The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 20, 2024
Filed:
Feb. 07, 2022
Capstan Ag Systems, Inc., Topeka, KS (US);
Duane Needham, San Francisco, CA (US);
Capstan Ag Systems, Inc., Topeka, KS (US);
Abstract
A solenoid valve includes a solenoid coil, a poppet, and a drive circuit. A first semiconductor device of the drive circuit is controlled by a gate signal to control a coil current. A flyback circuit of the drive circuit includes a second semiconductor device in series with a diode. The second semiconductor device is controlled by a flyback control signal to: (i) enable the flyback circuit to maintain the coil current through the solenoid coil when the poppet transitions to a second position, and (ii) disable recirculation of the coil current through the solenoid coil when the poppet transitions to a first position. A controller is configured to transition the poppet to the second position using the gate signal, enable the flyback circuit using the flyback control signal, and reduce at least one of a duty cycle and a frequency of the gate signal when the flyback circuit is enabled.