Driving circuit and driving method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9509302-B2
Application number	US-201615144511-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 2, 2016
Priority date	Jul 12, 2012
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

The present technology relates to a driving circuit and a driving method, in which power loss at the time of switching an FET (Field Effect Transistor) can be reduced with a simple circuit configuration. A coil constitutes a resonance circuit together with an input capacitance at a gate of the FET. A switch (regeneration switch) turns on or off current flowing in the coil. A DC power source is a power source to replenish the resonance circuit with electric charge and is connected to the gate of the FET. A switch (replenish switch) turns on or off connection between the DC power source and the gate of the FET. The present technology is applicable to, for example, a power source that outputs AC voltage and current by switching operation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A driving circuit for an FET (Field Effect Transistor), comprising:
a coil constituting a resonance circuit together with an input capacitor at a gate of the FET;
a first switch configured to turn on or off current flowing in the coil;
a DC power source connected to the gate of the FET through a first resistor; and
a second switch, connected in series with the first resistor, configured to turn on or off connection between the DC power source and the gate of the FET.

2. The driving circuit according to claim 1 , further comprising an offset circuit configured to offset voltage at the gate of the FET to voltage of a predetermined value or more.

3. The driving circuit according to claim 2 , wherein the offset circuit includes
an additional DC power source having voltage which is ½ of the DC power source,
a second resistor configured to bias voltage at the gate of the FET, and
a capacitor configured to bypass current flowing in the resonance circuit.

4. The driving circuit according to claim 3 , wherein the offset circuit is a circuit in which one end of the second resistor is connected to a plus terminal of the additional DC power source,
one end of the capacitor is connected to the other end of the second resistor,
a minus terminal of the additional DC power source is connected to the other end of the capacitor, and
the other end of the coil having one end connected to the gate of the FET is connected to a connection point of the second resistor and the capacitor.

5. The driving circuit according to claim 3 , further comprising a first switch controller configured to control the first switch so as to be turned on only for a period which is ½ of a resonance cycle of the resonance circuit in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET.

6. The driving circuit according to claim 5 , further comprising a second switch controller configured to control the second switch so as to be periodically turned on only for a period within a period during which the first switch is turned off.

7. The driving circuit according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a current detector configured to detect current flowing in the coil; and
a first switch controller configured to control the first switch to be turned on in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET and also to be turned off in accordance with the current detected by the current detector.

8. The driving circuit according to claim 7 , wherein the first switch controller is configured to switch off the first switch in an event the current flowing in the coil is less than a threshold current.

9. The driving circuit according to claim 1 , further comprising another coil disposed in a vicinity of the coil of the resonance circuit.

10. The driving circuit according to claim 9 , further comprising:
a current detector configured to detect current flowing in the coil based on a current flowing in the other coil.

11. The driving circuit according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a voltage detector configured to detect voltage at the gate of the FET; and
a first switch controller configured to control the first switch so as to be turned on in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET and also to be turned off in accordance with the voltage detected by the voltage detector.

12. The driving circuit according to claim 3 , wherein a power source configured to execute wireless charging together with the FET is provided.

13. The driving circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the FET is selected from at least one of a N-MOSFET (N-type Metal-Oxide Semiconductor FET) and a P-MOSFET (P-type Metal-Oxide Semiconductor FET).

14. A driving method for a driving circuit for an FET (Field Effect Transistor) that includes
a coil constituting a resonance circuit together with an input capacitor at a gate of the FET,
a first switch configured to turn on or off current flowing in the coil,
a DC power source connected to the gate of the FET through a first resistor, and
a second switch, connected in series with the first resistor, configured to turn on or off connection between the DC power source and the gate of the FET,
the method comprising:
temporarily turning on the first switch in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET; and
periodically turning on the second switch only for a predetermined period within a period during which the first switch is turned off.

15. The driving method according to claim 14 , further comprising controlling the first switch so as to be turned on only for a period which is ½ of a resonance cycle of the resonance circuit in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET.

16. The driving method according to claim 15 , further comprising controlling the second switch so as to be periodically turned on only for a period within a period during which the first switch is turned off.

17. The driving method according to claim 14 , further comprising:
detecting current flowing in the coil; and
controlling the first switch to be turned on in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET and also to be turned off in accordance with the detected current.

18. The driving method according to claim 17 , further comprising switching off the first switch in an event the current flowing in the coil is less than a threshold current.

19. The driving method according to claim 14 , further comprising:
detecting voltage at the gate of the FET; and
controlling the first switch so as to be turned on in a cycle corresponding to a cycle of switching the FET and also to be turned off in accordance with the detected voltage.

20. The driving method according to claim 14 , wherein the FET is selected from at least one of a N-MOSFET (N-type Metal-Oxide Semiconductor FET) and a P-MOSFET (P-type Metal-Oxide Semiconductor FET).

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Komiyama Shinji
• Fukuda Shinichi
• Omae Uichiro

Classifications

• H02J7/933

  the cycle being controlled or terminated in response to electric parameters · CPC title

• H03K17/04123

  in field-effect transistor switches · CPC title

• H03K2217/009

  Resonant driver circuits · CPC title

• H03K17/687 Primary

  the devices being field-effect transistors · CPC title

• H02J7/00 Primary

  Circuit arrangements for charging or discharging batteries or for supplying loads from batteries · CPC title