AC and DC regulator circuit

Abstract

A circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage and a regulated DC output voltage or both. An AC source energizes a switching circuit, having a variable switching rate, which connects a capacitor in voltage clamping relationship to an AC load for both half cycles of the AC voltage thereacross. This switching rate is controlled in accordance with the time accumulation of an electrical quantity, in the present instance the voltage across the AC load. The DC voltage across the capacitor attains a predetermined equilibrium value when the frequency of the AC output voltage is equal to the frequency of the AC source. If the DC capacitor voltage and the AC output voltage derived therefrom deviate from their equilibrium values, as, for example, because of a change in the level of load current, there occur transient changes in the switching rate of the switching circuit which result in changes in the phase displacement between the AC input voltage and the AC output voltage. This phase displacement controls the voltage across an inductor which, in turn, controls the flow of a current which restores the DC capacitor voltage and the amplitude and frequency of the AC output voltage to the desired values while supplying the required power to the AC and DC loads.

I claim:  .[.1. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, a chargeable source of clamping voltage, means for conducting a charging current through said clamping voltage source when the instantaneous AC voltage across said load circuit means is greater than the voltage across said clamping voltage source, means for conducting a discharging current from said clamping voltage source when the voltage across said clamping voltage source is greater than the instanteous AC voltage across said load circuit means, means for connecting said clamping voltage source across said load circuit means through said charging current-conducting means, means for connecting said clamping voltage source across said load circuit means through said discharge current-conducting means and means for controlling the conductivity of said discharge current-conducting means in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means..]. .[.2. An AC voltage regulator as set forth in claim 1 in which said chargeable voltage-clamping source comprises a capacitor..]. .[.3. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, switching means for conducting charging current through said storage means when the instantaneous AC voltage across said load circuit means attempts to rise above the voltage across said storage means and for conducting discharging current from said storage means when the instantaneous AC voltage across said load circuit means attempts to fall below the voltage across said storage means, means for connecting said storage means in voltage clamping relationship across said load circuit means through said switching means, means for controlling the discharging activity of said switching means in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means..]. .[.4. A voltage regulator circuit as set forth in claim 3 in which said controlling means includes a transformer having center-tapped primary winding means and secondary winding means, means for connecting the center tap of said primary winding means to one end of said load circuit means, saturable inductance means, resistance means, means for connecting one end of said primary winding means to the other end of said load circuit means through said saturable inductance means, means for connecting the other end of said primary winding means to said other end of said load circuit means through said resistance means, means for connecting said secondary winding means in control relationship to said switching means..]. .[.5. A voltage regulator circuit as set forth in claim 3 wherein said controlling means senses the output voltage during discrete sensing periods, each of said discrete sensing periods being measured by a predetermined number of volt-seconds..]. .[.6. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, rectifying means having AC input means and DC output means, means for connecting the AC input means of said rectifying means across said load circuit means, means for connecting said storage means across the DC output means of said rectifying means, inverting means having DC input means and AC output means, means for connecting said storage means to the DC input means of said inverting means, means for connecting the AC output means of said inverting means across said load circuit means, means for sensing the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means and means for connecting said sensing means in switching control relationship to said inverting means..]. .[.7. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, unidirectional conducting means for connecting said storage means in voltage-clamping relationship across said load circuit means when the instantaneous voltage across said load circuit means attempts to rise above the voltage of said storage means, controllable conducting means for connecting said storage means in voltage clamping relationship across said load circuit means when the instantaneous voltage across said load circuit means attempts to fall below the voltage of said storage means, means for controlling said controllable conducting means in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means to prevent changes in the peak amplitude of the voltage across said load circuit means independently of proportional changes in the frequency thereof..]. .[.8. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough through when the phase displacement between the output and input voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, a switching circuit having DC input terminals and AC output terminals and being arranged to establish a clamped AC voltage across said load circuit means during both half cycles of the AC voltage across said load circuit means, means for connecting the AC output terminals of said switching circuit across said load circuit means, means for connecting said storage means across the DC input terminals of said switching circuit, said switching circuit being arranged to provide a bidirectional exchange of energy between the DC input terminals thereof and the AC output terminals thereof, means for controlling the rate of switching of said switching circuit in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means..]. .[.9. An AC voltage regulator as set forth in claim 8 in which said switching circuit includes a plurality of controllable conducting means, said controllable conducting means being connected in an inverting bridge configuration having DC terminal means and AC terminal means, commutating inductance means, means for connecting said commutating inductance means between the DC terminal means of said inverting bridge and the DC input terminals of said switching circuit, commutating capacitance means, means for connecting said commutating capacitance means between the AC terminals of said inverting bridge, means for connecting the AC terminals of said inverting bridge to the AC output terminals of said switching circuit, discharge inductance means, unidirectional conducting means for connecting said discharge inductance means between the DC terminals of said inverting bridge, a plurality of unidirectional conducting means, said unidirectional conducting means being connected in a rectifying bridge configuration having AC terminal means and DC terminal means, means for connecting the AC terminal means of said rectifying bridge to the AC output terminals of said switching circuit and means for connecting the DC terminal means of said rectifying bridge to the DC input terminals of said switching circuit..]. .[.10. An AC voltage regulator as set forth in claim 8 in which said unidirectional electrical storage means comprises a capacitor..]. .[.11. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, a chargeable clamping voltage source, first unidirectional conducting means for conducting charging current through said clamping voltage source when the voltage across said load circuit means has a first polarity, second unidirectional conducting means for conducting charging current through said clamping voltage source when the voltage across said load circuit means has a second polarity, first controllable conducting means for conducting discharge current from said clamping voltage source when the voltage across said load circuit means has a first polarity, second controllable conducting means for conducting discharge current from said clamping voltage source when the voltage across said load circuit means has a second polarity, means for connecting said clamping voltage source across said load circuit means through said conducting means, means for sensing the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means, means for connecting said sensing means in conduction control relationship to said first and second controllable conducting means, said sensing means being adapted to reverse the conductive states of said controllable conducting means each time the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means attains a volt-second value equal to the product of the amplitude of the desired square wave voltage across said load circuit means and a time equal to one-half of period of the AC input voltage..]. .[.12. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series across the source of AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, switching means having a variable switching rate for alternately and severally connecting said storage means across said load circuit means with a first and second polarity to establish thereacross an AC output voltage having an amplitude substantially equal to the voltage across said storage means, means for sensing the volt-time integral of said AC output voltage, means for connecting said sensing means in switching rate control relationship to said switching means to control the phase displacement between the AC input voltage and said AC output voltage, said phase displacement varying as required to allow the flow of in-phase component of current from the AC source to supply the power required by said load circuit means and to compensate for the circuit losses..]. .[.13. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across the source of AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, switching means having a variable switching rate for connecting said storage means in voltage clamping relationship to said load circuit means for both half cycles of the AC output voltage thereacross, said voltage clamping relationship being characterized by the flow of a quadrature current between said storage means and said phase-responsive buffer means which establishes across said buffer means a voltage equal to the instantaneous difference between the AC input voltage and said AC output voltage, means for sensing the volt-time integral of said AC output voltage, means for connecting said sensing means in switching rate control relationship to said switching means to cause the switching rate of said switching means to be substantially proportional to the amplitude of said AC output voltage, the phase relationship between the AC input voltage and AC input current being controlled, in accordance with the phase displacement which is established between the AC input voltage and said AC output voltage to assure the transfer of power from the AC source to supply the power required by said load circuit means and the power required to maintain a predetermined, substantially constant voltage across said storage means..]. .[.14. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, a source of unregulated AC voltage, a load, a pair of load terminals, means for connecting said load across said load terminals, a switching circuit including a rectifying network and an inverting network, said inverting network including off-on conducting means, each of said networks having AC and DC terminals, means for connecting said AC terminals to said load terminals, unidirectional electrical storage means, means for connecting the respective DC terminals of said rectifying and inverting networks across said storage means, means for connecting the terminals of said source of AC voltage across said load terminals, phase-responsive buffer means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means in series relationship with said unregulated source of AC voltage across said load terminals, volt-time integral-sensing means, means for connecting said volt-time integral sensing means across said load terminals and means for connecting said volt-time integral sensing means in operative, controlling relationship to respective off-on conducting means in said inverting network..]. .[.15. A voltage regulator circuit as set forth in claim 14 in which said phase-responsive buffer means comprises inductance means..]. .[.16. A voltage regulator circuit as set forth in claim 15 in which said unidirectional electrical storage means comprises capacitance means..]. .[.17. In a circuit for providing a regulated DC output voltage from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means, first and second AC terminal means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means in series with the source of AC input voltage across said AC terminal means, unidirectional electrical storage means, switching means for conducting charging current through said storage means when the voltage across said AC terminal means attempts to rise above the voltage across said storage means and for conducting discharging current from said storage means when the voltage across said AC terminal means attempts to fall below the voltage across said storage means, means for connecting said storage means across said AC terminal means through said switching means, DC load circuit means, means for connecting said load circuit means across said storage means, and means for controlling the discharging activity of said switching means in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage between said AC terminal means..].  .[.18. In a circuit for providing regulated AC and DC output voltages from an unregulated AC input voltage, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the AC input and AC output voltages is diminishing, AC load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said AC load circuit means in series relationship across the source of the AC input voltage, unidirectional electrical storage means, switching means for conducting charging current through said storage means when the instantaneous voltage across said AC load circuit means attempts to rise above the voltage across said storage means and for conducting discharging current from said storage means when the instantaneous voltage across said AC load circuit means attempts to fall below the voltage across said storage means, means for connecting said storage means in voltage clamping relationship across said AC load circuit means through said switching means, DC load circuit means, means for connecting said DC load circuit means across said storage means, means for controlling the discharging activity of said switching means in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means..]. .[.19. In a circuit for providing a regulated square wave output from an unregulated AC input, in combination, a source of unregulated AC power, a load, a pair of load terminals, means for connecting said load across said load terminals, a switching circuit, unidirectional electrical storage means, means for connecting said switching circuit to said load terminals, said switching circuit including a network for providing DC voltage across said storage means from said source and a network for providing DC voltage to said load terminals with periodic reversed polarity in the switching mode, phase-responsive means, means for connecting said phase-responsive means in buffering relationship with said source to said load terminals, sensing means, said sensing means being adapted to switch in the conducting activity thereof upon a predetermined time accumulation of an electrical quantity impressed thereupon, means for connecting said sensing means in switching control relationship to said switching circuit..]. .Iadd. 20. In a circuit for providing a regulated squarewave output voltage from unregulated AC input voltage terminals, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the input and output voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across AC input voltage terminals, unidirectional electrical storage means, switching means for conducting charging current through said storage means when the instantaneous AC voltage across said load circuit means attempts to rise above the voltage across said storage means and for conducting discharging current from said storage means when the instantaneous AC voltage across said load circuit means attempts to fall below the voltage across said storage means, means for connecting said storage means in voltage clamping relationship across said load circuit means through said switching means, means for controlling the discharging activity of said switching means in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means, 
       said controlling means including a transformer having center-tapped primary winding means and secondary winding means, means for connecting the center tap of said primary winding means to one end of said load circuit means, saturable inductance means, resistance means, means for connecting one end of said primary winding means to the other end of said load circuit means through said saturable inductance means, means for connecting the other end of said primary winding means to said other end of said load circuit means through said resistance means, and means for connecting said secondary winding means in control relationship to said switching means. .Iaddend..Iadd. 21. In a circuit for providing a regulated squarewave output voltage from unregulated AC input voltage terminals, in combination, phase-responsive buffer means for developing a compensatory voltage in response to a flow of quadrature current therethrough and for choking off the flow of excess in-phase current therethrough when the phase displacement between the output and input voltages is diminishing, load circuit means, means for connecting said phase-responsive buffer means and said load circuit means in series relationship across AC input voltage terminals, unidirectional electrical storage means, a switching circuit having DC input terminals and AC output terminals and being arranged to establish a clamped AC voltage across said load circuit means during both half cycles of the AC voltage across said load circuit means, means for connecting the AC output terminals of said switching circuit across said load circuit means, means for connecting said storage means across the DC input terminals of said switching circuit, said switching circuit being arranged to provide a bidirectional exchange of energy between the DC input terminals thereof and the AC output terminals thereof, means for controlling the rate of switching of said switching circuit in accordance with the volt-time integral of the voltage across said load circuit means, 
       said switching circuit including a plurality of controllable conducting means, said controllable conducting means being connected in an inverting bridge configuration having DC terminal means and AC terminal means, commutating inductance means, means for connecting said commutating inductance means between the DC terminal means of said inverting bridge and the DC input terminals of said switching circuit, commutating capacitance means, means for connecting said commutating capacitance means between the AC terminals of said inverting bridge, means for connecting the AC terminals of said inverting bridge to the AC output terminals of said switching circuit, discharge inductance means, unidirectional conducting means for connecting said discharge inductance means between the DC terminals of said inverting bridge, a plurality of unidirectional conducting means, said unidirectional conducting means being connected in a rectifying bridge configuration having AC terminal means and DC terminal means, means for connecting the AC terminal means of said rectifying bridge to the AC output terminals of said switching circuit, and means for connecting the DC terminal means of said rectifying bridge to the DC input terminals of said switching circuit.