阅读说明：本技术 驱动电路 (Driving circuit ) 是由 A·克鲁克 于 2020-03-23 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种驱动电路,具有用于在第一电路输入部处接收第一控制信号的控制信号输入部、连接该控制信号输入部且用于根据该第一控制信号产生电流解耦的第二控制信号的光耦合器、用于根据第三控制信号控制该驱动电路的至少一个电路输出端子的输出电路、以及电子控制电路,该电子控制电路包括电能供应部、用于接收该第二控制信号的输入部、以及用于根据在该输入部处接收的该第二控制信号输出该第三控制信号的输出部。(A drive circuit has a control signal input for receiving a first control signal at a first circuit input, an optocoupler connected to the control signal input and for generating a second control signal that is galvanically decoupled from the first control signal, an output circuit for controlling at least one circuit output terminal of the drive circuit in accordance with a third control signal, and an electronic control circuit comprising an electrical energy supply, an input for receiving the second control signal, and an output for outputting the third control signal in accordance with the second control signal received at the input.)

1. A drive circuit, comprising:

a control signal input section (11) for receiving a first control signal (S1);

a wireless coupler (12) connected to the control signal input and for generating a current decoupled second control signal (S2) in dependence on the first control signal (S1); and

an output circuit (14) for controlling at least one circuit output terminal (14b,14c) of the drive circuit in accordance with a third control signal (S3);

the method is characterized in that:

an electronic control circuit (13) comprising: a power supply (25), an input for receiving the second control signal (S2), and an output for outputting the third control signal (S3) in dependence on the second control signal (S2) received at the input.

2. A driver circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit (13) has a digital logic circuit.

3. A drive circuit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control circuit (13) has a holding element (23), the holding element (23) being adapted to generate the third control signal (S3) at an output of the control circuit in dependence on the second control signal (S2), and the holding element (23) holds the third control signal (S3) even if the second control signal (S2) changes after said generation.

4. A drive circuit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control circuit (13) has a bi-stable circuit which switches the signal at the output from one stable state to another stable state in response to a pulse at the input.

5. The drive circuit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the power supply (25) of the control circuit (13) is adapted to receive power from the at least one circuit output terminal (14b,14c) of the drive circuit.

6. The drive circuit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the output circuit (14) is adapted for switching a load and the power supply (25) of the control circuit (13) is connected to a power supply of the load, which can have a direct or alternating voltage above 100V or above 200V or above 500V.

7. The drive circuit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at the input the control circuit (13) has an amplifier for amplifying the second control signal (S2).

8. The drive circuit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at the output, the control circuit (13) has an amplifier for outputting the third control signal (S3).

9. A driver circuit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the output circuit (14) has one transistor or two transistors connected in series, preferably MOSFETs.

10. A driver circuit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the output circuit (14) controls an electrical connection between two circuit outputs (14b,14c), preferably between a high impedance state and a low impedance state.

11. A driver circuit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the output circuit (14) is adapted to apply a digital or analogue signal to the circuit output of the driver circuit.

12. A drive circuit according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising setting means for setting a control parameter of the control circuit (13),

wherein the setting means particularly have first decoding means for decoding the control parameters from the correspondingly generated parameters of the second control signal (S2) and/or second decoding means for decoding the control parameters from one or more electrical values at one or more second circuit inputs.

13. A driver circuit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which is moulded in a plastics material, wherein the circuit has in particular a heat sink protruding from or placed on the plastics material.

14. The driver circuit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the driver circuit is adapted to directly control an electrical consumer product, in particular an electric motor, a lighting device, a charging device, a control device, a computer or a display.

15. A drive circuit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drive circuit is adapted to control an electronic switch, in particular a MOSFET or an IGBT.

16. A drive circuit according to any preceding claim, wherein the drive circuit is adapted to conduct a current of at least 0.1 or 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 amps at the output terminals and/or to switch a direct or alternating voltage of at least 30 or 50 or 100 or 200 or 500 volts.

17. A drive circuit for an electrical consumer product, comprising:

a control signal input (11) for receiving a first control signal (S1) at a first circuit input;

a wireless coupler (12) connected to the control signal input and for generating a current decoupled second control signal (S2) in dependence on the first control signal (S1); and

an output circuit (14) for controlling at least one circuit output terminal (14b,14c) of the drive circuit for the power consuming product in dependence of a third control signal (S3);

the method is characterized in that:

a drive section (13) comprising: a power supply (25), an input for receiving the second control signal, and an output for outputting the third control signal (S3) in dependence of the second control signal (S2) received at the input.

18. The driver circuit of claim 17, comprising an amplifier and/or an impedance converter (22,24) receiving the second control signal (S2) and outputting the third control signal (S3).

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a drive circuit for controlling an electrical or electronic component, circuit, machine or equipment. The drive circuit is intended to galvanically decouple the input side from the output side and thus has a non-galvanic coupling, such as an optocoupler or an electromagnetic coupling or the like. The drive circuit may receive control signals on the input side from any desired source, for example from another electronic circuit or from a manually operated component such as a switch or a button.

Background

Fig. 3 schematically shows a possible circuit 90 in the form of an integrated circuit. On the input side, the circuit 90 is connected, for example, to a switch 91, the switch 91 applying energy from a power source 93 to a light emitting diode 94, for example via a resistor 92. On the output side, the transistor to be driven is indicated at the power supply 98 as load 97.

The circuit itself has optical couplers 94, 95 on the input side. 94 is a radiation source, 95 is a photovoltaic module, and the photovoltaic module 95 generates a voltage V in total according to the incident power from the emitter 94_GSSaid voltage V being_GSIs provided to the control input of FET 96 to cause it to switch. The output of the circuit is formed by two terminals between which the FET 96 selectively produces a high or low impedance state and in this way provides a signal that can be used to control a subsequent IGBT or MOSFET.

A characteristic of this circuit is that the recharging at the gate required for the FET to switch cannot be made as fast, since the power supplied by the photovoltaic is relatively low and therefore switches relatively slowly. Therefore, the switching of the FET is not too fast, and therefore during the switching process, the FET is located for a long time in a characteristic curve region where both the current flowing through the FET and the source-drain voltage at the FET are high, so that the losses and therefore the heat generated during the switching are high. This can be tolerated for a one-time handover procedure. Conversely, it becomes apparent during multiple switching, for example for pulse width modulation.

Another characteristic of the circuit of fig. 3 is that it requires a higher input power because the power for switching FET 96 is ultimately provided by the power supply 94 of the optocoupler and must be continuously provided to maintain at least one state.

Finally, the switching state at the output is directly related to the switching state at the input. If the switch 91 on the input side of the circuit 90 is turned on, the MOSFET will have one of two possible states and vice versa.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a drive circuit which also allows fast and flexible switching of large loads and which has a low power consumption at the input side.

This object is met by the features of claim 1.

A drive circuit having a control signal input for receiving a first control signal at a first circuit input, a wireless coupler for generating a galvanically decoupled second control signal in dependence on the first control signal, an electronic control circuit comprising a power supply, an input for receiving the second control signal, and an output for outputting a third control signal in dependence on the second control signal received at the input, and an output circuit for controlling at least one circuit output terminal of the drive circuit in dependence on the third control signal.

The control circuit may have a digital logic circuit for generating a digital signal as the third control signal and/or an analog signal processing circuit for generating an analog signal as the third control signal.

The control circuit in the drive circuit is provided with a power supply section, and therefore a signal required for controlling the output circuit can be generated at a high power, so that setting or switching in the output circuit can be performed quickly.

The control circuit also allows specific functions to be implemented in the drive circuit. The output signal of the control circuit may, but need not, directly or proportionally follow the input signal of the control circuit. In general, the output signal of the control circuit may be a constant or time varying signal generated from the input signal of the control circuit. To this end, the control circuit may be configured as a digital circuit or an analog circuit that outputs a corresponding digital or analog signal as an output signal of the control circuit, which is appropriately set or calibrated for subsequent use in the output circuit.

A digital output signal of a digital circuit, in particular a binary signal having two states, may be used as the third control signal, for example to switch a switch of the output circuit. However, analog signals may also be used for corresponding analog control and setting of the output circuit, e.g. analog signals may be generated and used for the transistors of the output circuit.

The control circuit may have a holding element adapted to generate the third control signal at an output of the control circuit in accordance with the second control signal, and to hold the third control signal even if the second control signal changes after the generation. The control circuit may also have a bi-stable circuit that switches a signal at the output from one stable state to another stable state in response to a pulse at the input. The control circuit may also be or have a pulse width modulator operating in accordance with a control parameter. It may also be or have a function generator operating in accordance with the control parameter.

If the control circuit is configured as a holding element or as a bistable circuit, the input signal at the input of the control circuit and subsequently at the input of the drive circuit can be pulsed as a whole. Therefore, they do not have to be applied for a long time. In the case of a holding element, an input pulse may cause the control circuit to switch from a steady state to a semi-steady state and to fall back to the steady state after a certain time, which may be different and in particular longer than the pulse duration at the input. A short pulse of a few milliseconds can then, for example, lead to a switching at the output and to the signal switched in this way at the output being held longer before returning to the output state. The hold time may be preset or settable/decodable.

In a bi-stable circuit, each input pulse will cause a switch from the respective currently applied stable state to another stable state. The different output states of the bi-stable circuit may be different voltage values at the circuit output. The same applies to the output of the hold circuit.

The mode in which the control circuit operates may also be switchable, for example between "bistable" and "hold circuit" or the like.

The power supply of the control circuit may be provided separately. In order not to eliminate galvanic isolation between the input and the output, it is preferably not electrically connected to the input side. The electrical energy supply can have, for example, one or more individual terminals for connection to an external voltage source. The driver circuit may, for example, have a supply voltage terminal and a ground terminal. The terminal (e.g., ground) may also be a power supply terminal (e.g., ground) of the load.

However, the design may also be such that the internal power supply of the control circuit is connected to the circuit output terminals of the drive circuit, i.e. to the terminals on which the output circuit acts, to draw power from this output. The power supply may have a voltage forming circuit which forms a usable value from the received values. For example, there may be a down-conversion (ein)) The down-conversion results in voltage values from the higher voltage at the circuit output, which may be used for logic circuits, operational amplifiers, etc., e.g., a dc voltage in the range of 4V to 20V, and so on.

The power supply may be adapted to generate a more or less constant dc voltage required for internal operation from a relatively high voltage received from the circuit output terminals. The power supply may be adapted to generate a suitable supply voltage for the control circuit at a voltage of more than 100V or more than 200V or more than 500V. It may also have an energy storage. Waveform smoothing means, such as a capacitor, may also be provided.

However, the power supply may also be adapted to generate the required more or less constant direct voltage (up-conversion) from the relatively low voltage received from the circuit output terminals. This may be necessary if the transistor has switched to a low impedance at the output, and therefore only a small voltage difference (e.g. less than 1V or less than 2V) is applied at the output. The power supply may be adapted such that it can generate a suitable supply voltage for the control circuit from a voltage of less than 2V or less than 4V. It may also have an accumulator. Waveform smoothing means, such as a capacitor, may also be provided.

The wireless coupler may be an optocoupler, or generally a coupler using electromagnetic radiation, or a capacitive coupler, or a magnetic coupler generating a suitable signal (dc voltage, ac voltage) at its output. The wireless coupler may have a light emitting diode as a transmitter and a photodiode or phototransistor as a receiver.

The control circuit may for example have suitable signal shaping circuits at its input, such as a rectifier and/or a waveform smoothing device and/or an impedance converter and/or an amplifier. The signal from a wireless coupler is typically relatively weak and therefore may need to be properly amplified to beyond formatting (formatting) according to the value and shaped in a stable manner (i.e., low internal resistance).

At the output, the control circuit may have an amplifier which generates the output voltage of the control circuit, i.e. the third control signal, within a desired value range. Depending on whether the control circuit produces a digital or an analog output signal, two specific selected voltage levels can be set for the digital signal or for a desired linear characteristic, which is defined by an operating point and a slope, which can be compared with the input signal of the analog signal. For this purpose, an amplifier may be provided at the output of the control circuit.

The output circuit may in turn have a switch, such as a transistor, FET, MOSFET or IGBT. The collector and base or the drain and source of the semiconductor element may be applied to and used at two output terminals of the driving circuit. A single semiconductor switch is sufficient if the dc voltage is to be switched. Two semiconductor switches connected in series, for example respective n-channel and p-channel FETs, may be provided if the alternating voltage is to be switched and if the breakdown voltage of the semiconductor switches is not sufficient in both polarities or if parasitic diodes would transmit leakage currents.

Typically, the output circuit can switch (on-off) the state between the two circuit output terminals between a high impedance and a low impedance, i.e. eventually in a binary manner of the two states, or can output an analog or binary signal to the circuit output terminal with a sufficiently low internal resistance for further control.

The control circuit may operate in accordance with set or settable or adjusted or adjustable control parameters. For example, in the case of a retention element, the hold time may be set, adjusted, settable, or adjustable. Another type of control parameter may be a mark-space ratio for pulse width modulation, which is transmitted to the control circuit in a suitable manner. The control circuit may then be configured similar to a PWM driver and may output a pulse train having the desired mark-to-space ratio and control the output circuit in this manner.

The functional circuit may also be switchable in a level-sensitive or threshold-sensitive manner, in particular switched on, switched off or switched on, optionally with hysteresis. It may for example detect and then switch to a zero or zero crossing of the second control signal or the output signal of the input amplifier. The design may be such that the drive circuit switches on or off only during level crossings (zero crossings) of the variable input signal (alternating current signal), similar to a zero crossing TRIAC. The "zero point" or "zero crossing point" here may also be a small voltage, for example less than V or less than 1V or less than 0.5V. The monitored level may be a voltage greater than 1V or greater than 2V, and/or a voltage less than 20, 10 or 5V. The hysteresis offset that may occur may be greater than 1 or 2 or 5V and/or less than 50 or 20 or 10 or 5V.

The driver circuit may have one or more input terminals in order to be able to input one or more control parameters, in particular to identify an input pattern if necessary, in order to subsequently input and end the input pattern if necessary. The inputted contents may be stored in the control circuit in an appropriate manner and used for the subsequent processes. The input may be performed in an analog or digital manner, may be performed chronologically in a serial manner on at least one line, or chronologically in a parallel manner on a plurality of lines.

It is also conceivable to encode the control parameter on the first control signal, for example on the signal pulse length at the signal input. The control circuit may then have corresponding decoding means to be able to receive, store and subsequently use the encoded control parameters.

The driving circuit may be provided in a package form. The package may be a (W) DIP (wide) dual in-line package), SOP (small outline package), LSOP (long small outline package) or SOIC (small outline integrated circuit) package and may have a plurality of connection surfaces or lines. It may be an SMD (surface mounted device) with a connection surface or connection pins. The circuit components therein may be provided on one semiconductor chip or distributed over two or more semiconductor chips, which are suitably connected to each other, for example by a bond connection or by tracks of a circuit carrier.

The entire circuit, the circuit elements and the connections between each other are adapted to conduct the required current at the output side and to be able to hold a possibly applied voltage without flashovers. The load current in the output circuit may be at least 0.1 or 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 or 20A. The reverse voltage in the output circuit may be greater than 30 or 50 or 100 or 200 or 500 or 1000V. Thus, the voltage supply may also be adapted to operate at such a voltage.

Depending on the intended use, the circuit may have a cooling device or heat sink that is placed on or protrudes from the package and conducts waste heat corresponding to power losses away from the circuit. It may be a heat sink made of a metal material with cooling fins.

The drive circuit may be adapted to directly control power consuming products (verbrauers) and thus may conduct its consumed current in the switch on state and block its supply voltage in the switch off state. The electrical consumer can be a motor or a motor phase, a lighting or charging or control device or a computer or a display or the like. The drive circuit itself may also be adapted to control electronic switches, such as MOSFETs or IGBTs.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the following drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a circuit diagram of a driver circuit,

FIG. 2 is a timing diagram, and

fig. 3 shows a known driving circuit.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows two input terminals 11. They may be galvanically isolated from other circuit terminals and not have any metal, conductor or semiconductor connections with other circuit terminals. The input terminal 11 is used to connect the drive circuit 10 to an input circuit that inputs the first control signal S1. A button 19b is schematically shown which closes the power circuit with the power supply 19a via a protection resistor 19 c.

The transmitter of the wireless coupler 12 is part of the power supply circuit. In fig. 1, it is denoted as a light emitting diode 12 a. It generates radiation corresponding to the duration of the actuation of the switch/button 19 b. The radiation intensity is also related to the voltage applied at the input terminal 11 or the current conducted there within a certain range.

The wireless coupler 12 of the driving circuit 10 also has a wireless receiver. It may be a phototransistor or a photodiode 12 b. However, the wireless coupler 12 may be a magnetic coupler or an electromagnetic coupler that electromagnetically transmits or receives, or a capacitive coupler. Other coupling types of components without galvanic connections are also possible.

The output signal of the photodiode 12b is a second control signal S2 input to the control circuit 13. In one embodiment, the photodiode may be combined on a chip integrated with the control circuit 13.

In the embodiment shown, the control circuit 13 has a signal input 21 for a second control signal S2. Thus, the wireless receiver 12b is connected to the signal input section 21. In the embodiment shown, the control circuit 13 has an input amplifier 22, and the input amplifier 22 may be configured as an operational amplifier. The input amplifier may amplify and/or impedance convert the second control signal S2 or may in general produce a desired characteristic curve of the output variable at its output which is higher than the input variable S2, e.g. regional linearity, possibly even in the negative range. The amplifier 22 at the input of the control circuit 13 is only schematically shown. It may have other circuit elements not shown for signal feedback, voltage division, current-to-voltage conversion, voltage-to-current conversion, gain adjustment (P component), dynamic adjustment (I component and/or D component, if necessary), and the like.

The control circuit 13 further has a functional circuit 23, which functional circuit 23 receives the amplified signal from the amplifier 22 on the input side. In a simple case, the functional circuit 23 can be a small digital or analog circuit, for example a bistable flip-flop or a holding element (D-flip-flop). It may have a supply voltage terminal. Triggered by the signal at the input, the functional circuit 23 will present a specific signal at its output, for example, in the case of a flip-flop, each incoming pulse will switch from the currently applied stable state to the respective other stable state. The output of the functional circuit 23 may be used as the output signal of the control circuit, i.e. as the third control signal S3.

In the embodiment shown, however, a further amplifier 24 is connected downstream of the functional circuit 23 and may actually amplify the signal or serve as an impedance transformation for the signal under consideration.

The output circuit 14 is controlled by the control circuit 13 by means of a third control signal S3. It can be controlled directly by the functional circuit 23 or by the output-side amplifier 24, the output-side amplifier 24 applying the third control signal S3 to the output 26 of the control circuit 13.

However, unlike as described above, the functional circuit 23 may also be more complex. It may have a memory for storing control parameters. The memory may be of digital or analog design. The functional circuit 23 is then adapted to include the control parameters stored in this way in the signal shaping. The control parameter may be predetermined or may be present during operation of the circuit 23 or input into the circuit 23.

In this respect, an input device for the control parameter may be provided very generally. It may have a terminal (not shown) of the driver circuit 10 through which analog or digital values can be input and through which the write mode and the operating mode can also be distinguished. It may be a standard input device or a receiving part thereof.

The input device can generally have a decoding means by means of which one or more control parameters are decoded, which can be received and/or stored in encoded form. In particular, it is conceivable and possible to implement the coded reception by means of the wireless coupler 12, since the first control signal S1, i.e. the input signal, is generated at the circuit terminal 11 and input in correspondingly coded form. Here, the transmission may also comprise a selection of a write mode for the control parameter, wherein a suitable signal coding is transmitted. The functional circuit 23 can then perform a suitable decoding in order to be able to recognize the writing pattern on the one hand and to subsequently decode the control parameters on the other hand. The encoding may be performed by a temporal pattern, e.g. by pulse duration, etc. The functional circuit 23 may then be a more complex digital circuit, possibly with a small processor, buffer etc.

The input device may have I²The C-interface (internal integrated power) or the SPI-interface (serial peripheral interface) serves as an input interface, in particular in each case as a slave to this interface. The input signal thereof may be the second control signal S2, the second control signal S2 being indirectly generated in a suitable manner by the first control signal S1. Alternatively, the input interface-input signal may be provided separately in a suitable manner through separate terminals. The input interface may be used to input control parameters for the functional circuit.

If necessary, the control circuit 13 may have an analog/digital converter at the input side (optionally after the input amplifier 22) and/or a digital/analog converter at the output side (optionally before the output amplifier 24). These converters may be integrated with the functional circuit 23 or may be provided separately.

And 25 is a power supply portion of the control circuit 13. It may be integrated with the control circuit 13 or may be provided separately therefrom. In the embodiment shown, it is connected to the power supply 19e of the load 19 d. Power is supplied to the drive circuit 10 via terminals 14c and 14a of the drive circuit 10. The supplied electrical energy may be a direct current voltage or an alternating current voltage. The electrical energy supply 25 can be operated at a corresponding nominal voltage, i.e. for example, an alternating voltage is rectified or a suitable direct voltage is generated therefrom. As mentioned above, the supply voltage of the power supply 19e may be high, in particular greater than 30V or 50V or greater than 100V or greater than 200V or greater than 500V.

Then, the power supply section 25 supplies power to the functional circuit 23 and, if necessary, to the amplifiers 22 and 24. For example, the dc voltage used to operate the various circuit components may be in the range of a few volts. The power supply may have an energy storage, not shown, or a smoothing capacitor or terminals for external connection of the power supply.

In another embodiment, not shown, the electrical energy supply 25 may have one or more terminals independent of the load 19d and may therefore be directly supplied with a useful voltage, for example a direct voltage of a few volts. As with the other embodiments, it is preferred in this embodiment that the power supply 25 is independent of the input side and its power supply 19a and is not electrically connected to the input side terminal 11, but rather galvanically separated therefrom.

As shown, the output circuit 14 of the driving circuit may have a field effect transistor or a general transistor. In the illustrated embodiment, the transistor may be used as a switch to switch the load on and off. Then, the output circuit selectively sets the state between the two terminals 14b and 14c of the drive circuit to a low impedance (for turning on the load) and a high impedance (for turning off the load). On the one hand, the switch 14 is able to maintain a reverse voltage, which can be applied at the voltage level of the voltage supply 19e, and on the other hand, the switch 14 is able to conduct a load current of the load 19d, which can be in the order of a few amperes or tens of amperes. Thus, transistor 14 is preferably a power transistor that can handle high reverse voltages and high load currents. Therefore, higher driving power is required at the input side in order to achieve rapid switching. This is ensured by the control circuit 13 described, in particular, by the power supply 25 providing the required power, optionally together with the output-side amplifier 24.

The switch 14 of the output circuit may also operate in an "analog" manner in another embodiment for a particular application, so that a target value between "fully on" and "fully off" may be employed at the output, for example in order to provide a particular voltage, current or even waveform over time. The function circuit 23 may then, for example, act as a function generator depending on one or more control parameters and may generate or have a specific, preferably time-periodic, time waveform of the current and/or voltage.

19d is the load that needs to be switched. In one embodiment, the load may be an electrical consumer, such as a motor or a motor phase, a lighting device, a general machine, a control device, a computer, a charging device, and the like.

In another embodiment, the load may again be a power transistor controlled by the driver circuit 10.

If the load 19d is a motor or a motor phase, the drive circuit 13 can be used for pulse width modulation. However, this also applies to other power consuming products, such as lighting devices.

The voltage source 19e may be a dc voltage source or an ac voltage source. It may be a public power network (110/230V,50/60 Hz). However, it may also be a three-phase current (380V) or any other type of power supply.

Unlike the illustration, the output circuit 14 may have two transistors of different designs connected in series. This is particularly preferred if an alternating voltage is to be switched from the current source 19 e. The transistor designs may then be selected such that each transistor design is particularly suited to block one of two possible polarities.

Unlike what is shown, the drive circuit 10 may also be adapted to output a signal at the terminals, which signal is shaped, for example, with respect to ground. This signal is then used to control other components, not primarily to start or shut down power consuming products.

Fig. 2 shows possible operating modes for the functional circuit 23 or generally for the control circuit 13. A first input signal sequence, denoted i1, may be generated, for example, by button 19b and applied to circuit input 11. In the case of a pulse train, the pulses therein may have any desired spacing. The pulses may be generated by a circuit or by artificial keying, for example using switch 19 b. The corresponding pulse causes the output of the control circuit 13 to switch from one stable state to another as shown at a1 in figure 2. For example, it may be on/off keying of the lighting device.

I2 in fig. 2 indicates another input signal sequence with only one single pulse. The result may be that a longer pulse is generated at the output 26 and is reset again after a certain time at. The time Δ t is a control parameter, which may be fixed, or may be capable of being set or adjusted using the various possibilities described above.

An embodiment of the drive circuit, which may optionally be combined with one or more of the above-mentioned features, is particularly electrically and thermally suitable for directly controlling an electrical consumer, i.e. conducting its load current or at least its phase in the on-state, blocking its operating voltage in the off-state, and switching between states at a desired switching frequency.

Such an embodiment has a control signal input 11 for receiving a first control signal S1 at a first circuit input, a wireless coupler 12 connected to the control signal input and adapted to generate a galvanically decoupled second control signal S2 in dependence on the first control signal S1, and an output circuit 14 for controlling at least one circuit output terminal 14b,14c of the drive circuit for the electrical consumer in dependence on a third control signal S3. Such an embodiment has a drive section 13, which drive section 13 comprises a power supply, an input for receiving the second control signal, and an output for outputting a third control signal S3 in dependence of the second control signal S2 received at the input.

In a simple case, the second control signal S2 may be directly used as the third control signal S3. However, an impedance conversion, a signal amplification or another linear scaling of the conversion of the second control signal S2 into the third control signal S3 may also be provided between the two signals of the second control signal S2 and the third control signal S3. One of the more complex functional circuits described above may also be provided. The power supply is then used at least for the operation of the output circuit 14 and optionally for the operation of a wireless coupler or amplifier or impedance converter, so that the output circuit 14 can be switched quickly and reliably.

The package of the driver circuit may have one or more cooling devices, e.g. one or more metal cooling surfaces in the package wall and/or one or more cooling fins protruding from the actual body and thermally connected to the interior.

The power consuming product connectable to the driving circuit may have a load current, possibly in either phase thereof, of at least 0.1 or 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 or 20 amperes. The operating voltage may be higher than 30 or 50 or 100 or 200 or 500 or 1000 volts.

The drive circuit may be adapted to be switched on and off at a relatively high switching frequency, for example at a switching frequency of more than 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 or 20 kHz. For example, PWM applications may require these switching frequencies. The electrical energy supply circuit 25 is then particularly suitable for supplying the energy required for a correspondingly fast and frequent recharging of the internal capacitor of the semiconductor switch.

Conversely, designs for other applications (e.g. lighting control) may make the driving circuit unsuitable and unsuitable for high frequencies as described above, and only for operation at frequencies below the above limits, and possibly also for operation below 500Hz or below 200Hz or below 100 Hz. In particular, this can be associated with the electrical energy supply circuit 25, which can then be designed correspondingly smaller. Design features caused by thermal aspects may also become less complex. The cooling assembly or cooling fins may be omitted.

The driver circuit may be an integrated circuit. It may be housed in a standard package, for example in a DIP (dual column package), WDIP (wide dual column package), SOP (small outline package), LSOP (long small outline package) or SOIC (small outline integrated circuit) package.

The circuit components of the integrated circuit may be housed on one or more semiconductor chips. The functional circuit 23 and possibly the input and output amplifiers 22,24 may be built on a common chip. The components of the power supply 25 and the receiver 12b of the wireless coupler 12 may also be built on a separate chip or circuit carrier from the chip, or on the same chip. The semiconductor switches of the output circuit 14 may be built on a separate chip. The different chips are suitably connected to each other in the integrated circuit.

The features mentioned in the description and in the claims are understood to be combinable with each other as long as technically possible, even if their combination is not explicitly described. Features described in a particular context, in the embodiments of the drawings, or in the claims should also be understood as being removable from the claims, context, embodiments, or drawings, and combinable with any other drawings, embodiments, claims, and contexts, as long as such is technically feasible. The embodiments should not be construed as mutually exclusive. The description of a method, a program, a method step or a program step should also be understood as a description of a device for carrying out the method, program, method step or program step and vice versa.

List of reference numerals

10 drive circuit

11: input terminal

12: wireless coupler

12a light emitting diode

12b photodiode

13 control circuit

14 output circuit

21 signal input part

22 input amplifier

23 functional circuit

24: output amplifier

25 electric energy supply part

26 signal output part

14a, 14b,14c output terminals

19a voltage source

19b switch and button

19c protective resistor

19d power consuming product

19e electric energy supply part.