Patent ID: 11923711
Assignee: AMOGY, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A system, comprising:
a positive power supply node and a negative power supply node configured for connection to a load;
a fuel cell coupled between the positive power supply node and the negative power supply node;
a battery;
a solid-state switch, wherein the battery and the solid-state switch are connected in series in a current path between the positive power supply node and the negative power supply node; and
an analog control system; and
wherein the analog control system is configured to generate a control signal that is applied to a gate terminal of the solid-state switch to control activation and deactivation of the solid-state switch to (i) allow the battery to be discharged and supply power to the load when connected to the positive and negative power supply nodes, and to (ii) modulate an amount of charging current that flows in the current path through the battery from the fuel cell to recharge the battery;
wherein the analog control system comprises:
a voltage monitoring circuit configured to determine a voltage level of the battery, and generate a first control signal based on the determined voltage level;
a current sensor configured to sense magnitude and direction of current flow between the battery and the solid-state switch, and generate a second control signal based on the sensed magnitude and direction of the current flow between the battery and the solid-state switch; and
a switch controller configured to receive the first and second control signals, and generate the control signal which comprises a pulse-width modulated control signal with a varying duty cycle, based on the first and second control signals;
wherein the voltage monitoring circuit comprises:
a differential amplifier comprising a first input terminal coupled to a positive terminal of the battery, and a second input terminal coupled to a negative terminal of the battery; and
an operational amplifier comprising a first input terminal coupled to an output of the differential amplifier, and a second input terminal configured to receive as input a first threshold voltage;
wherein the operational amplifier is configured to compare an output voltage of the differential amplifier with the first threshold voltage and generate the first control signal based on the comparison.