Patent ID: 6741436
Filing Date: 2004-05-25
Classification: H02M

Abstract:
A voltage converter comprising:a direct current input voltage source; a voltage transforming element having an input coupled to the input voltage source and an output presenting a voltage signal thereon; a switching element coupled to the voltage transforming element for intermittently interrupting current flow from the input voltage source to the voltage transforming element; a converter output coupled to the, output of the voltage transforming element via a rectifier and adapted to present a converter output voltage to a load; and a programmable controller having an input coupled to the converter output and an output coupled to the switching element, the programmable controller operative to control switching states of the switching element in accordance with preselected, programmable operating parameters of the voltage converter; and a fault prevention circuit coupled between the programmable controller output and the switching element, the fault prevention circuit including a shunting element operative to disable one of the switching states of the switching element upon an occurrence of a controller fault.