Abstract:
This invention provides a means of protecting power dissipating pass elements from exceeding their predetermined thermal limits. In one preferred embodiment, the circuit protects a pass element in a battery charging circuit from exceeding its threshold junction temperature by predicting temperature based upon the voltage across the pass element and the current flowing through it. From this predicted temperature, current is reduced to provide charging of a battery at a constant power. The circuit includes a voltage sensing circuit and a plurality of comparators for selecting a predetermined current based upon the output of the voltage sensing circuit. The circuit provides a piecewise linear approximation of proper pass element voltage and current values to maintain a suitable threshold junction temperature.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    1. Technical Field  
           [0002]    This invention relates generally to thermal regulation circuits for power dissipating electronic circuit elements, and more specifically to power regulation and thermal management for power transistors as, for example, in battery charging applications.  
           [0003]    2. Background Art  
           [0004]    [0004]FIG. 1 illustrates a simple battery charger  100  that is well known in the art. The charger  100  consists of a power supply  101 , a linear regulator  102 , a pass element  103  and a battery cell  104 . The power supply  101  provides voltage and current to the battery cell  104 . The voltage and current must be regulated by the pass element  103  so as to avoid charging the battery cell  104  too rapidly. The linear regulator  102  performs this regulation by dissipating as heat the difference between the power generated by the power supply  101  and the power stored by the battery cell  104 .  
           [0005]    The problem with this prior art solution is that the pass element  103  can overheat. This is best explained by way of example. For a typical single-cell, lithium battery application, a fully charged battery cell  104  typically registers about 4.1 volts. Thus, to fully charge the battery cell  104 , and to give enough headroom for parasitic power losses in the pass element  103  and connecting circuitry, the power supply must be capable of supplying at least 5 volts. A typical battery cell  104  will charge optimally at a current of roughly 1 amp.  
           [0006]    The problem arises with the battery cell  104  is fully discharged. A discharged battery cell  104  may register only 2 volts. As the power supply  101  would supply energy at a rate of 5 volts at 1 amp, or 5 watts, and the battery cell  104  stores energy at a rate of 2 volts at 1 amp, or 2 watts, the pass element  103  must dissipate energy at a rate of 3 watts. As typical pass elements  103  may come in a TO-220 package, 3 watts for extended periods of time may make the pass element  103  quite warm. Extended periods of heat my actually jeopardize reliability by approaching—or surpassing—the threshold junction temperature of the pass element  103 .  
           [0007]    The problem is exacerbated when an incompatible power supply 101 is coupled to the circuit. For example, if someone accidentally couples a 12-volt supply to the charger, the pass element  103  may have to dissipate 10 watts! This can eventually lead to thermal destruction of the pass element  103 .  
           [0008]    One solution to this problem is recited in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,382, issued to Saint-Pierre et al. entitled “Tracking Circuit for Power Supply Output Control”. This solution provides a means of reducing the output voltage of a power supply when the battery is in a discharged state, thereby reducing the total output power of the power supply. This, in turn, reduces the amount of power a pass element would need to dissipate.  
           [0009]    While this is a very effective solution to the problem, it requires a power supply that both includes a feedback input and is responsive to the input by changing the output voltage. The electronics associated with an adjustable power supply can be more expensive that those found is a simple linear transformer power supply.  
           [0010]    There is thus a need for an improved means of regulating temperature in a power-dissipating element like those employed as pass elements in battery charging applications. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is an illustration of a prior art charging circuit.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2A is an illustration of the characteristic output of a constant current, constant voltage power supply.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2B illustrates a danger zone of operation in accordance with the invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3A is an illustration of the characteristic output of a wall transformer power supply.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3B illustrates a danger zone of operation in accordance with the invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a plot of the voltage across a pass element versus the charge current in accordance with the invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a piecewise, linear approximation of FIG. 4 in accordance with the invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of a voltage sensing circuit in accordance with the invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is one embodiment of a temperature sensing circuit in accordance with the invention.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an alternate embodiment in accordance with the invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a power management and temperature regulation circuit in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]    A preferred embodiment of the invention is now described in detail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like parts throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise: the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.” 
         [0024]    Prior to turning to the specifics of the invention, it is well to briefly examine the operating regions in which there is a risk of thermal damage to a pass element. This is best explained by looking at battery charging applications, although it will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be equally applied to other applications as well.  
         [0025]    Referring now to FIG. 2A, illustrated therein is the output characteristic  200  of a “constant-voltage-constant-current”, or “CCCV”, power supply. Such supplies are known in the art, as recited by U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,541, entitled “Power Supply Control Circuit Having Constant Voltage and Constant Current Modes”. Another such supply is taught in the application notes for the TL494 control IC manufactured by On-Semiconductor. Segment  201  illustrates a constant voltage of Vmax that is supplied for all load currents less than Imax. Once the load current attempts to exceed Imax, segment  202  represents the maximum current, Imax, that is delivered as the voltage tapers from Vmax to zero.  
         [0026]    Referring now to FIG. 2B, illustrated therein is a charging characteristic  203  of the circuit of FIG. 1 when a CCCV source is employed as the power supply. The characteristic  203  is represented as voltage versus percentage of charge. Presuming that an initially discharged battery cell is coupled to the supply, the charging curve begins at Vlow  204 , which essentially represents the voltage of the discharged battery cell. The power supply, by contrast, begins at Vmax  205 . Consequently, there is a difference Vmax  205  minus Vlow  204  that proportionally corresponds to the power that must be dissipated by the pass element. Experimental and theoretical results have shown that a threshold exists, Vok  206 , above which standard pass elements are capable of dissipating power for a given charge rate. However, when the battery cell voltage is below Vok  206 , the pass element is called upon to dissipate more power than it can withstand. Thus, the shaded region  207  represents the “danger zone” for the pass element. Note that the current is below Imax for the voltage to be Vmax.  
         [0027]    Referring now to FIG. 3A, illustrated therein is the output characteristic  300  for another common power supply, the common linear transformer. It may be seen from segment  301  that voltage generally rolls off as current increases. A small peak at segment  302  may be caused by rectification circuitry that includes filter capacitors. In any event, the battery charges between the levels Vbatmin  303  and Vbatmax  304 .  
         [0028]    Referring now to FIG. 3B, illustrated therein is the power generated by the circuit of FIG. 1 when a linear transformer is employed as the power supply. When the battery cell voltage approaches its termination point, Vbatmax  304  of FIG. 3A, the voltage of the transformer continues to increase while the battery voltage stays relatively constant. This means that the pass element must be able to dissipate the extra power that results from this increasing voltage differential. As a result of the extra power, a pass element danger zone for linear transformers exists in the shaded region  306 .  
         [0029]    To summarize the preceding discussion, there are regions of operation in which a battery charger having a pass element works well with no temperature compensation. There are other danger zones, however, where pass element reliability may be compromised. It is one object of this invention to provide a circuit that prevents pass elements or other power dissipating elements from entering danger zones.  
         [0030]    Referring again to FIG. 1, the power dissipated in the pass element  103  may be expressed as the voltage of the power supply  101 , minus the voltage of the battery cell  104 , multiplied by the charge current. If the pass element  103  comprises a PNP bipolar junction transistor, as is common in the art, the voltage of the power supply  101 , minus the voltage of the battery cell  104  may simply be represented as Vce, the voltage difference between the emitter  106  voltage and the collector  107  voltage. Thus, the power is given as:  
           P=Vce*Ichg   (EQ. 1)  
         [0031]    The threshold junction temperature, Tj, of the pass element  103  transistor is the temperature above which the transistor integrity begins to degrade. In other words, if the pass element  103  gets hotter than its threshold junction temperature, it will probably stop working properly. The threshold junction temperature may be represented as:  
           Tj=P*k+Tamb   (EQ. 2)  
         [0032]    where P is the power dissipated in the pass element, k is a constant dependent upon the physical characteristics of the pass element, and Tamb is the ambient temperature about the pass element. Thus, if the ambient temperature is 35 degrees C., and the threshold junction temperature is 150 degrees C., a power dissipation temperature of 115 degrees may be tolerated while still ensuring proper pass element operation.  
         [0033]    Substituting EQ. 1 into EQ. 2 yields:  
           Tj=Vce*Ichg*k+Tamb   (EQ. 3)  
         [0034]    Solving for Ichg yields:  
           Ichg= ( Tj−Tamb )/( Vce*k )  (EQ. 4)  
         [0035]    Referring now to FIG. 4, illustrated therein is a plot of Vce versus Ichg. In this particular plot, Tj is presumed to be 150 degrees C., as this is common in transistors when used as power dissipating components. Additionally, Tamb is set at a maximum, for example 50 degrees C., as this presents a worst case (i.e. minimum) temperature rise allowed by power dissipation. It will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that any number of different plots could be generated by varying these assumptions to fit a particular application.  
         [0036]    It is one object of this invention to keep the temperature of the pass element below the threshold junction temperature by reducing Ichg prior to the pass element entering a danger zone. In so doing, the invention provides a safeguard against component failure in battery charging applications.  
         [0037]    Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated therein is one preferred embodiment of a power regulation and thermal management circuit in accordance with the invention. A power supply  501  provides power to the circuit. The power supply  501  may be any of a number of power supply types, including but not limited to CCCV and linear transformers. The power supply  501  is coupled to a pass element  502 . In this preferred embodiment the pass element is a PNP bipolar junction transistor, although a large number of other types of pass elements may be substituted. The pass element  502  in this embodiment includes an emitter  504  and a collector  505 .  
         [0038]    A voltage sensing circuit  503  senses the voltage from collector  505  to emitter  504 , Vce. In one preferred embodiment, the voltage sensing circuit includes an op-amp  506  with a preset gain. The voltage sensing circuit  503  delivers a voltage output  507  that is proportional to Vce. The voltage output  507  is coupled to a plurality of comparators  508 , 509 , 510 , each having a distinct reference voltage  511 , 512 , 513 . The reference voltages  511 ,  512 ,  513  are easily set by resistor dividers. The number of comparators and corresponding reference voltages depends upon the resolution desired. It will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that the number of comparators may vary by application. It will also be obvious that the voltage references may be set in linear intervals, e.g. Vref, Vref*2, Vref*3, etc., as well as in non-linear intervals, e.g. Vref, Vref*a, Vref*b, etc.  
         [0039]    A particular comparator will be selected based upon the level of the voltage sense output  507 . Once actuated, the comparator will turn on a corresponding current switching transistor  514 , 515 , 516 . The particular current switch transistor then couples the charging current through a current sensing resistor  517 ,  518 ,  519 . The resultant current then flows through the cell  520 .  
         [0040]    The current is regulated by the current regulator  521 , which in turn provides feedback to the pass element  502  to reduce or increase current accordingly. This is accomplished by comparing the voltage generated by current flowing through the current sensing resistors  517 , 518 , 519  to a reference by way of the current regulator  521 . The values of the current sensing resistors  517 ,  518 ,  519 , will of course have different values, each corresponding to a different level of current that should be allowed by the current regulator  521 . The current regulator  521  then couples feedback to the pass element  502  to reduce current when the pass element  502  is in a danger zone. In this manner, the circuit facilitates charging at a constant power level (with respect to the pass element  502 ) by reducing current based upon the voltage across the pass element  502 . The circuit is actuated in the danger zones, where Vce*Ichg is too large.  
         [0041]    Note that the current regulator  521  is essentially dominantly, analog “OR” coupled with a conventional linear regulator  522 . The OR connection  523  allows the current regulator to override the conventional linear regulator  522  when the pass element  502  is in a danger zone. At other, safe operating ranges, the pass element  502  is allowed to remain saturated to allow maximum charge current to flow in accordance with the conventional linear regulator  522 .  
         [0042]    By way of example, the circuit was constructed in the lab to charge a single cell lithium battery having a termination voltage of 4.0 volts. The threshold junction temperature was set at 150 degrees C., and the maximum ambient was set at 50 degrees C. Typical power supplies found in electronics stores range from 7 to 25 volts, so these were presumed as realistic limits on input voltage. For a maximum pass element power dissipation of 600 mW, and a tolerance resolution of 15%, a total of 13 comparators and current switch transistors were employed. The component values and input values are shown in Table 1. It should be noted that the “Current Sense Resistor” corresponds to elements  517 ,  518 ,  519  in FIG. 5, and the Voltage Set Resistors correspond to the resistor dividers coupled to the comparators  508 ,  509 ,  510 , respectively. R1 is coupled to the reference voltage and R2 is coupled to ground. The cell voltage is 4.0 volts.  
                                                                             TABLE 1                                       Pass       Voltage   Voltage           Power           element   Current   Set   Set       Com-   Supply       Ichg   power   sense   Resistor   Resistor       parator   Voltage   Vce   (mA)   (mW)   resistor   R1   R2                                    0.00   0.00   0.00   0.00                   1   7.00   3.00   0.20   600   3.33   1000   136       1   7.00   3.00   0.17   510   3.33   1000   136       2   7.53   3.52   0.17   600   3.92   1000   164       2   7.53   3.52   0.15   510   3.92   1000   164       3   8.15   4.15   0.15   600   4.61   1000   199       3   8.15   4.15   0.122   510   4.61   1000   199       4   8.89   4.88   0.122   600   5.42   1000   243       4   8.89   4.88   0.104   510   5.42   1000   243       5   9.75   5.75   0.104   600   6.38   1000   299       5   9.75   5.75   0.088   510   6.38   1000   299       6   10.76   6.76   0.088   600   7.51   1000   371       6   10.76   6.76   0.075   510   7.51   1000   371       7   11.96   7.95   0.075   600   8.83   1000   467       7   11.96   7.95   0.064   510   8.83   1000   467       8   13.36   9.35   0.064   600   10.39   1000   598       8   13.36   9.35   0.054   510   10.39   1000   598       9   15.01   11.01   0.054   600   12.23   1000   787       9   15.01   11.01   0.046   510   12.23   1000   787       10   16.95   12.95   0.046   600   14.39   1000   1075       10   16.95   12.95   0.039   510   14.39   1000   1075       11   19.24   15.24   0.039   600   16.93   1000   1562       11   19.24   15.24   0.033   510   16.93   1000   1562       12   21.93   17.93   0.033   600   19.22   1000   2536       12   21.93   17.93   0.028   510   19.22   1000   2536       13   25.09   21.09   0.028   600   23.51   1000   5402                  
 
         [0043]    When the circuit is actuated, the 13 comparators yield 13 different currents for 13 different Vce values, each effectively yielding a total power dissipation in the pass element of less than or equal to 600 mW. The circuit thus yields a piecewise linear approximation of the Vce versus Ichg curve shown in FIG. 4. This piecewise linear charging curve is shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0044]    While the circuit of FIG. 5 is one preferred embodiment of a regulation circuit designed to keep a pass element at a constant power dissipation level during danger zones, it will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that the circuit is not so limited. Any number of equivalent circuits that account for voltage, current, ambient temperature and threshold junction temperature of a pass element would also suffice.  
         [0045]    Turning now to FIG. 7, one such alternative embodiment will be described. In FIG. 7, a circuit  700  that computes the difference between cell voltage  701  and the power supply voltage  702  completes the voltage sensing function. Recall from the discussion above that danger zones can occur when the power supply voltage  702  is much greater than the cell voltage  701 . Here, a comparator  703  generates a signal  705  proportional to the difference between the power supply voltage  702  and the cell voltage  701 . This signal  705  is coupled to a plurality of comparators  704 , each having a corresponding reference voltage  706 . In this manner, the plurality of comparators  704  selects a voltage range  707 .  
         [0046]    Referring now to FIG. 8, illustrated therein is an analogous circuit  800  for sensing temperature. In this circuit  800 , a thermistor  801  generates a voltage that is compared to a plurality of references  802 . Just as a plurality of comparators creates a voltage range in FIG. 7, here, a plurality of comparators  804  generates a temperature range  803 .  
         [0047]    Referring now to FIG. 9, the temperature range  803  and voltage range  707  may then be coupled into a selection matrix  901 . The selection matrix  901  may comprise analog circuitry, programmable logic, a memory look-up table, or other equivalent device. The output  902  is then coupled to a current sensing matrix  903  to select the proper gain for the current regulator  521 . The current regulator  521  is then coupled to a conventional regulator  502  to override the conventional regulator  522  when the pass element  502  is in a danger zone.  
         [0048]    The invention could equally be carried out with a microprocessor having voltage, current and temperature inputs. The microprocessor could then use a memory look-up table to select from a plurality of current limiting elements to set the proper gain for the current regulator, thereby ensuring the proper current during danger zone operation. The microprocessor could also solve EQN. 4 directly to select the proper current limiting element for the proper charge current to keep the pass element at a constant power dissipation level in the danger zones.  
         [0049]    Referring now to FIG. 10, illustrated therein is a general embodiment  1000  of the invention. The general embodiment  1000  includes a power source  1010 , pass element  1020  and load  1030  as herein described. A voltage sense circuit  1040  senses voltage across the pass element  1020 . A current sense circuit  1050  senses current flowing through the pass element  1020  to the load  1030 . A conventional charge regulator  1050  is provided for non-danger zone operation. A power threshold circuit  1060  is provided that receives the current sense and voltage sense. The power threshold circuit  1060  has stored internally a predetermined threshold junction temperature threshold. The power threshold circuit  1060  thus computes a current level sufficient to keep the power of the pass element  1020  constant during danger zone operation, and overrides the conventional charge regulator  1050  when necessary. If a predetermined maximum temperature is not desirable, a real time temperature sensor  1070  may optionally be coupled to the power threshold circuit  1060  as well.  
         [0050]    While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. For example, while a preferred embodiment included a battery charging application, it will be clear that the circuit may be applied to any number of applications where power dissipating elements require threshold junction temperature protection.