Patent ID: 8817505

Claim:
A three-phase rectifier that converts three-phase alternating current (AC) power supplied from a three-phase AC power supply into direct current (DC) power, the three-phase rectifier comprising: a full-wave rectifier circuit that rectifies the three-phase AC power to the DC power; a bidirectional switch circuit that switches on and off inputs of respective phases from the three-phase AC power supply to the full-wave rectifier circuit; and a controller that detects voltages of the respective phases of the three-phase AC power supply, generates switching patterns for the respective phases to switch the bidirectional switch circuit on and off based on the voltages of the phases, and controls switching of the bidirectional switch circuit based on the switching patterns, wherein the switching patterns for the respective phases have a predetermined switching cycle, and the controller detects a maximum potential phase, an intermediate potential phase, and a minimum potential phase in the voltages of the respective phases of the three-phase AC power supply, and generates, for the maximum potential phase and the minimum potential phase, switching patterns for switching on for a time proportional to respective potentials, at least one of which is on in the switching cycle, and generates, for the intermediate potential phase, a switching pattern for switching on constantly.