronics

An immittance converter has fine performance in many power electronics applications. Its function is to convert voltage sources into current sources and current sources into voltage sources. The immittance converter has an input impedance that is proportional to the admittance of loads connected across output terminals. Therefore, in this converter, the output current is proportional to the input voltage and the input current is proportional to the output voltage. Consequently, it converts a constant voltage source into a constant current source and a constant current source into a constant voltage source. When an immittance converter operates at a resonant frequency and is inserted to high-frequency link systems, voltage source outputs turn into current source outputs and current source outputs turn into voltage source outputs. Some power electronics applications of this converter are photovoltaic inverters and dc-dc converters with constant current outputs. It is well known that a quarter-wavelength transmission line shows immittance conversion characteristics. However, it has a very long line length for its switching frequency (e.g., 20 kHz), and is not suitable for power electronics applications. Therefore we propose five immittance converters that consist of lumped L and C elements and show the immittance conversion characteristics at a resonant frequency. These immittance converters are much smaller and lighter than the transmission line. Their principles, basic circuits, and basic characteristics are described in this paper. We also evaluate their application to high-frequency link systems of power electronics.

A simple method for detecting torque of an induction motor with a synchronous rectifier circuit

There are many torque measuring methods for an induction motor. Some applications require a simple and easy method to detect torque change rather than a precise method to measure the torque of the motor. The torque of an induction motor is roughly estimated by the input current. This is the simplest method of measuring torque. The input current of the induction motor is the sum of the torque current and the exciting current. The torque current is proportional to the synchronous wattage and the motor torque. The exciting current has a phase lag of almost 90° behind the torque current, is variable with the input voltage, and is larger than the torque current, especially at a light load. Therefore, it is difficult to find the motor torque from the input current of the motor at a light load. In this paper, we propose a simple and easy torque measuring method with a synchronous rectifier circuit. The synchronous rectifier circuit can find the vector component at the detection angle from the input current of the induction motor and can detect the torque current in the input current of the motor. By adjusting the detecting angle of the synchronous rectifier, the rectified signal is mixed with the torque current and the exciting current in proper proportions and compensated for the fluctuation of the input voltage. This serves as a simple and easy torque measuring method suitable for trouble detection at loads such as in life testing.

New NPC multi-level four-quadrant DC-DC converter controlled by the integrated-voltage-control method

A switching mode DC-DC converter controlled by the integrated-voltage-control method works stably and has no steady state error and a quick response time. We propose a new NPC (neutral-point-clamped) multi-level four-quadrant DC-DC converter controlled by the integrated-voltage-control method. It consists of eight hysteresis comparators driven by an error voltage integrator. The working region is divided into eight regions and one of eight power transistors driven by one of eight comparators to on/off in each prearranged region. The neutral-point voltage can also be kept at a constant value by a new restrain control scheme.