Converter architecture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10737586-B2
Application number	US-201816012118-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2018
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Aug 11, 2020
Grant date	Aug 11, 2020

Abstract

Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for supplying voltage to a load and battery. In one implementation, an unregulated DC-to-DC converter is electrically connected to a first energy source to down convert a first voltage supplied by the first energy source. A load is electrically connected to the unregulated DC-to-DC converter to receive the down converted first voltage. A regulated DC-to-DC converter is electrically connected to the unregulated DC-to-DC converter to regulate the down converted first voltage to a second voltage. A second power source is electrically connected to the regulated DC-to-DC converter to charge the second power source using the second voltage, and the second power source is switchably connectable to the load.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
an unregulated DC-to-DC converter electrically connected to a first energy source to down convert a first voltage supplied by the first energy source into a down converted first voltage, wherein the first energy source is connected in series with the unregulated DC-to-DC converter;
a load electrically connected to the unregulated DC-to-DC converter to receive the down converted first voltage;
a regulated DC-to-DC converter electrically connected in series to the unregulated DC-to-DC converter to regulate the down converted first voltage to a second voltage;
a second energy source electrically connected to the regulated DC-to-DC converter to charge the second energy source using the second voltage, the second energy source switchably connectable to the load, wherein the second energy source is connected in series with the regulated DC-to-DC converter; and
a switch electrically connected in parallel with the regulated DC-to-DC converter, wherein the second energy source connects to the load through the switch to supply the load.

2. The apparatus from claim 1 , wherein the first energy source is a first battery operable at a nominal 800V.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second energy source is a low voltage battery operable at a nominal 48V.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a low voltage bus connecting the unregulated DC-to-DC converter to the load.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switch is a MOSFET switch.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the regulated DC-to-DC converter is bidirectional, and wherein the second power source provides power to the load through the bidirectional regulated DC-to-DC converter.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the power to the load through the regulated DC-to-DC converter is supplied in conjunction with the down converted first voltage.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the switch supplies power to the load from the second energy source during a failure of the unregulated DC-to-DC converter.

9. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising:
a regulator electrically connected between the bus and the load.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the regulated DC-to-DC converter is a non-isolated buck-boost converter and the unregulated DC-to-DC converter is isolated.

11. A method comprising:
obtaining a first voltage at an input of an unregulated DC-to-DC converter from a first energy source, the unregulated DC-to-DC converter down converting the first voltage to a second voltage, wherein the first energy source is connected in series with the unregulated DC-to-DC converter;
supplying the second voltage to a load from the unregulated DC-to-DC converter via a bus;
supplying the second voltage to a regulated DC-to-DC converter, wherein the regulated DC-to-DC converter is electrically connected in series to the unregulated DC-to-DC converter, wherein the regulated DC-to-DC converter is operable to provide a charging current to a second energy source, wherein the second energy source is connected in series with the regulated DC-to-DC converter; and
activating a switch electrically connected in parallel with the regulated DC-to-DC converter to power the load using the second power source.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first energy source is a first battery operable at a nominal 800V and the second energy source is a second battery operable at a nominal 48V.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the regulated DC-to-DC converter is bidirectional, the method further comprising:
supplying additional power to the load from the second energy source, the additional power through the bidirectional regulated DC-to-DC converter.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising detecting a failure of the unregulated DC-to-DC converter.

15. An apparatus comprising:
an isolated unregulated DC-to-DC converter with a first input and a second input, the first input of the unregulated DC-to-DC converter is switchably connected in series to a first energy source at a first voltage, wherein the unregulated DC-to-DC converter down converts the first voltage to a second voltage on a bus;
a load electrically connected to the bus;
a regulated DC-to-DC converter electrically connected to the bus;
a second power source electrically connected in series to the regulated DC-to-DC converter, the regulated DC-to-DC converter operable to charge the second power source or to source current from the second power source; and
a switch connected in parallel with the regulated DC-to-DC converter, to switchably connect the second power source to the bus to provide power to the load.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the second power source is operable to connect to the bus to supplement power to the bus in conjunction with the isolated unregulated DC-to-DC converter or to solely source power on the bus when the isolated unregulated DC-to-DC converter is not powering the bus.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein:
the first energy source operates in a range of 650-900 volts DC;
the second energy source operates in a range 30-50 volts DC; and
the bus operates in a range of 39-54 volts DC.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the isolated unregulated DC-to-DC converter is 4 Kilowatt and the regulated DC-to-DC converter is 500 Watts.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising a regulator connected between the bus and the load.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Alves Jeffrey M
• Wu Peng
• Perez Yehonatan
• Lee Kisun
• Juang Philip

Classifications

• H02J7/865

  Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply (H02J7/50 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02J7/90

  Regulation of charging or discharging current or voltage · CPC title

• H02M3/156 Primary

  with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators · CPC title

• H02M1/007

  Plural converter units in cascade (push-pull DC/DC converters with pre-regulator H02M3/3374; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC stage including a high frequency transformer H02M7/4807; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC conversion stage generating periodically varying voltages H02M7/4826) · CPC title

• Y02T10/72

  Electric energy management in electromobility · CPC title