Patent ID: 11897367
Assignee: TRANSPORTATION IP HOLDINGS, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  H | IPC B

Claim 5:
6. A system comprising:
a positive bus configured to be connected with a source of electric current;
a negative bus configured to be connected with the source of the electric current, the positive bus and the negative bus connected with a converter that converts the electric current for a motor of a powered system;
a braking resistor coupled with the positive bus;
several parallel circuit legs coupled in series with the braking resistor, each of the circuit legs including a contactor; and
several semiconductor switches connected in parallel to each other with each of the semiconductor switches connected in series with a different circuit leg of the several parallel circuit legs between the positive bus and the negative bus,
wherein, during a regenerative braking mode or a rheostatic braking mode of the powered system, regenerated electric current from the motor is conducted to the braking resistor and dissipated as heat with different ones of the semiconductor switches closing at different times while others of the semiconductor switches remain open.