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A voltage regulator of a vehicle AC generator includes a control circuit connected to a power circuit for supplying field current to a field coil of the AC generator, a power circuit for supplying electric power to the control circuit, a power drive circuit for controlling the power circuit accordin

A voltage regulator of a vehicle AC generator includes a control circuit connected to a power circuit for supplying field current to a field coil of the AC generator, a power circuit for supplying electric power to the control circuit, a power drive circuit for controlling the power circuit according to a self-excited voltage induced in an armature coil of the AC generator, and a bypass circuit connected to a ground. The resistance of the bypass circuit is reduced when the power circuit does not supply electric power to the control circuit and is increased when the power circuit supplies electric power to the control circuit. Therefore, power consumption of the bypass circuit is reduced when the AC generator starts regular power generation.

대표청구항 ▼

A voltage regulator of a vehicle AC generator includes a control circuit connected to a power circuit for supplying field current to a field coil of the AC generator, a power circuit for supplying electric power to the control circuit, a power drive circuit for controlling the power circuit accordin

A voltage regulator of a vehicle AC generator includes a control circuit connected to a power circuit for supplying field current to a field coil of the AC generator, a power circuit for supplying electric power to the control circuit, a power drive circuit for controlling the power circuit according to a self-excited voltage induced in an armature coil of the AC generator, and a bypass circuit connected to a ground. The resistance of the bypass circuit is reduced when the power circuit does not supply electric power to the control circuit and is increased when the power circuit supplies electric power to the control circuit. Therefore, power consumption of the bypass circuit is reduced when the AC generator starts regular power generation. wherein the rectification circuit in each output stage circuit comprises diodes connected in a full wave bridge rectifier. 11. The battery charger of claim 10 wherein the diodes of the rectification circuit are diodes having low reverse recovery characteristics. 12. The battery charger of claim 11 wherein the rectifier diodes of the rectification circuit are selected from the group consisting of ultrafast, Stealth, and Schottky diodes. 13. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the controller receives feedback signals representing the individual currents in each output inductor of each output stage circuit and averages these signals to form the average current feedback signal, wherein the controller includes a pulse generator and gate drive circuit to provide pulsed periodic control signals at a selected frequency to the DC-to-AC converter switching devices. 14. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the controller includes an adjustable scaling factor that scales the feedback signal representing the voltage across the battery charger output terminals to form a scaled voltage feedback signal. 15. The battery charger of claim 14 wherein the controller regulates the scaled voltage feedback signal representing the voltage across the battery output terminals to a commanded value, Vo_limit. 16. The battery charger of claim 1 wherein the controller regulates the average current feedback signal using an inner control loop at a first bandwidth, and wherein the controller regulates the voltage across the battery charger output terminals using an outer control loop at a second bandwidth lower than the first bandwidth. 17. The battery charger of claim 16 wherein the controller operates in constant-voltage mode when the average current feedback signal is below a specified upper current limit, and wherein the controller operates in constant-current mode when the average current feedback signal exceeds the specified upper current limit. 18. The battery charger of claim 16 wherein the inner control loop of the controller further includes a proportional-integral compensation network. 19. The battery charger of claim 16 wherein the outer control loop of the controller further includes a proportional-integral compensation network. 20. A battery charger comprising: (a) a transformer having at least one primary winding and a plurality of secondary windings; (b) a DC source comprising a rectifier having input terminals that may be supplied by an AC source and providing rectified DC output voltage; (c) a buck-based DC-to-AC converter having an arrangement of controllable switching devices, input terminals connected to the DC source to receive the output voltage therefrom, and output terminals connected to the primary winding of the transformer; (d) a plurality of output stage circuits, an output stage circuit connected to each secondary winding, wherein each output stage circuit has a rectification circuit connected across a secondary winding and connected to a low-pass filter which includes an output inductor and an output capacitor to provide filtered DC voltage across output terminals of each output stage circuit; (e) a positive output terminal and a negative output terminal of the battery charger, the output terminals of the output stage circuits connected across the battery charger output terminals in a series or parallel arrangement; and (f) a controller connected to the controllable switching devices to switch them on and off periodically so as to transfer energy from the input terminals of the DC-to-AC converter to the output stage circuits with control of the total voltage and current from the output stage circuits, wherein the controller receives a feedback signal proportional to the average of the individual currents in each output inductor of each output stage circuit, wherein the controller further receives a feedback signal representing the voltage across the output terminals of the battery charger and controls the switching