Stepped voltage drive for driving capacitive loads

摘要

A system and method for charging heavy capacitive loads may comprise an n-stage stacked charging circuit wherein n is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and wherein the n-stage stacked charging circuit may comprise n−1 capacitors and a voltage supply, each sequentially electrically connected to the capacitive load in an order through a respective first through nth switch during a respective first through nth charging time period; the n−1th capacitors each sequentially electrically connected to the capacitive load in reverse order during a first through n−1th discharging time period through the respective n−1th through first switches. The system and method may comprise an n+1th switch electrically connecting the capacitive load to ground during an nth discharging period. The capacitive load may comprise a piezoelectric element, which may comprise an inkjet printer head inkjet actuator.

主权项

1. A capacitive load drive circuit comprising:
an amplifier selectively connected to a plurality of n sequential intermediate rails wherein n is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and each of the plurality of n sequential intermediate rails has a rail high voltage V1 and a rail low voltage V2 with respective selected ranges having an increasing value of V1 during the ramp up and with the respective ranges having a decreasing value of V1 during the ramp down, each defining an output range of the amplifier.