Abstract:
A switched mode power supply (SMPS) may be operated with uncoupled output inductors. Overvoltage produced by “low-load” conditions may be controlled through use of an adaptive regulating bleeder. The bleeder may comprise a shunt regulator and a power dissipation resistor connected in parallel with a load of the SMPS. As load on the SMPS is reduced below a predetermined level, the shunt regulator may begin to conduct. Current may pass through the power dissipation resistor. Power dissipation may occur at a rate sufficient to maintain continuous conductance through an output inductor of the SMPS. During normal load operation, the shunt regulator may not conduct and inefficient dissipation of power through the resistor may be avoided.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention is in the field of electrical power supplies and, more particularly, switched-mode power supplies (SMPS&#39;s) with uncoupled output inductors. 
         [0002]    It is well known that a multioutput SMPS with output inductors may experience an overvoltage condition at an inductor output if a load of the SMPS drops below a minimum level at that output. This loading condition may be referred to as a “low-load” condition. In contemplation of this phenomenon, many prior-art SMPS&#39;s employ coupled inductors as output inductors for multiple loads. In such an arrangement, development of a “low-load” condition in one load may be offset with a suitably high coupled load. Thus, the coupled inductors may be provided with correction by a regulation control loop when one of the loads of the SMPS reduces. This may occur even if the total load of the SMPS reduces to a state in which any one of the inductors may go into discontinuous conductance. Over-voltage conditions may be thus avoided. 
         [0003]    In some application of an SMPS, a common converter may be used to power two or more different loads for which coupled inductors are not suitable. For example, one load may be a logic circuit and another load may be a motor load. It is desirable, in such a case, to de-couple the load effects of the motor load from the logic circuit. In this context, an SMPS may be configured so that a separate output inductor may be provided for each of the loads. In such an arrangement special provisions must be made to accommodate the possibility that one or more of the output inductors may be exposed to a “low-load” condition. A low-load condition may produce an excessive voltage or “overvoltage” at the output. 
         [0004]    In prior-art SMPS&#39;s, this overvoltage has been prevented through use of bleeders or post voltage regulators. A typical prior-art bleeder may consist of a power dissipation resistor connected in parallel with a load of the SMPS. The power dissipation resistor will continuously conduct current and dissipate energy, even if the nominal load is maintained above a “low-load” condition. Presence of this resistive load may preclude development of excessive voltage at the output even if the nominal load decreases to a “low-load” state. 
         [0005]    In order to be effective, a resistive bleeder must produce a current high enough to preclude overvoltage development at the output. In that regard, the resistor must continuously consume electrical power and dissipate thermal energy. Consequently, such prior-art bleeders may contribute to reduced efficiency of an SMPS. Additionally, dedicated cooling of the bleeder may be required in order to continuously dissipate thermal energy from the bleeder resistor. 
         [0006]    In an alternate prior-art scheme of overvoltage control, a voltage regulator may be placed in series with the nominal load. The voltage regulator will drop the excessive voltage developed to ensure regulation and the right voltage at the output when the nominal load drops to a low-load condition. But, as with the bleeder described above, the voltage regulator must operate continuously even when the nominal load is present. The voltage regulator needs to drop some voltage across itself for proper functioning. This introduces unwanted power dissipation and decreases the efficiency of the SMPS. 
         [0007]    As can be seen, there is a need to provide efficient overvoltage control during “low-load” conditions for an SMPS. In particular, there is a need to provide such overvoltage control in an SMPS without using coupled inductors or continuous operation of bleeders or post voltage regulators. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In one aspect of the present invention an apparatus for supplying electrical power to a variable load comprises an output inductor and a regulating bleeder to dissipate accumulating energy from the output inductor only when the load is reduced below a level that sustains continuous conductance through the inductor. 
         [0009]    In another aspect of the present invention a switched mode power supply (SMPS) with an uncoupled output inductor comprises an output inductor, a regulating bleeder connected in parallel with a load of the SMPS. The regulating bleeder is operative only in response to an overvoltage condition in the SMPS. 
         [0010]    In still another aspect of the present invention a method for controlling voltage in a switched mode power supply (SMPS) comprises the steps of activating a regulating bleeder responsively to a predetermined load decrease and dissipating accumulated energy from an output inductor through the regulating bleeder to maintain continuous conductance through the inductor. 
         [0011]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an embodiment of a switched mode power supply (SMPS) in accordance with the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an embodiment of an output section of a forward converter of the SMPS of  FIG. 1  in accordance with the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a block of another embodiment of an output section of a forward converter of the SMPS of  FIG. 1  in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a method for controlling a power supply in accordance with the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0017]    Broadly, the present invention may be useful in switched mode power supplies (SMPS). More particularly, the present invention may provide efficient protection from overvoltage due to discontinuous conductance in an uncoupled inductor in an SMPS. The present invention may be particularly useful in vehicles such as aircraft which may employ a single SMPS to supply power to motor loads and logic circuit loads. The present invention may provide overvoltage control with a self-adjusting regulating bleeder. 
         [0018]    In contrast to prior-art power control systems, among other things, the present invention may embody a regulating bleeder that operates only when load conditions become low enough to produce potential overvoltage. The present invention, instead of employing a continuously operative resistive bleeder or series connected voltage regulators, may utilize a selectively operable regulating bleeder. The regulating bleeder of the present invention may produce power dissipation only when a nominal load of the SMPS reduces to a level that may cause overvoltage. 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram illustrates an SMPS designated generally by the numeral  10 . The SMPS  10  may comprise a conventional switching input  12  and a plurality of output sections  14  which may be comprised of various conventional rectifiers and filters. The output section  14  may be referred to as an output rectifier filter section of a forward converter. In accordance with the present invention the SMPS  10  may comprise one or more self adjusting bleeders  15 . For purposes of simplicity, the illustrative SMPS  10  of  FIG. 1  is shown with two of the output sections  14  and bleeders  15 . It may be noted that an SMPS may be constructed in accordance with the present invention to provide power to numerous power demands. Thus the SMPS  10  may comprise any number of the output sections  14  and self adjusting bleeders  15 . 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram may illustrate inventive aspects of the invention that may be incorporated in one or more of the output sections  14  of a forward converter. The output section  14  may comprise a voltage source  16  (e.g., a winding of a transformer), diodes  18  and  20 , an inductor  22 , and a capacitor  26 . A resistor  24  may symbolically represent a direct current (dc) resistance of the inductor  22 . The self-adjusting regulating bleeder  15  may be connected in parallel with a variable load  32  between output conductors  34  and  36 . 
         [0021]    In operation, the forward converter  14  may be provided power through the voltage source  16 . The voltage source  16  may comprise a conventional transformer secondary (not shown) that may be driven by a transformer primary (not shown) of the input unit  12  of  FIG. 1 . The inductor  22  may provide voltage regulation in a conventional manner when the load  32  is at or above a minimum level. The minimum load condition (Imin) may be determined in accordance with the expression: 
         [0000]        I min= Vo*T off_max/(2 *L )  equation 1 where:       Vo=output voltage;   Toff_max=maximum time that the input unit  12  is off during a switching period; and   L=inductance of the inductor  22 .         
         [0025]    If the load  32  is greater than the value determined by equation 1, stored energy in the inductor  22  needs to be discharged through the load  32 . But if the load  32  is less than the equation 1 value, a condition may develop in which energy accumulates in the inductor  22 . If such a reduction in the load  32  occurs, the inductor  22  may have stored energy (E) that is determined by the expression: 
         [0000]        E =(1/2)* L*Î 2  equation 2       where:   L=inductance of inductor  22 ; and   I=the current at the end of an on period. (i.e., a portion of a switching period that the input unit is on).         
         [0029]    Accumulation of energy within the inductor  22  may produce an undesirable voltage rise or overvoltage condition. In order to preclude such overvoltage, the accumulating energy may be dissipated by the regulating bleeder  15 . The regulating bleeder  15  may dissipate power at a rate to compensate for the minimum load current Imin determined in equation 1. This power dissipation (P) may be determined in accordance with the expression: 
         [0000]        P =(1/2)* Vô 2* T off_max̂2* f/L   equation 3       where:   Vo=output voltage;   Toff_max=time that the input unit  12  is off during a switching period;   L=inductance of the inductor  22 ; and   f=operating frequency of the SMPS  10 .         
         [0035]    The regulating bleeder  15  may be considered to be an adaptive regulating bleeder which dissipates power only if the load  32  is less than the Imin expressed in equation 1 above. Unlike a prior-art bleeder or voltage regulator, the regulating bleeder  15  is not required to continuously dissipate any power during all of the time that the SMPS  10  may be operating above low-load conditions. 
         [0036]    The regulating bleeder may comprise a shunt regulator  15 - 2 , voltage setting bias resistors R 1 , R 2  and a power dissipation resistor R 3 . The shunt regulator  15 - 2  may comprise a conventional regulating device such as, for example, a TL431 regulator. The resistors R 1  and R 2  may be selected so that current passing through the resistors R 1  and R 2  is very low. For example, for an SMPS  10  that powers a nominal 1 ampere (A) load, the resistors R 1  and R 2  may be selected to allow passage of only about 40 microamps (μA), an amount that may be a negligible part (i.e., about 40 parts per million {ppm}) of the nominal load. This may be compared to a prior-art bleeder which may be required to continuously allow passage of about 20% of a nominal load (i.e., about 0.2 A in the present example). 
         [0037]    A centre point  15 - 4  between the resistors R 1  and R 2  may be connected to a reference pin  15 - 6  of the shunt regulator  15 - 2 . The shunt regulator  15 - 2  may begin conducting only when output voltage reaches a minimum level (Vz) which may be determined in accordance with the expression: 
         [0000]        Vz= 2.5*( R 1+ R 2)/ R 2  equation 4       where:   Vz=reference pin voltage of shunt regulator  15 - 2     R 1 =resistance of R 1 ; and   R 2 =resistance of R 2 .         
         [0042]    It may be seen that as the load  32  decreases, Vz may rise and conversely increasing load may produce a reduction in Vz. Thus, whenever the load  32  is equal to or greater than Imin of equation 1, the regulating bleeder  15  may conduct only a small current (i.e., about 40 μA in a power supply that drives a nominal load of about 1 A). However, as the load  32  decreases below a level of Imin, the output voltage may rise and exceed the level Vz of equation 4. In that case, the shunt regulator  15 - 2  may begin conducting current which may pass through the power dissipation resistor R 3 . R 3  may have a resistance low enough to allow passage of a substantial fraction of the nominal load (e.g., about 20%) of the SMPS  10 . Overvoltage may thus be precluded. 
         [0043]    After the shunt regulator  15 - 2  begins conducting, it may continue to conduct at a current level (Ir) that may be determined in accordance with the expression: 
         [0000]        Ir+I load=( V in− Vo )*Ton/2 L   equation 5       where:   Vin=voltage produced by the voltage source  16  during the on period;   Vo=output voltage;   Ton=a portion of a switching period when the input unit is on;   L=inductance of inductor  22 ; and         
         [0049]    Iload=Load current. 
         [0050]    Values of R 1  and R 2  may be determined in accordance with the following expression: 
         [0000]        R 1+ R 2= Vo (maximum)/Bias_current  equation 5 
         [0051]    where: 
         [0052]    Bias_current is chosen such that it is about 10 times the input bias current for the regulator  15 - 2 . (e.g., aTL431 has a maximum input bias current spec of 4 μA, Hence 40 μA of bias current may be chosen). 
         [0053]    In an illustrative one of the SMPS&#39;s  10 , Vo (maximum) may be about 10 volts (V). Maximum tolerable bias current through the resistors R 1  and R 2  may be about 40 μA. In that case R 1 +R 2 =250 K ohms. For a shunt regulator  15 - 2  such as a TL41, a reference pin voltage may be about 2.5 V. In this example, a relationship of R 1  and R 2  may be expressed as: 
         [0000]        R 2*10/( R 1+ R 2)=2.5  equation 6 
         [0054]    Values of R 1  and R 2  may be determined by solving equation 5 and 6. 
         [0055]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , an alternate embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. In  FIG. 3  a forward converter  114  of the SMPS  10  may be configured to provide power to a load  132  greater than the load  32  of  FIG. 2 . For example the nominal value of the load  132  may as large as 5 amps. Imin in this case may be as high as 1 A. The shunt regulator  15 - 2  may not be capable of conducting current at this level. 
         [0056]    In the forward converter  114 , a shunt power transistor  116  may be connected to provide a conduction path  118  in parallel with a conduction path  120  through the shunt regulator  15 - 2 . When the shunt regulator  15 - 2  begins to conduct a drive current may be applied to the transistor  116 . The transistor  116  may then begin conducting. A power dissipation resistor R 4  may be placed in series with the transistor  116 . The resistor R 4  may have a resistance lower than that of a resistor R 3  which may be in series with the shunt regulator  15 - 2 . For example R 3  may have a resistance of 4 K ohms and R 4  may have a resistance of only 6.8 ohm. This relationship between the resistors R 3  and R 4  may result in most of the power dissipation occurring in R 4  and transistor  116  instead of in R 4  and regulator  15 - 2 . One of the regulators  15 - 2  such as a TL431 is capable of handling only 770 milliwatts (mW), One of the transistors 116 transistors may be chosen with much higher power capacity (e.g., in the range of 10-40 Watts). Consequently, the shunt regulator  15 - 2  may be employed as a control element without risk of damage from excessive power dissipation and current through the shunt regulator  15 - 2 . 
         [0057]    In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for regulating an SMPS. In that regard the method may be understood by referring to  FIG. 4 . In  FIG. 4 , a flow chart portrays various aspects of an inventive method  400 . 
         [0058]    In a step  402 , power may be supplied to a load (e.g., an input unit  12  of an SMPS  10  may provide power to a forward converter  14  of the SMPS  10  for a load  32 ). In a step  404 , the load may be diminished (e.g., the load  32  may be reduced below the level that provides continuous conductance through an inductor  22 ). In a step  406 , a shunt regulator may be activated to maintain continuous conductance (e.g., the shunt regulator  15 - 2  may be activated in response to development of a voltage Vz which may arise from accumulation of energy in the inductor  22 ). 
         [0059]    In a step  408 , the shunt regulator may be controlled (e.g., the shunt regulator  15 - 2  may continue conducting unless and until an output voltage declines to a level just equal to Vz). In a step  410 , accumulated energy from the inductor may be dissipated (e.g., current through the shunt regulator  15 - 2  and the resistor R 3  may dissipate energy). 
         [0060]    In a step  412 , the load may be increased (e.g., the load  32  may be increased up to or above a level that provides continuous conductance through the inductor  22 ). In a step  414 , voltage applied to the shunt regulator may be decreased (e.g., continuous conductance through the inductor  22  may diminish inductor output voltage below Vz). In the step  408 , the shunt regulator may be controlled to cease conduction. 
         [0061]    It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.