Fault tolerant power supply including a switching mechanism for controlling the operation of plural voltage converters in response to changing input voltage levels
US5894415A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 5, 1997 |
| Grant date | Apr 13, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 5, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH02J9/061
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A fault tolerant power supply system in which one or more controllers are connected to a battery plant providing a plurality of independent battery power feeds. Each controller includes a microprocessor which provides supervisory control signals to independently operating redundant power converters. Each power converter is provided with an input switching circuit which automatically disconnects the converter from its battery source when the converter input voltage falls below a preset minimum magnitude, thus protecting the battery against deep discharge conditions. When input voltage is removed from the converter, it is disabled so that power continues to be provided to the output load by the other converter(s) which continue to receive input power. When the input voltage is restored to a disabled converter, it is re-enabled only after a predetermined time delay elapses to insure that the input circuit is adequately pre-charged before operation resumes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.