Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc.

Alexandr L Kristalinski

Brian A Koch

Bryce L Hesterman

Michael Madigan

A circuit comprising: first and second transistors connected in series; a third transistor (TT) comprising a source connected to a source of the second transistor (ST), a gate connected to a gate of ST, and a drain connected to a gate of the first transistor (FT); and a gate driver circuit connected to the gates of FT, ST and TT and configured to provide (i) a first drive signal to the gate of FT to cause FT to transition between an on state and an off state and (ii) a second drive signal to the gates of ST and TT to cause ST and TT to transition between on states and off states. The TT is configured to prevent a shoot-through condition in the circuit by pulling the first drive signal down to a level of the source of the ST when the ST is in the on state.

Shoot-through protection circuit

A circuit () comprising: a first power source () supplying first current to a load () during a first Period of Time ('PoT'); a second power source () supplying a second current to the load during a second POT; a Unidirectional Current Valve ('UCV') in series with the first power source; a current detector () in series with the UCV (); and a switch () in parallel with a series combination of the current detector and UCV to bypass the UCV during the second PoT. The current detector determines whether the second period of time has commenced and whether the switch has closed.

Electric propulsion power circuit

A circuit () for protecting a Switching Power Converter ('SPC') when a short-circuit load condition occurs. The SPC has an output current sensor utilizing at least one current transformer that has a primary winding connected in series with a rectifier and has a magnetic core that should avoid saturation. A pulse-width modulator includes a skip controller providing a series of control pulses to at least one switch. A control pulse is skipped when an abnormally low load resistance causes an input current ramp signal to exceed an input current setpoint signal proximate a start time of a next control pulse of the series and the output current is greater than a predetermined threshold. Operation of the SPC is stopped if more than a predetermined number of consecutive switching cycles are skipped to prevent operation of the SPC while the core of an output current transformer is saturated.

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Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Alexandr L Kristalinski