| 主权项 |
1. A power converter for maintaining a flow of electrical energy between a first connected circuit and a second connected circuit, the power converter comprising a control unit and two or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n), the two or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) being arranged to transfer energy in parallel between said first and second connected circuits, and the power converter being characterized in that:
each of the two or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) comprises: a first converter subcircuit for connecting said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n) to the first connected circuit, the first converter subcircuit including a capacitive element (C1, C2 . . . Cn), a second converter subcircuit for connecting said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n) to the second connected circuit, the second converter subcircuit including a diode element (D1, D2 . . . Dn) for inhibiting the flow of current from the second connected circuit into the second converter subcircuit of said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n), and a switching element (S1, S2 . . . Sn) for, under control of the control unit, permitting or inhibiting current flow between the first converter subcircuit and the second converter subcircuit through an inductive element (L1, L2 . . . Ln) and a transforming element with a transformer winding; the inductive element (L1, L2 . . . Ln) configured to establish a current flow (I1, I2 . . . In) between the first converter subcircuit and the second converter subcircuit when the switching element is switched to permit current flow through the inductive element (L1, L2 . . . Ln) and to generate a voltage across the capacitive element large enough to commutate the current from one transforming element to another within time available in a predetermined switching cycle; the power converter being further characterized in that each converter circuit (1,2 . . . n) has at least two possible operation states including: an energy transfer state, in which current flows between the first converter sub circuit and the second converter subcircuit of the said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n), and in which the capacitive element (C1, C2 . . . Cn) discharges, and a regeneration state, during which substantially no current flows between the first converter subcircuit and the second converter subcircuit of said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n), and during which the capacitive element (C1, C2 . . . Cn) accumulates charge; the power converter being further characterized in that the control unit is adapted to, according to the predetermined switching cycle, switch each of the two or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n), one at a time, into the energy transfer state, such that each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n) is switched into the energy transfer state for a part of said predetermined switching cycle, and such that the other one or more of the converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) are in the regeneration state during said part of said predetermined switching cycle; the transition from the regeneration state to the energy transfer state of said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n) being accomplished by, under control of the control unit, operating the switching element (S1, S2 . . . Sn) of said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n) to permit current to flow between the first converter subcircuit and the second converter subcircuit of said each converter circuit (1, 2 . . . n), thereby transiently increasing the magnitude of the voltage (Ux) at a common output node (X) such that the diode elements (D1, D2 . . . Dn) in the second converter subcircuits of the said other one or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) become reverse biased, thereby inhibiting current flow in the said other one or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) such that the said other one or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) are held in the regeneration state, in which substantially no current flows in the said other one or more converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n). |
