Granted Patent B2

US 7,742,317 · App. 11/960,253 · Granted Jun 22, 2010

Abstract

Claims (29)

1. A method for precharging a DC to DC power converter that includes a boost circuit for generating a boosted output voltage from an input voltage, the method comprising:

monitoring the input voltage;

comparing a current in the boost circuit to a predetermined current limit; and

increasing the current limit when the input voltage is greater than a predetermined value.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising decreasing the current limit when the input voltage falls below the predetermined value.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining the current limit when the input voltage falls below the predetermined value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the increasing step includes increasing a boost rate at which the DC to DC converter boosts the input voltage as the current limit increases.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring step includes monitoring the input voltage with a microprocessor, and the method further comprises providing the current limit with the microprocessor.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting an initial current limit such that the input voltage is greater than the predetermined value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the increasing step includes increasing the current limit linearly.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined value is 9 V.

9. A DC to DC power converter system, comprising:

a boost converter circuit having an input configured to receive and boost an input voltage to generate an output voltage based on a current in the boost converter circuit;

a precharge controller coupled to the boost converter and configured to measure the current of the boost converter circuit, the precharge controller further configured to receive a predetermined current limit, compare the current to the current limit, and control the boost converter circuit based on the comparison of the current to the predetermined current limit; and

a microprocessor coupled to the precharge controller and the boost converter, the microprocessor configured to monitor the input voltage, provide the current limit to the precharge controller, and to increase the current limit when the input voltage is above a predetermined value.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the microprocessor is further configured to decrease the current limit when the input voltage falls below the predetermined value.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the microprocessor is further configured to maintain the current limit when the input voltage falls below the predetermined value.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the boost converter circuit includes at least two switches that are configured to be manipulated by the control signals to boost the input voltage to the output voltage.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to select an initial current limit such that the input voltage is greater than the predetermined value.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein microprocessor is configured to the increase the current limit linearly.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined value is 9 volts.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the output voltage is 320 volts.

17. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a voltage source coupled to the boost converter and providing the input voltage to the boost converter.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the voltage source is an automobile battery.

19. A DC to DC power converter system, comprising:

a boost converter circuit having an input configured to receive an input voltage, the boost converter circuit including at least two switches and being configured to boost the input voltage into an output voltage based on switch control signals,

a precharge controller coupled to the boost converter circuit and configured to provide the switch control signals to the boost converter circuit based on a current limit representing a limit on a current in the boost converter circuit; and

a microprocessor coupled to the precharge controller and configured to provide the current limit to the precharge controller, the microprocessor further configured to monitor the input voltage, increase the current limit when the input voltage is above a predetermined value, and decrease the current limit when the input voltage is at or below the predetermined value.

20. The system of claim 19 , further comprising voltage source coupled to the boost converter and providing the input voltage to the boost converter, the voltage source including an automobile battery.

Assignments (12)