IP Library Granted Patent US 7,705,567
Granted Patent B2
US 7,705,567 · App. 11/798,099 · Granted Apr 27, 2010

Capacitor power source and charging/discharging control apparatus therefor

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,705,567
App. No.
11/798,099
Granted
Apr 27, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

A capacitor power source 1 including a plurality of capacitors comprises: an inflection-point voltage detection circuit ( 11 ) for detecting the inflection-point voltage of the capacitor based on a set voltage Vbot; an overvoltage detection circuit ( 12 ) for detecting the overvoltage Vful of the capacitor; and an initialization circuit ( 13 ) for putting charging current of the capacitor into bypass operation using initialization voltage Vini when an initialization mode is selected, wherein charging/discharging control is performed such that a discharging stop signal is generated based on a detection signal of the inflection-point voltage of any one of the plurality of capacitors, a charging stop signal is generated based on a detection signal of the overvoltage of any one of the plurality of capacitors, and an end signal of the initialization charging is generated based on a plurality of bypass operation signals.

Claims (47)

1. A capacitor power source including a plurality of capacitors each having curved charging/discharging characteristics in which a voltage change rate resulting from constant current charging/discharging operation becomes smaller in a high voltage region than that in a low voltage region on reaching the vicinity of the inflection-point voltage, comprising:

an inflection-point voltage detection circuit for detecting the inflection-point voltage of the capacitor based on a set voltage;

an overvoltage detection circuit for detecting the overvoltage of the capacitor; and

an initialization circuit for putting charging current of the capacitor into bypass operation using initialization voltage when an initialization mode is selected, wherein

charging/discharging control is performed such that a discharging stop signal is generated based on a detection signal of the inflection-point voltage of any one of the plurality of capacitors, a charging stop signal is generated based on a detection signal of the overvoltage of any one of the plurality of capacitors, and an end signal of the initialization charging is generated based on bypass operation signals of the plurality of capacitors.

2. A charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source including, a plurality of capacitors each having curved charging/discharging characteristics in which a voltage change rate resulting from constant current

charging/discharging operation becomes smaller in a high voltage region than that in a low voltage region on reaching the vicinity of the inflection-point voltage, said apparatus comprising:

an inflection-point voltage detection circuit for detecting the inflection-point voltage based on a set voltage;

an overvoltage detection circuit for detecting the over voltage; and

an initialization circuit for putting charging current of the capacitor into bypass operation using initialization voltage when an initialization mode is selected, wherein

charging/discharging control is performed such that a discharging operation is stopped by a detection signal of the inflection-point voltage of any one of the plurality of capacitors, charging operation is stopped by a detection signal of the overvoltage of any one of the plurality of capacitors, and an initialization charging operation is stopped by a bypass operation signal of any one of the plurality of capacitors.

3. The capacitor power source according to claim 1 or the charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 2 , wherein

the set voltage is close to a voltage at the intersection between the linear expressions of charging/discharging characteristics in the low voltage region and charging/discharging characteristics in the high voltage region.

4. The capacitor power source according to claim 1 or the charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power

source according to claim 2 , wherein

the set voltage is close to a voltage at which intermediate voltage change rate between the voltage change rates in the low voltage region and high voltage region is obtained.

5. The capacitor power source according to claim 1 or charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 2 , wherein

the set voltage is close to a voltage at which a voltage change rate obtained by adding a predetermined value to the voltage change rate in the high voltage region is obtained.

6. The capacitor power source or charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 3 , wherein

the set voltage of each of the plurality of capacitors is the maximum inflection-point voltage among the inflection point voltages of the capacitors.

7. The charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 2 , comprising:

an inflection-point voltage signal processing circuit that applies OR operation to the detection signals of the inflection-point voltages of the capacitors detected by the inflection-point voltage detection circuit for output;

an overvoltage signal processing circuit that applies OR operation to the detection signals of the overvoltages of the capacitors detected by the overvoltage detection circuit for output; and

an initialization signal processing circuit that applies AND operation to the bypass operation signals of the

capacitors generated by the initialization circuit, wherein

a signal obtained by applying OR operation to the detection signals of the inflection-point voltages by the inflection-point voltage signal processing circuit is set as the discharging stop signal, a signal obtained by applying OR operation to the detection signals of the overvoltages by the overvoltage signal processing circuit is set as the charging stop signal, and a signal obtained by applying AND operation to the bypass operation signals of the capacitors by the initialization signal processing circuit is set as the end signal of the initialization charging.

8. A charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source in which a plurality of capacitors each having charging/discharging characteristics in which a voltage change rate resulting from constant current charging/discharging operation becomes smaller in a high voltage region than that in a low voltage region on reaching the vicinity of the inflection-point voltage are series connected, and an overvoltage detection circuit for detecting an overvoltage and an initialization circuit for putting charging current of the capacitor into bypass operation using initialization voltage when an initialization mode is selected are provided for each capacitor, comprising:

an inflection-point voltage detection circuit for detecting the inflection-point voltage of the capacitor power source based on a set voltage;

an overvoltage signal processing circuit that applies OR operation to the detection signals of the overvoltages of the capacitors detected by the overvoltage detection circuit for

output; and

an initialization signal processing circuit that applies AND operation to the bypass operation signals of the capacitors generated by the initialization circuit, wherein

charging/discharging operation is controlled such that the detection signal of the inflection-point voltage detected by the inflection-point voltage detection circuit is set as the discharging stop signal, a signal obtained by applying OR operation to the detection signals of the overvoltages by overvoltage signal processing circuit is set as the charging stop signal, and a signal obtained by applying AND operation to the bypass operation signals of the capacitors by the initialization signal processing circuit is set as the end signal of the initialization charging.

9. A charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source in which a plurality of capacitors each having charging/discharging characteristics in which a voltage change rate resulting from constant current charging/discharging operation becomes smaller in a high voltage region than that in a low voltage region on reaching the vicinity of the inflection-point voltage are series connected, and an overvoltage detection circuit for detecting an overvoltage and an initialization circuit for putting charging current of the capacitor into bypass operation using initialization voltage when an initialization mode is selected are provided for each capacitor, comprising:

an inflection-point voltage detection circuit for detecting the inflection-point voltage of the capacitor power source based on a set voltage;

an overvoltage signal processing circuit that applies OR operation to the detection signals of the overvoltages of the capacitors detected by the overvoltage detection circuit for output; and

an initialization end voltage detection circuit for detecting the end voltage of the initialization charging of the capacitor power source based on a set voltage, wherein

charging/discharging operation is controlled such that the detection signal of the inflection-point voltage detected by the inflection-point voltage detection circuit is set as the discharging stop signal, a signal obtained by applying OR operation to the detection signals of the overvoltages by overvoltage signal processing circuit is set as the charging stop signal, and the detection signal of the end voltage of the initialization charging detected by the initialization end voltage detection circuit is set as an end signal of the initialization charging.

10. The charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 8 or 9 , wherein

the set voltage of the inflection-point voltage is a sum of the inflection-point voltage values calculated for each capacitor.

11. The charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 8 or 9 , wherein

the set voltage of the inflection-point voltage is a sum of the maximum inflection-point voltage values which are set as the inflection-point voltage value of the capacitors.

12. The capacitor power source according to claim 1 or the charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 2 , 8 , or 9 , wherein

the overvoltage is a full charge voltage of the capacitor.

13. The capacitor power source according to claim 1 or the charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 2 , 8 , or 9 , wherein

the initialization voltage is a voltage close to the inflection-point voltage or a full charge voltage of the capacitor.

14. The charging/discharging control apparatus for a capacitor power source according to claim 9 , wherein

the end voltage of the initialization charging is a voltage smaller than the total sum of the initialization voltages of the capacitors.

Assignments (4)
RELEASE OF PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT RECORDED ON AUGUST 29, 2016 AT REEL/FRAME 039568/0221 Recorded Mar 9, 2020
From: MANCHESTER SECURITIES CORP.
To: IOXUS, INC.
Reel/Frame 052121/0099 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2016
From: IOXUS, INC.
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 040559/0810 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 29, 2016
From: IOXUS, INC.
To: MANCHESTER SECURITIES CORP.
Reel/Frame 039568/0221 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 10, 2007
From: OKAMURA, MICHIO; SHIMIZU, ATSUSHI
To: POWER SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 019377/0390 →