Surge blocking inductor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9583255-B2
Application number	US-201414290008-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2014
Priority date	Sep 21, 2012
Publication date	Feb 28, 2017
Grant date	Feb 28, 2017

Abstract

A surge blocking inductor. In one embodiment, the surge blocking inductor includes a core; a first winding wound about the core in a first direction; and a second winding wound about the core in a second direction, wherein the first winding and the second winding are magnetically independent when the core is in a non-saturated state, and wherein the first winding and the second winding are coupled magnetically when the core is in a saturated state.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A surge blocking inductor comprising:
a core formed from at least one ferromagnetic component;
a first winding wound about the core in a first direction; and
a second winding wound about the core in a second direction, wherein the first winding and the second winding are positioned such that they are (i) magnetically independent when the core is in a non-saturated state, and (ii) coupled magnetically when the core is in a saturated state, wherein the first winding and the second winding obtain an inductive value in the non-saturated state for electromagnetic interference (EMI) filtering.

2. The surge blocking inductor of claim 1 , further comprising a shielding layer encasing the core, the first winding, and the second winding.

3. The surge blocking inductor of claim 2 , wherein the shielding layer comprises at least one of a copper alloy or an aluminum alloy.

4. The surge blocking inductor of claim 1 , wherein when the core is saturated, the first winding and the second winding both block and dissipate energy.

5. The surge blocking inductor of claim 1 , wherein coupling between fields of the first winding and the second winding is optimized when the core is in the saturated state.

6. The surge blocking inductor of claim 1 , wherein the first winding comprises a first plurality of turns and a first plurality of layers wound in the first direction, and the second winding comprises a second plurality of turns and a second plurality of layers wound in the second direction opposite the first direction.

7. The surge blocking inductor of claim 6 , wherein each of the first plurality of layers and the second plurality of layers is between 3-10 layers with a number of turns per layer less than its number of layers.

8. The surge blocking inductor of claim 2 , wherein the surge blocking inductor provides a first resistance during normal operation and a second resistance higher than the first resistance upon receiving a current surge.

9. A shielded surge blocking inductor comprising:
a core formed from at least one ferromagnetic component;
a first winding wound about the core in a first direction;
a second winding wound about the core in a second direction, wherein the first winding and the second winding are positioned such that they are (i) magnetically independent when the core is in a non-saturated state, and (ii) coupled magnetically when the core is in a saturated state; and
a shielding layer encasing the core, the first winding, and the second winding, to dissipate excess energy from a current surge, wherein the first winding and the second winding obtain an inductive value in the non-saturated state for electromagnetic interference (EMI) filtering.

10. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 9 , wherein the shielding layer comprises at least one of a copper alloy or an aluminum alloy.

11. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 10 , wherein when the core is saturated, the first winding and the second winding both block and dissipate energy.

12. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 9 , wherein the shielding layer dissipates a majority of surge energy from a surge current that penetrates to the shielding layer, and away from the first winding and the second winding.

13. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 9 , wherein coupling between fields of the first winding and the second winding is optimized when the core is in the saturated state.

14. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 9 , wherein the first winding comprises a first plurality of turns and a first plurality of layers, and the second winding comprises a second plurality of turns and a second plurality of layers.

15. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 14 , wherein each of the first plurality of layers and the second plurality of layers is between 3-10 layers with a number of turns per layer less than its number of layers.

16. The shielded surge blocking inductor of claim 9 , wherein the shielded surge blocking inductor provides a first resistance during normal operation and a second resistance higher than the first resistance upon receiving a current surge.

17. A system for blocking surges to a power converter, comprising:
an inverter; and
a shielded surge blocking inductor, coupled to the inverter, comprising (i) a core formed from at least one ferromagnetic component; (ii) a first winding wound about the core in a first direction; (iii) a second winding wound about the core in a second direction, wherein the first winding and the second winding are positioned such that they are (i) magnetically independent when the core is in a non-saturated state, and (ii) coupled magnetically when the core is in a saturated state; and (iv) a shielding layer encasing the core that dissipates a majority of surge energy away from the first winding and the second winding to protect the inverter upon receiving a current surge, wherein the first winding and the second winding obtain an inductive value in the non-saturated state for electromagnetic (EMI) filtering.

Assignees

• Enphase Energy Inc

Inventors

• Fornage Martin
• Nejadpak Arash

Classifications

• H02H7/12

  for static converters or rectifiers {(for discharge lamp power supplies using static converters H05B41/2851, H05B41/2921, H05B41/2981)} · CPC title

• H02H1/04 Primary

  Arrangements for preventing response to transient abnormal conditions, e.g. to lightning {or to short duration over voltage or oscillations; Damping the influence of DC component by short circuits in AC networks} · CPC title

• H01F27/288

  Shielding · CPC title

• H02H9/007

  avoiding or damping oscillations, e.g. fenoresonance or travelling waves · CPC title

• H02H9/04

  responsive to excess voltage (lightning arrestors H01C7/12, H01C8/04, H01G9/18, H01T) · CPC title