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:
Sep. 12, 2017
Filed:
Mar. 19, 2013
Continental Automotive Gmbh, Hannover, DE;
Dirk Etzler, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Walter Schrod, Regensburg, DE;
Continental Automotive GmbH, Hannover, DE;
Abstract
A capacitive actuator is connected to an output of an apparatus which is formed with a capacitor connected between an input and a reference potential, with a full bridge with four power switching elements connected in parallel with the capacitor. To charge the capacitive actuator, a control circuit first turns on the first and third power switching elements. Current then flows from the first capacitor via a coil connected between the bridge paths and energy is stored in the coil. When a maximum current value is reached, the first and third power switching elements are switched off and magnetic energy stored in the coil decays due to current flow via the diodes of the second and fourth power switching elements. This charges the capacitive actuator. The capacitive actuator is charged to a predefined voltage by possible repeated switching of the first and third power switching elements.