Patent ID: 7728535

Claim:
An adaptable electrical braking system in an electrical propulsion system of a traction vehicle, the electrical braking system configured to dissipate electrical energy in a plurality of resistor grids, said braking system comprising: a braking system assembly comprising a baseline chopper circuit topology, said baseline chopper circuit topology comprising a first semiconductor-based circuitry in an enclosure for accommodating the first semiconductor-based circuitry, wherein the braking system assembly comprises an arrangement of power switching modules, each power switching module comprising a semiconductor-based power switch and a respective diode connected in an anti-parallel circuit to the power switch; and a second semiconductor-based circuitry electrically coupled to the first semiconductor-based circuitry to produce a chopper comprising a chopper circuit topology fully contained in the enclosure, and further wherein said second semiconductor-based circuitry comprises a circuit topology selectable to adapt said baseline chopper circuit topology to meet distinct operational requirements to be fulfilled by the braking system, wherein the second semiconductor-based circuitry comprises an arrangement of diode modules, each diode module comprising at least one diode connected to a respective power switch to operate as a free-wheeling diode, wherein the second semiconductor-based circuitry is disposed at a central location of the enclosure to reduce inductance imbalance in the respective interconnections between the power switching modules and the free-wheeling diodes.