PUSHPULLDCACINVERTERS

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Thispageprovidesconceptualschematicsofvarious
typesofpushpullpowerinverters.Thesimplestoneis
afreerunningconvertercalledRoyeroscillator.Itwas
patentedbyBrightandRoyerin1954(Idon'tknowwhy
thiscircuitdoesnotbearthenameofthesecondcoauthor).Anexampleofthepartslist:Q1,Q2
2N6487(orZTX849forlowwattageapplications)R1=4.7kOhm,R2=470Ohm.Hereishowitworks.
Whenpowerisfirstapplied,itforwardbiasesbothtransistors.Ifbothofthemwillbeinonstate,they
willjustshortboththetransformerandtheinputsource.However,practically,Q1andQ2willnotbe
"on"atthesametimebecausetheircharacteristicsareneverexactlythesameandtheirbasedrive
windingsareoutofphase.
Inpractice,oneofthem(say,Q1)
willturnonmoreandsomevoltage
willappearacrosstransformer's
primarywinding.Thisinturninduces
voltagesinthebasewindingsof
suchpolaritiesthattheydriveQ1
furtherintosaturationandQ2into
cutoffstate.Ascurrentflows
throughQ1andthehalfofthe
primary,magneticfluxinthecore
increaseslinearlywithtime.Atsome
pointitwillapproachsaturationwhen
thefluxcannofurtherincrease.The
voltagesacrossallwindingswilldrop
tozeroandthenreversepolarities.ThiswillcauseQ2toconductandQ1to
beincutoffcondition.Thisselfoscillatingprocesswillcontinueanda
bipolarrectangularvoltagewillbegeneratedacrosstheoutput.Its
frequencydependsonthetimerequiredforthecoretosaturate.Wecan
derivefromFaraday'slawthatVin=4N1FBAc108,whereAccore's
crosssectionalareainsq.cm,Bsaturationfluxingauss.Therefore,fora
desiredfrequencyF,youneedtoselectthetransformerwith
N1Ac=Vin108/4FB.Thensecondaryturnswillbeselectedbasedon
desiredoutput:N2=N1Vout/Vin.Themaindrawbacksofthiscircuitare
unstablefrequency,squarewaveoutput,lackofvoltageregulation(which
canbedoneonlybyvaryingVin)andlackofcurrentlimit.Itcanbeusedto
powerbulbsandotherresistiveloadsthatarenotsensitivetofrequencyor
waveform.

AmodificationofRoyeroscillatorhasan
additionalinductorLinserieswithVinand
acapacitorCbetweentwocollectors.With
thisconfigurationtheresultingwaveformis
sinelikeandtheoscillatingfrequencyis
determinedbyresonanceofmagnetizing
inductanceL1andC:
F=1/(2sqrt(L1C)).Forexample,
L1=400uHandC=0.1uFwouldyieldF=25
kHz.Thisisaconceptualschematicof
suchcurrentfedoscillatorcontrolledbya
buckregulator.TheMOSFETinthebuck
canbedrivenfromanexternalPWMto
regulatetheoutputlevel.Thistopologyiswidelyusedtofeedcoldcathodefluorescentlamps(CCFL)
withhighvoltageof20to100kHz(forpracticalschematicsseeforexamplethisapplicationnote).It
isnotquitesuitablefor120V60Hzapplications,whereasinusoidisnormallyproducedbyusing
PWMtechnique.
Thecircuitswithbipolartransistorsarenotveryefficientbecauseyouneedtocontinuoslyprovide
substantialbasecurrents.Thediagrambelowshowsamoreefficientcurrentfedinverterimplemented
withMOSFETs.ResistorsR1,R2provideturnon,whilethediodesD2,D3provideturnoffandisolate
thegatesfromhighvoltageonthedrains.
Hereisanexampleofthe
partslist:Q1,Q2,
Q3=STP36NF06L,R1,
R2=10Ohm,
D1=MBR1035,D2,
D3=MUR120,L=100uH,
C=0.1uF.Thecurrentfed
conceptcanbeespecially
helpfulifyoudrivethe
switchesfromanexternalcircuit.Suchapproachisoftenusedtomaintainafixedfrequency
independentonthecoresproperties.Thedrivefrequencyhastobebelowtheselfresonancethough.
Notesincevoltsecondsofeachhalfofcyclewillneverbeexactlythesame,withouttheinductor,the
transformerinpushpullconverterwithexternalexcitationcansufferfromDCcomponentofthe
magneticflux.Eventuallythisimbalancecancausesaturationofthecoreandfailureofatransistor.
Thereareplentyofhobbyistschematicsfloatingaroundthewebthatignorethispossibilityanddonot
havetheinductor.
AlsoseeourtutorialtoDCtoACconversionandthisguidetosolarinverteroperation.

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