Patent ID: 8797768

Claim:
A power conversion device comprising: a three-phase bridge type power conversion circuit including a semiconductor switch including a first main terminal, a second main terminal, and a control terminal; a voltage detection circuit which has terminals connected to DC terminals of the power conversion circuit and is configured to monitor a voltage between the DC terminals of the power conversion circuit; and a control circuit configured to: control the semiconductor switch by a single pulse turn on control method, when the power conversion circuit converts DC power into AC power, so that a large capacitance capacitor for smoothing the voltage between the DC terminals is eliminated and a capacitor having only a substantially small capacitance value is connected in parallel to the voltage detection circuit and a battery providing the DC power, to reduce high frequency noise due to switching of the semiconductor switch and to suppress radiation noise, and determine that a short circuit failure has occurred and perform a protection function of turning off the semiconductor switch before a large current due to the short circuit flows therein, if the voltage between the DC terminals of the power conversion circuit, which is detected by the voltage detection circuit, is lower than a predetermined value and continues to be lower than the predetermined value for a predetermined period of time or longer, wherein the predetermined value is set to be a voltage lower than a minimum voltage that the power conversion circuit can reach in a normal operation, and the voltage detection circuit does not comprise a shunt resistor for detecting excessive current.