Patent ID: 8330409

Claim:
A drive unit for a rotating electrical machine for supplying electrical current to a field winding and a three-phase armature winding of a rotating electrical machine which generates a field flux when a direct current is supplied to the field winding and which generates a magnetic field that interacts with the field flux when an alternating current is supplied to the armature winding, comprising: an inverter adapted to convert a direct current from a direct current power supply and to supply the alternating current to the armature winding, the inverter comprising a plurality of switching arms provided corresponding to each phase of the armature winding, each of the plurality of switching arms including a pair of switching elements connected in series between a positive terminal and a negative terminal of the direct current power supply, and a rectifier circuit capable of rectifying the current that has been converted into alternating current by the inverter into a direct current and supplying the direct current to the field winding, the rectifier circuit comprising a plurality of rectifier arms provided corresponding to each phase of the armature winding, each of the plurality of rectifier arms including a pair of rectifier devices connected in series between one end and the other end of the field winding, and the one end of each phase of the armature winding is connected to a midpoint of switching elements of a corresponding switching arm, and the other end of each phase of the armature winding is connected to a midpoint between rectifier devices of a corresponding rectifier arm.