Patent ID: 8294402

Claim:
A bridge rectifier circuit electrically connected between a battery and a motor-generator having an armature winding and a field winding, for taking control of a current flowing through the armature winding and the battery, the bridge rectifier circuit comprising: a plurality of rectifier elements respectively comprising MOSFETs; phase current detection means for detecting the amount and the direction of current flowing between a drain and a source of the respective MOSFETs; and control means for controlling on/off states of the MOSFETs by applying a control voltage between a gate and the source of the respective MOSFETs, wherein when the phase current detection means detects a reverse current, flowing through one of the MOSFETs, exceeding a first predetermined value, the control means applies the control voltage between the gate and the source of the one MOSFET to turn on the one MOSFET, wherein in response to the phase current detection means detecting that the reverse current exceeds the first predetermined value, the control means determines that the motor-generator is in a generation mode, and in response to determining that the motor-generator is in the generation mode, the control means applies the control voltage as an on-signal to the gate of the one MOSFET to switch operation of the one MOSFET into a low-resistance rectifying mode by rectifying via a parasitic diode disposed in the one MOSFET in the direction of the source to the drain of the one MOSFET to thereby reduce power loss.