Inverter power supply with single discharge path

Abstract

An inverter power supply having a DC source, a transformer having a primary winding, a secondary winding, and a feedback winding, an L-C resonant circuit of a capacitor and the primary winding, and a self-excited oscillator. The oscillator includes an L-C resonant circuit and an FET connected in series with the primary winding across the DC source to generate a high frequency voltage across the primary winding, a feedback voltage across the feedback winding and a resulting output AC voltage across the secondary winding. A biasing capacitor is connected in parallel with a series combination of the L-C resonant circuit and the FET across the DC source to be charged thereby. The biasing capacitor is also connected in series with the feedback winding to provide an offset voltage which is additive to the feedback winding to give a bias voltage applied to a gate of the FET so as to alternately turn on and off the FET for driving the self-excited oscillator. A current sensor is provided to sense a current flowing through FET and gives a first level signal indicative of the sensed current being fed to the resonant circuit. Extending across the biasing capacitor is a single discharge path which does not go through the FET. A switching transistor is inserted in the single discharge path and is caused to turn on, upon the first level signal exceeding a threshold level, to discharge the biasing capacitor to a level for maintaining the offset voltage at a constant level during continued oscillation of the L-C resonant circuit.