Patents Examined by Kawing Chan
-
Patent number: 11967911Abstract: A voltage saturation prevention algorithm used as at least part of a method of controlling an electric vehicle, wherein the electric vehicle comprises an electric motor, a controller, and an inverter. The controller receives a control signal with an instruction to operate the electric motor, then sends a switching signal corresponding to the control signal to the inverter, wherein the inverter provides a plurality of output signals for operation of the electric motor. The method includes determining the expected amplitude of the plurality of output signals based on the instruction to operate the electric motor, calculating the amount of modification of the plurality of output signals required to prevent the expected amplitude from reaching a saturation value, and modifying, based on the calculation, the instruction to operate the electric motor to prevent the expected amplitude from reaching the saturation value. The method is implemented in software, without any additional hardware.Type: GrantFiled: May 19, 2023Date of Patent: April 23, 2024Assignee: Karma Automotive LLCInventors: Saleh Ziaieinejad, Geng Niu
-
Patent number: 11967851Abstract: A method for adapting a usage level of a battery pack includes measuring cell sense data for each respective battery cell using a cell sense circuit, the cell sense data including a cell voltage, current, and temperature. The method includes processing the cell sense data, for each respective battery cell, through multiple battery state functions of a controller to generate numeric cell degradation values (CDVs). The battery state functions are calibrated relationships of the cell sense data to predetermined battery fault conditions. Thereafter, the method includes automatically adapting the usage level of the battery pack during operation of the battery pack, via the controller, based on the numeric CDVs. An electric powertrain system includes the battery pack, cell sense circuit, a rotary electric machine, and a controller configured to execute the above method.Type: GrantFiled: February 25, 2021Date of Patent: April 23, 2024Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLCInventors: James C. Gibbs, Andrew M. Zettel, Calvin Goodman, Rajesh Nagappala
-
Patent number: 11962261Abstract: An electronic motor control system provides selectable linear and pulse-width modulated (PWM) operation without generating cross-over distortion. The system includes an output stage that has a pair of push-pull drivers each coupled to a terminal of the motor. The electronic motor control system also includes a pulse-width modulated (PWM) driver for providing pulse-width modulated drive signals to an input of the output stage when the pulse-width modulated mode is selected and a linear amplifier stage that provides a linear analog signal to the input of the output stage in linear mode, so that both drivers are operated to supply the current to the motor. In pulse-width modulated mode, a driver is selected for PWM operation, while the other driver is operated to supply a fixed voltage. A feedback control loop senses motor current and provides outputs to the pulse-width modulator and the linear amplifier stage.Type: GrantFiled: April 14, 2021Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignee: CIRRUS LOGIC, INC.Inventors: Vamsikrishna Parupalli, Mark May, Eric B. Smith, Zhong You
-
Patent number: 11951685Abstract: The present application provides a servo motor drive circuit and a 3D printing apparatus, a motion controller is configured to send a drive enable signal to the timer; a pulse period providing unit is configured to send a pulse period value to the timer and the first comparing unit at beginning of each pulse period; the timer is configured to perform initialization in response to the received pulse period value during enabling of the drive enable signal, perform cyclic timing by taking the pulse period value as a timing period, and send a timing duration to the first comparing unit; and the first comparing unit is configured to acquire current level information that satisfies a preset duty ratio according to the preset duty ratio, the pulse period value, and the timing duration, and send a drive signal to a servo motor according to the current level information.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 2021Date of Patent: April 9, 2024Assignee: ZHUHAI SAILNER 3D TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.Inventor: Pingchu Yu
-
Patent number: 11949226Abstract: An external power supply system for spindles is revealed. The external power supply system includes a tool holder, a rectifier circuit, an overvoltage protection circuit. and a buck/boost converter. The tool holder receives an external power source of a spindle while the rectifier circuit converts the external power source into a rectified output signal with a power factor through step-down transformation. The overvoltage protection circuit is used to check whether the rectified output signal is larger than an overvoltage signal for outputting an operating potential or a non-operating potential. The buck/boost converter is used for receiving the rectified output signal with the power factor and converting the rectified output signal to an output voltage according to the power factor. Then the output voltage is provided to a load of a low voltage power supply, a high voltage power supply, or a constant voltage power supply.Type: GrantFiled: July 19, 2021Date of Patent: April 2, 2024Assignee: NATIONAL CHUNG HSING UNIVERSITYInventors: Chien-Hung Liu, Yu-Hung Li
-
Patent number: 11949321Abstract: An electronic control system provides selectable linear and pulse-width modulated (PWM) operation with reduced disruption when changing from PWM operation to linear operation. The system includes an output stage that has a push-pull driver coupled to the load, which may be a motor, a haptic device, or other device requiring current-mode control. The system also includes a pulse-width modulated (PWM) driver for providing pulse-width modulated drive signals to gates of the transistors of the output stage when a pulse-width modulated mode is selected, and a linear amplifier stage that provides a linear analog signal to the gates of the transistors when a linear mode is selected. A pre-charging circuit pre-charges the gates during a pre-charge cycle that is initiated when the operating mode changes from the PWM operating more to the linear operating mode.Type: GrantFiled: October 26, 2021Date of Patent: April 2, 2024Assignee: CIRRUS LOGIC, INC.Inventors: Vamsikrishna Parupalli, Nishant Jain, Mengde Wang
-
Patent number: 11942778Abstract: A device for supplying power to an inductive load, including an H-bridge switching structure, the switching structure being designed to drive a current in the inductive load through a first control output and a second control output, an anomaly detector designed to generate an item of anomaly detection information about the detection of an anomaly at the switching structure, the anomaly detector including a first voltage generator, a second voltage generator, a first current measuring device, a second current measuring device designed to measure a current at the output of the second voltage generator, a third current measuring device, a fourth current measuring device, a fifth current measuring device and a sixth current measuring device, the current measuring devices being designed to respectively measure the currents of the switches.Type: GrantFiled: October 25, 2019Date of Patent: March 26, 2024Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBHInventors: Thierry Bavois, Florence Capy
-
Patent number: 11929700Abstract: An electric motor control device that can accurately calculate the rotating speed of an electric motor. The electric motor control device includes a speed calculating unit configured to receive, from a position detector that detects a rotational position of an electric motor and outputs a position detection signal including a periodic error determined according to the rotational position, an input of the position detection signal, receive, from a time detector that outputs a position change time signal obtained by detecting a time period in which the position detection signal output from the position detector changes, an input of the position change time signal, and calculate rotating speed of the electric motor based on the position detection signal and the position change time signal. Further, there is a speed correcting unit for correcting a periodic speed error determined according to the rotational position of the electric motor.Type: GrantFiled: April 11, 2019Date of Patent: March 12, 2024Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATIONInventors: Toshiaki Kato, Yasushi Otsuka
-
Patent number: 11929701Abstract: The electronic apparatus including a DC motor that is driven based on a current supplied from a power source, and including: a detection circuit that detects an instantaneous interruption of the power source; an H bridge circuit having an upper arm circuit having two switching elements connected in parallel to the power source and a lower arm circuit having two switching elements connected in parallel to a ground, the upper arm circuit and the lower arm circuit being connected in series, and controlling a current to be supplied to the DC motor; and a switching control circuit that controls the switching element, and in a case where an instantaneous interruption of the power source is detected by the detection circuit, the switching control circuit sets the switching elements of the upper arm circuit to off and sets the switching elements of the lower arm circuit to on.Type: GrantFiled: April 25, 2019Date of Patent: March 12, 2024Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Keiji Harada, Masayuki Hongo
-
Patent number: 11916507Abstract: A motor controller to control rotational speed of an output shaft of an electric motor. The motor controller includes a proportional controller and a time-optimal controller. The proportional controller controls the rotational speed when a present rotational position of the shaft is between a target rotational position and a switching point, inclusively. The time-optimal controller controls the rotational speed when the present rotational position is not between the target rotational position and the switching point. Also introduced herein are aspects pertaining to determining the switching point in a manner that minimizes overshooting the target rotational position while maximizing expediency at which the target rotational position is reached.Type: GrantFiled: March 3, 2020Date of Patent: February 27, 2024Assignee: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATIONInventors: Jian Wu, Ramakrishna Madhireddy, Nathaniel Wicks
-
Patent number: 11909344Abstract: A control device includes a processor configured to control operation of an inverter by a synchronous pulse width modulation control using a pulse width modulation signal. The inverter is coupled to a motor. The pulse width modulation signal is generated by comparison of a carrier signal and a voltage command. In the synchronous pulse width modulation control, on the condition that resonance is caused, in a circuit including the inverter, by a particular harmonic component out of harmonic components to be generated in accordance with the pulse width modulation signal, the processor is configured to change the number of pulses of the carrier signal in one cycle of the voltage command, from the main number of pulses to the sub-number of pulses.Type: GrantFiled: May 3, 2021Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATIONInventor: Kazuma Shimojo
-
Patent number: 11909346Abstract: An electric motor system includes a drive shaft, a first electric motor, a second electric motor, a first inverter, a second inverter and a control unit. The drive shaft is rotatable around an axis. The first electric motor and the second electric motor rotate the drive shaft. The first inverter supplies power in order to generate a torque to the first electric motor. The second inverter supplies power in order to generate a torque to the second electric motor. The control unit controls the first inverter and the second inverter. The controller is configured to be able to change a ratio between an output torque of the first electric motor and an output torque of the second electric motor.Type: GrantFiled: September 24, 2021Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: Daikin Industries, Ltd.Inventors: Takaaki Ono, Yusuke Irino, Hiroshi Hibino
-
Patent number: 11909347Abstract: A stepping motor control device includes a driving unit that drives a stepping motor including a rotor that rotates a hand and a coil that generates a magnetic flux for rotating the rotor, a control unit that outputs, to the driving unit, a driving pulse for rotating the rotor and a swinging pulse for swinging the rotor, a voltage detecting unit that detects an induced voltage generated in the coil when the rotor vibrates, and a determining unit that determines, based on a result of the detection of the voltage detecting unit, a mechanical load received by the rotor.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2021Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: SEIKO WATCH KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Akihito Okumura, Kosuke Yamamoto, Tetsuya Nobe, Kazumi Sakumoto
-
Patent number: 11909197Abstract: A motor drive device includes a reactor, a converter circuit, a capacitor, an inverter circuit, and overcurrent determination units. The converter circuit converts a first AC voltage output from an AC power supply into a DC voltage. The capacitor smooths a second voltage on the DC side of the converter circuit. The inverter circuit converts DC power stored in the capacitor into AC power. One of the overcurrent determination units determines overcurrent based on a detected value of the first AC current, flowing between the AC power supply and the converter circuit. Another overcurrent determination unit determines overcurrent based on a detected value of the second DC current, flowing between the converter circuit and the capacitor. The converter and inverter circuits stop operating when the determination result of one of the overcurrent determination units indicates an overcurrent.Type: GrantFiled: September 28, 2018Date of Patent: February 20, 2024Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric CorporationInventors: Satoru Ichiki, Takuya Shimomugi, Koichi Arisawa, Keisuke Uemura, Kenji Iwazaki
-
Patent number: 11901851Abstract: A motor drive control device 1_2 includes a target point determination unit 12_2 determining a target point P of zero crossing of a coil current Iu of a U phase based on a position detection signal Shu, a current zero crossing point estimation unit 14_2 estimating a zero crossing point Q of the coil current Iu of the U phase by detecting a change in a current direction of the coil current Iu of the U phase at a predetermined timing in every cycle of a PWM signal, an adjustment instruction signal generation unit 19_2 generating at least one of a phase adjustment instruction signal Sp for instructing phase adjustment of the coil current Iu and a frequency adjustment instruction signal Sf for instructing frequency adjustment of the PWM signal according to a phase difference ?? between the target point P and the zero crossing point Q such that the phase difference is within a predetermined range, and a drive control signal generation unit 16_2 generating a drive control signal Sd based on at least one of the phasType: GrantFiled: April 21, 2022Date of Patent: February 13, 2024Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI Inc.Inventors: Masato Aoki, Hiroyuki Kaidu, Wataru Nogamida, Syu Hayashi, Takahiro Asami
-
Patent number: 11901853Abstract: For determining rotation of a de-energized electric machine without accessing the machine, wherein the machine in the energized state rotates in a reference direction, a computer system determines, for at least one waveform of at least one set of multi-phase electrical power indicia measured remotely from the machine, that a first time segment of the at least one waveform corresponds to an energized state of the machine and that a second time segment of the at least one waveform corresponds to a de-energized state of the machine. The computer system also determines that the machine in the de-energized state has rotated in a direction reverse to the reference direction, wherein the determining that the machine in the de-energized state has rotated in a direction reverse to the reference direction includes comparing the first and second time segments of the at least one waveform.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2018Date of Patent: February 13, 2024Inventors: Alexander George Parlos, Gang Li
-
Patent number: 11894792Abstract: A motor control device includes an energization control unit and an excessive return determination unit. The energization control unit controls energization to a motor. The excessive return determination unit determines whether or not there is a possibility of an excessive return exceeding an allowable return position, when a non-energization return control is performed to return a motor in a direction away from a movable limit position by an external force generated in the rotation transmission system by turning off the energization to the motor after driving the motor to the movable limit position where the drive is restricted by the drive limiting portion. When it is determined that there is no possibility of the excessive return, the energization is continuously turned off, and when it is determined that there is a possibility of the excessive return, a stop control configured to stop the motor by energizing is performed.Type: GrantFiled: February 10, 2022Date of Patent: February 6, 2024Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventor: Jun Yamada
-
Patent number: 11888430Abstract: A motor drive receives a position feedback signal from an encoder operatively connected to the motor. The motor drive executes a speed regulator module on a first periodic interval to achieve desired operation of the motor, and the motor drive executes an additional module at a second periodic interval, occurring more frequently than the first periodic interval, to increase the resolution of the position feedback. The position feedback signal is provided as or converted to counts. The motor drive maintains a first counter with a running total of each count received as well as a second counter which generates a higher resolution value than the first counter. During each second periodic interval the motor drive increments the high-resolution counter by the number of actual counts detected within the corresponding first periodic interval. This high-resolution counter is used by the speed regulator to obtain desired operation of the motor.Type: GrantFiled: May 17, 2021Date of Patent: January 30, 2024Assignee: Magnetek, Inc.Inventors: John A. Backman, Bryan Radke
-
Patent number: 11888380Abstract: The present invention relates to a linear actuator comprising a console, an outer tube connected to the console, an electric motor, a transmission, and a spindle in connection with the transmission. The linear actuator comprises a spindle nut on the spindle and an inner tube connected to the spindle nut. The spindle nut and the inner tube are guided inside the outer tube. The linear actuator comprises a control box which is connected to the console by means of a snap connection. The linear actuator further comprises an end stop arrangement having an end switch for each direction of movement of the spindle nut. An object underlying the invention is to provide a simpler connection of the control box to the linear actuator. A further object is to provide a less complex construction of the end stop arrangement of a linear actuator. To this end, the control box is connected to the console by means of a snap connection.Type: GrantFiled: June 28, 2018Date of Patent: January 30, 2024Assignee: Linak A/SInventors: Martin Kahr Knudsen, Henrik Skovby, René Sørensen
-
Patent number: 11885848Abstract: A device for assessing remaining life of a rotating electrical machine includes: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire actual running performance data and electrical data about the rotating electrical machine to be assessed; an index value calculation unit configured to calculate a first index value to a third index value based on the acquired data, and to calculate, as a fourth index value, an estimation value of a residual withstand voltage value of the rotating electrical machine by performing analysis that uses an MT method on each piece of the electrical data; and an insulation deterioration estimation unit configured to assess the remaining life of the rotating electrical machine by estimating the remaining life of the rotating electrical machine with use of four index values from the first index value to the fourth index value.Type: GrantFiled: November 15, 2019Date of Patent: January 30, 2024Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATIONInventors: Tadao Otani, Kazuo Hayashi, Hiroshige Fujita, Wataru Nagaya, Shinsuke Miki