1. A welding power supply, comprising:
power conversion circuitry comprising one or more power semiconductor switches, wherein the power conversion circuitry is configured to receive power from a primary source and to switch the one or more power semiconductor switches between an ON configuration and an OFF configuration to convert the received power to a welding output; and
a pulse width modulated (PWM) digital controller coupled to the power conversion circuitry and configured to receive one or more analog signals, to generate an error signal indicative of a steady state error between a commanded current level and an actual output current level based at least in part on the one or more analog signals, and to calculate a duty cycle term for control of switching of the one or more semiconductor switches based at least in part on the generated error signal.
2. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the duty cycle term is calculated by computing an integral term configured to correct for the steady state error between the commanded current level and the actual output current level.
3. The welding power supply of claim 2, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to selectively implement the integral term based at least in part on the error signal.
4. The welding power supply of claim 2, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to selectively implement the integral term for certain time periods.
5. The welding power supply of claim 2, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to reset the integral term during certain operating conditions.
6. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the PWM controller is configured to limit the duty cycle term to at least one of a preset minimum value and a preset maximum value.
7. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the power conversion circuitry comprises an inverter-type power supply that comprises at least one of a forward circuit, a full bridge inverter, a half bridge inverter, and a flyback circuit.
8. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the one or more analog signals comprise the commanded current level.
9. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the one or more analog signals comprise a current feedback signal.
10. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the one or more analog signals comprise a voltage feedback signal.
11. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the duty cycle term is corrected for a gate drive delay associated with the one or more power semiconductor switches.
12. The welding power supply of claim 1, wherein the duty cycle term is corrected for a current-dependent or power-dependent loss comprising at least one of a diode voltage drop, a power semiconductor loss, and a leakage inductance.
13. A welding power supply, comprising:
power conversion circuitry comprising one or more power semiconductor switches, wherein the power conversion circuitry is configured to receive power from a primary source and to switch the one or more power semiconductor switches between an ON configuration and an OFF configuration to convert the received power to a welding output; and
a pulse width modulated (PWM) digital controller coupled to the power conversion circuitry and configured to sample a current or voltage waveform during a period of the current or voltage waveform at a trigger location approximately equal to an average of the current or voltage waveform determined based at least in part on data obtained during a previous period of the current or voltage waveform, and to communicate the sampled current or voltage values to a weld controller.
14. The welding power supply of claim 13, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to calculate a PWM output signal that controls switching of the one or more power semiconductor switches based at least in part on the sampled current or voltage values.
15. The welding power supply of claim 13, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to update the trigger location when sampling an analog signal, and to sample the current or voltage waveform during a period of the current or voltage waveform at the updated trigger location.
16. The welding power supply of claim 13, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to re-calculate the trigger location once per switching cycle of the power semiconductor switches.
17. The welding power supply of claim 13, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to update the PWM output signal once per switching cycle of the one or more power semiconductor switches after an approximate midpoint of the \u201cOFF\u201d portion of the switching cycle.
18. A welding power supply, comprising:
power conversion circuitry comprising one or more power semiconductor switches, wherein the power conversion circuitry is configured to receive power from a primary source and to switch the one or more power semiconductor switches between an ON configuration and an OFF configuration to convert the received power to a welding output; and
a pulse width modulated (PWM) digital controller coupled to the power conversion circuitry and configured to generate a PWM output signal that controls a switching frequency of the one or more power semiconductor switches based at least in part on a weld process type or weld process operating conditions.
19. The welding power supply of claim 18, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to modify the switching frequency based at least in part on the welding process type.
20. The welding power supply of claim 18, wherein the PWM digital controller is configured to modify the switching frequency based at least in part on the weld process operating conditions.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A housing case for housing an electronic circuit board on which components are mounted, comprising:
a guide rail that forms a guide path when the electronic circuit board is inserted in the case, and
a holder holding at least one of the components mounted on the electronic circuit board,
and wherein the guide rail is disposed in a position that does not contact with the electronic circuit board when the one of the components is held by the holder.
2. The housing case according to claim 1, wherein the one of the components held by the holder is a connector.
3. The housing case according to claim 2, wherein the connector has a connector-side rail, and the holder comprises a projection to be engaged with the connector-side rail.
4. The housing case according to claim 3, wherein the connector-side rail comprises a pair of rails such that the projection is sandwiched by connector-side rails.
5. The housing case according to claim 1, wherein the guide rail comprises a pair of rails whose spacing is set to a predetermined value that is greater than the thickness of the electric circuit board.
6. The housing case according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined value is a value substantially twice the thickness of the electric circuit board.
7. A housing case for housing an electronic circuit board on which components are mounted, comprising:
guide means for providing a guide path when the electronic circuit board is inserted in the case, and
holder means for holding at least one of the components mounted on the electronic circuit board,
and wherein the guide means is disposed in a position that does not contact with the electronic circuit board when the one of the components is held by the holder means.
8. The housing case according to claim 7, wherein the one of the components held by the holder means is a connector means for connecting the component to another component.
9. The housing case according to claim 8, wherein the connector means comprises a connector-side rail, and the holder means comprises a projection to be engaged with the connector-side rail.
10. The housing case according to claim 9, wherein the connector-side rail comprises a pair of rails such that the projection is sandwiched by connector-side rails.
11. The housing case according to claim 7, wherein the guide means comprises a pair of rails whose spacing is set to a predetermined value that is greater than the thickness of the electric circuit board.
12. The housing case according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined value is a value substantially twice the thickness of the electric circuit board.
13. A method of manufacturing a housing case for housing an electronic circuit board on which components are mounted, the method comprising:
disposing, in the housing case, a guide rail that forms a guide path when the electronic circuit board is inserted in the case, and
disposing, in the housing case, a holder configured to hold at least one of the components mounted on the electronic circuit board,
and wherein the guide rail and the holder are disposed in a relative position such that the guide rail does not contact with the electronic circuit board when the one of the components is held by the holder.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the one of the components held by the holder is a connector.
15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the connector has a connector-side rail, and the holder comprises a projection to be engaged with the connector-side rail.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the connector-side rail comprises a pair of rails such that the projection is sandwiched by connector-side rails.
17. The method according to claim 13, wherein the guide rail comprises a pair of rails whose spacing is set to a predetermined value that is greater than the thickness of the electric circuit board.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined value is a value substantially twice the thickness of the electric circuit board.