Synchronous rectifier applied to a power converter and operation method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9973100-B2
Application number	US-201715403177-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2017
Priority date	Jan 14, 2016
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

A synchronous rectifier applied to a power converter includes a power supply module, a control module, and a gate driving unit. The power supply module is used for generating a supply current according to an induced voltage generated from a secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply current is used for establishing a supply voltage, and the induced voltage corresponds to a control signal of a power switch of a primary side of the power converter. The control module is coupled to the power supply module for turning on or turning off the power supply module according to the supply voltage. The gate driving unit is coupled to the power supply module for generating a gate control signal controlling turning-on and turning-off of a synchronous switch of the secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply voltage is used for driving the gate driving unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A synchronous rectifier applied to a power converter, comprising:
a power supply module for generating a supply current according to an induced voltage generated from a secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply current is used for establishing a supply voltage, and the induced voltage corresponds to a control signal of a power switch of a primary side of the power converter, wherein the power supply module comprises:
a high voltage switch for generating the supply current according to the induced voltage;
a voltage limit unit coupled to a synchronous switch and the high voltage switch for limiting the induced voltage to a predetermined voltage to protect a gate terminal of the high voltage switch;
a gate clamping unit coupled to the voltage limit unit and the high voltage switch for clamping a voltage between the gate terminal of the high voltage switch and a source terminal of the high voltage switch; and
a diode coupled to the gate clamping unit, the high voltage switch, and a gate driving unit for preventing the supply voltage from reversing to the gate clamping unit and the high voltage switch when the high voltage switch is turned off;

a control module coupled to the power supply module for turning on or turning off the power supply module according to the supply voltage; and
the gate driving unit coupled to the power supply module for generating a gate control signal controlling turning-on and turning-off of the synchronous switch of the secondary side of the power converter according to the induced voltage, wherein the supply voltage is used for driving the gate driving unit.

2. The synchronous rectifier of claim 1 , wherein the supply voltage is further used for driving a monitor unit applied to the secondary side of the power converter.

3. The synchronous rectifier of claim 1 , wherein the gate clamping unit comprises at least one transistor.

4. The synchronous rectifier of claim 1 , wherein the voltage limit unit is a Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET).

5. The synchronous rectifier of claim 1 , wherein the gate driving unit is further driven by an output voltage of the secondary side of the power converter.

6. A synchronous rectifier applied to a power converter, comprising:
a power supply module for generating a supply current according to an induced voltage generated from a secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply current is used for establishing a supply voltage, and the induced voltage corresponds to a control signal of a power switch of a primary side of the power converter;
a control module coupled to the power supply module for turning on or turning off the power supply module according to the supply voltage, wherein the control module comprises:
a switch coupled to the power supply module; and
a comparison unit for turning off the power supply module through the switch when the supply voltage is greater than an upper limit, and turning on the power supply module through the switch when the supply voltage is less than a lower limit; and

a gate driving unit coupled to the power supply module for generating a gate control signal controlling turning-on and turning-off of a synchronous switch of the secondary side of the power converter according to the induced voltage, wherein the supply voltage is used for driving the gate driving unit.

7. An operation method of a synchronous rectifier applied to a power converter, wherein the synchronous rectifier includes a power supply module, a control module, and a gate driving unit, the operation method comprising:
the power supply module generating a supply current according to an induced voltage generated from a secondary side of the power converter, wherein the supply current is used for establishing a supply voltage, and the induced voltage corresponds to a control signal of a power switch of a primary side of the power converter;
the control module turning off the power supply module when the supply voltage is greater than an upper limit; and
the control module turning on the power supply module when the supply voltage is less than a lower limit.

8. The operation method of claim 7 , further comprising:
the gate driving unit generating a gate control signal controlling turning-on and turning-off of a synchronous switch of the secondary side of the power converter according to the induced voltage, wherein the supply voltage is used for driving the gate driving unit.

Assignees

• Leadtrend Tech Corp

Inventors

• Lin Chung-Wei

Classifications

• H02M3/33592 Primary

  having a synchronous rectifier circuit or a synchronous freewheeling circuit at the secondary side of an isolation transformer · CPC title

• Y02B70/1475

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02B70/10

  Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes · CPC title