Ballard Power Systems Corporation

Siemens Vdo Automotive Corporation

Continental Automotive Systems Us, Inc.

Douglas K Maly

Sayeed Ahmed

Fred Flett

Ajay V Patwardhan

Kanghua Chen

Pablo Rodriguez

Gerardo Jimenez

Scott Parkhill

Chingchi Chen

Orrin B West

A tri-level inverter power module has an architecture employing a high degree of modularity that allows a base power module to be quickly, easily, and cost effectively configured to address a large variety of applications.

Tri-level inverter

A power converter utilizes a high frequency capacitor and a bulk capacitor coupled across the DC terminals to reduce high frequency effect and voltage overshoot, leading to space and cost savings in power converter design. Each capacitor may be physically coupled adjacent the gate driver board via clips, clamps, and/or fasteners.

Power converter architecture employing at least one capacitor across a DC bus

Power converters such as power modules configured as inverters employ modularized approaches. In some aspects, semiconductor devices are thermally coupled directly to thermally conductive substrates without intervening dielectric or insulative structures. Additionally, or alternatively, semiconductor devices are thermally coupled to thermally conductive substrates with relatively large surface areas before heat transferred from the semiconductor devices encounters a dielectric or electrically insulating structure with correspondingly high thermal impedance.

Architecture for power modules such as power inverters

A power converter comprising a DC/AC bridge circuit electrically coupled between positive and negative DC bus terminals and a set of phase terminals, a DC/DC bridge circuit electrically coupled to the positive and negative DC bus terminals and a set of DC bridge terminals. The power converter may be configured to control the transfer of power to and/or from the DC bridge terminals and to control the transfer of power to and/or from the AC phase terminals.

Power converter

A dual power module architecture employing a high degree of modularity, that allows a base power module to be quickly, easily, and cost effectively configured to address a large variety of applications.

Dual power module power system architecture

A power module employs at least one capacitor electrically coupled across the input terminals to reduce voltage overshoot. The capacitor may be surface mounted to a high side collector plating area and a low side emitter plating area. The power module may employ a lead frame and terminals accessible from an exterior of a module housing, for making electrical couplings to externally located power sources and/or loads.

Power module with voltage overshoot limiting

A non-invasive, non-destructive method and system for determining power transistor peak die voltage utilizes values for each of a plurality of parameters determined by measurement of external terminal voltages for any number of switches, such as transistors of an inverter. Stray inductance values are calculated and used with measured current gradient to calculate the peak die voltages for the switches. A refinement of the method determines transistor peak die voltage without measuring current.

Method and system for non-invasive power transistor die voltage measurement

A DC bus for use in a power module includes a positive DC conductor bus plate parallel with a negative DC conductor bus plate. The positive bus and negative bus permit counter-flow of currents, thereby canceling magnetic fields and their associated inductances, and the positive and negative bus are connectable to the center portion of a power module.

Substrate-level DC bus design to reduce module inductance

A high frequency, low impedance network is integrated into the substrate level of a power module for the reduction of electromagnetic interference (&ldquo;EMI&rdquo;). In one embodiment, capacitance is electrically connected to at least one of the positive conducting layer in a substrate or the negative conducting layer in a substrate and a ground. Integrating a capacitive network of low stray inductance in a substrate of a power module allows relatively small, inexpensive capacitors to be used.

Growing community of inventors

Jefferson, MA, United States of America

Douglas K Maly