Patent ID: 7859138

Claim:
A drive circuit having a high-side drive circuit configured to turn on/off, according to a control signal, a first switching element arranged on a high side of a DC power source and a low-side drive circuit configured to turn on/off a second switching element alternately with the first switching element according to the control signal, the second switching element being arranged on a low side of the DC power source and being connected in series with the first switching element, comprising: a first series circuit connected to both ends of a first auxiliary power source and including a first switch element, a first capacitor, and a second switch element those are connected in series; a second series circuit connected to both ends of the first capacitor and including a third switch element, a second capacitor, and a fourth switch element those are connected in series; and a control circuit configured to alternately turn on/off the first and second switch elements and the third and fourth switch elements in such a manner as to turn on the first and second switch elements and then the third and fourth switch elements, wherein the second capacitor provides the high-side drive circuit with source power.