Patent ID: 9401708
Filing Date: 2016-07-26
CPC Classification: H03K

Claim Text:
1. A gate drive unit comprising: a charging device conductively coupled with an electric energy source and a power switch between the electric energy source, the power switch configured to be switched between an ON state and an OFF state to control conduction of electric current from a power supply to a load, the charging device configured to store electric energy supplied by the electric energy source when the electric energy is conducted to the charging device; a first switch conductively coupled with the electric energy source and the charging device between the electric energy source and the charging device, the first switch configured to close to conduct the electric energy from the electric energy source to the charging device, the first switch configured to open to prevent conduction of the electric energy from the electric energy source to the charging device; and one or more timing modules coupled with the first switch and configured to control closing or opening of the first switch, wherein the one or more timing modules are configured to close the first switch to direct the electric energy from the electric energy source to the charging device for a designated charging time period in order to charge the charging device with the electric energy while the power switch is in the OFF state, the one or more timing modules also configured to open the first switch to cause the electric energy stored in the charging device to be conducted out of the charging device as a trigger current that is conducted to an anode terminal and extracted through a gate terminal of the power switch to activate the power switch to the ON state from the OFF state.