Having Asymmetric Half-bridge Patents (Class 318/254.2)
  • Patent number: 11606058
    Abstract: Disclosed is a motor, a control method, a power system, and an electric vehicle. Each phase stator winding of the motor includes two sub-winding sets. When a traction battery needs to be heated, the two sub-winding sets of the motor store electrical energy and provide alternating currents to the traction battery through an inverter, so that the traction battery uses its internal resistance for heating. In addition, the two sub-winding sets generate opposite magnetic fields which cancel each other out, so that the strength of the magnetic field inside each phase stator winding and the air gap magnetic flux are reduced, thereby alleviating the heat generation and NVH problems of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
    Inventors: Xiaojian Huang, Zhimin Dan, Bao Li, Xiyang Zuo
  • Patent number: 11407401
    Abstract: An apparatus for starting engine of mild hybrid electric vehicle may include: an ignition switch; an ambient temperature detector; a state of charge (SOC) detector; a mild starter & generator (MHSG) including a stator and a rotor mounted inside the stator; a starter which is configured to start the engine independently of the MHSG; a converter which is configured to voltage-drop an electric power of a high voltage battery and supply it to the low voltage battery or the starter; an MHSG wheel rotating integrally with the rotor; an MHSG position detector; and a controller configured for determining a top dead center (TDC) of a predetermined cylinder based on a signal of the MHSG position detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: YoungMin Kim
  • Patent number: 11349411
    Abstract: The invention relates to an adjustment of a PWM frequency in a power converter in accordance with the input voltage of the power converter. By means of the adjustment of the PWM frequency in the power converter in accordance with the input voltage, a ripple on the input side of the power converter can be varied. In particular, it is possible, in the case of high input voltages, to minimize the ripple by adjusting the PWM frequency and thus to reduce the sum of the input voltage and the ripple.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Florian Einsele, Helge Sprenger
  • Patent number: 11309743
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a balanced-current circuit structure and a parameter design method for a bifilar winding coil of wireless power transfer. The disclosure relates to the technical field of magnetic coupling wireless power transfer. The circuit includes a bifilar winding coil, a compensation capacitor array and a controlled voltage source array. The bifilar winding coil includes a first coil and a second coil, the compensation capacitor array includes a first compensation capacitor and a second compensation capacitor, and the controlled voltage source array includes a first controlled voltage source and a second controlled voltage source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Harbin Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Kai Song, Zhi Bie, Chao Wang, Guang Yang, Chunbo Zhu, Rengui Lu
  • Patent number: 11251671
    Abstract: A high-power motor controlled by parallelly connected windings is provided. The motor comprises multi-phase windings. Each phase includes n winding branches and 2n power devices, wherein the n winding branches are connected in parallel with each other, and each winding branch is independently controlled by a power device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: BIJIE TIANYU POWER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
    Inventors: Tianming Yin, Yan Wang
  • Patent number: 11196361
    Abstract: An electric motor control device controls driving of electric motors connected in parallel with each other and includes a power converter converting power from a power supply, and supply the converted power to each of the electric motors, a switching device to be turned on to electrically connect the power converter and at least one of the electric motors and to be turned off to electrically disconnect the power converter and the at least one of the electric motors, a current detection unit detecting a current that flows in the electric motors, and a controller controlling the power converter on the basis of operation of the switching device, rotation frequency command values from an external device, and a value of the current detected by the current detection unit. The controller turns the switching device from off to on so that start timing of control is different for each electric motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Wada, Akihiro Tsumura
  • Patent number: 11146202
    Abstract: A motor system may include three switching circuits, each of which includes two upper switching elements and two lower switching elements. A controller includes a signal output module, a signal distribution module, and a signal adjusting module. The signal output module outputs upper and lower PWM signals. The signal distribution module distributes each of the upper (lower) PWM signals alternately to the first upper (lower) switching element and the second upper (lower) switching element of corresponding one of the switching circuits. The signal adjusting module inverts all the PWM signals output by the signal output module when (1) each of currents flowing through two of the three coils has a negative value and all the three upper PWM signals are at HIGH level, or (2) each of currents flowing through two of the three coils has a positive value and all the three lower PWM signals are at LOW level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hyoungjun Na, Ken Toshiyuki
  • Patent number: 11118298
    Abstract: A washing machine capable of independently driving two rotors using one inverter in a simple configuration without supplying a composite current includes an outer rotor having a plurality of switching magnets arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction, and an inner rotor having a plurality of stationary magnets arranged to be radially arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction. When a magnetizing current is supplied to the coil of the stator, the magnetic pole of the switching magnet is inverted and the number of the poles of the outer rotor is switched.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yukinori Nakagawa, Tomonori Ueno, Hiroshi Katsumoto, Kenji Kitajima, Yasuyuki Sonoda, Masaki Oshige, Hidekazu Funakoshi, Yasumasa Nagasaki
  • Patent number: 11101752
    Abstract: A torque ripple compensation apparatus including a torque measurement unit configured to output torque measured through a torque sensor of an MDPS system; a motor speed measurement unit configured to output motor speed measured through a position sensor of an MDPS motor; a control unit configured to separately output an offset signal and a torque ripple signal based on the motor speed information and the measured torque information; and a torque ripple compensation unit configured to synthesize a plurality of torque ripple signals outputted from the control unit, and output a torque ripple compensation signal as a motor control signal to the MDPS motor, the torque ripple compensation signal being used to compensate for the synthesized torque ripple signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: In Hyuk Kim, Kyu Ha Kim, Hyeon Hee Jeong, Jeong Hoon Seo
  • Patent number: 11005400
    Abstract: In order to suppress high-frequency noise in micro-step driving of a stepping motor, a motor control device (100) includes an H bridge circuit (20) and control means for driving a switching element of the H bridge circuit (20) with a PWM signal and for setting a charge mode, a fast attenuation mode, or a slow attenuation mode for a motor coil. In a range from an electrical angle where the reference current value starts descending to an electrical angle of +52°, the control means switches the H bridge circuit (20) every PWM cycle to the charge mode and then to the slow attenuation mode. In a range exceeding +52° and to +90 degrees where the reference current value starts ascending, the control means switches the H bridge circuit (20) every PWM cycle to the charge mode and, if the motor current exceeds the reference current value, then the control means switches it to the fast attenuation mode and further to the slow attenuation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI INC.
    Inventors: Kei Yamazaki, Tetsuya Seki, Shigeki Miyaji
  • Patent number: 10981559
    Abstract: An apparatus for starting engine of mild hybrid electric vehicle may include: an ignition switch; an ambient temperature detector; a state of charge (SOC) detector; a mild starter & generator (MHSG) including a stator and a rotor mounted inside the stator; a starter which is configured to start the engine independently of the MHSG; a converter which is configured to voltage-drop an electric power of a high voltage battery and supply it to the low voltage battery or the starter; an MHSG wheel rotating integrally with the rotor; an MHSG position detector; and a controller configured for determining a top dead center (TDC) of a predetermined cylinder based on a signal of the MHSG position detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: YoungMin Kim
  • Patent number: 10958197
    Abstract: The technique of the present disclosure has an object to perform PWM control of DC motors with a CPU and a motor drive circuit connected by a smaller number of serial interfaces, and provides a motor drive circuit comprising: energization control units to switch the directions of energization of motors by using switching elements to be driven by PWM signals; a reception unit to receive data indicating energization of the motor and the duty ratio of the PWM signal for each energization control unit from a computation apparatus by serial communication; a first signal generation unit to generate a motor control signal for controlling energization of the motor and the duty ratio based on the data for each energization control unit; and a second signal generation unit to generate the PWM signal having the duty ratio set according to the corresponding motor control signal for each energization control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keiji Harada, Yuichi Naoi, Norio Sugiyama, Noboru Hada
  • Patent number: 10931216
    Abstract: A stepper driver for a motor includes an H-bridge, a sense transistor coupled to the H-bridge, a voltage-to-current (Vtol) converter, and a sine digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The Vtol converter has a Vtol converter input and a Vtol converter output. The Vtol converter output is coupled to the sense transistor. The sine DAC has a sine DAC digital input, a reference input, and a sine DAC output. The sine DAC output is coupled to the Vtol converter input. The sine DAC includes an R-2R network, an offset control circuit coupled to the R-2R network, and a gain control circuit also coupled to the R-2R network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Krishnamurthy Shankar, Venkata Naresh Kotikelapudi
  • Patent number: 10794790
    Abstract: The present invention provides a large-scale high-speed rotary equipment measuring and neural network learning regulation and control method and device based on rigidity vector space projection maximization, belonging to the technical field of mechanical assembly. The method utilizes an envelope filter principle, a two-dimensional point set S, a least square method and a learning neural network to realize large-scale high-speed rotary equipment measuring and regulation and control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: HARBIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Yongmeng Liu, Chuanzhi Sun, Jiubin Tan
  • Patent number: 10778134
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling an inverter for driving a motor includes a processor which includes: a current processor for generating a voltage command for causing a current detection value obtained by measuring a current supplied from the inverter to the motor to follow a current command for driving the motor; a voltage modulator for generating a pulse width modulation signal for controlling on and off states of switching elements in the inverter with a predetermined switching frequency based on the voltage command; and a frequency determining processor for setting a frequency change range within which the switching frequency will be randomly changed and randomly determining the switching frequency within the frequency change range when a random pulse width modulation method is applied to control of the inverter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Sung Kyu Kim, Yong Jae Lee, Su Hyun Bae, Ho Joon Shin, Tae Won Ha, Joo Young Park
  • Patent number: 10760448
    Abstract: The present invention provides a deep learning regulation and control and assembly method and device for large-scale high-speed rotary equipment based on dynamic vibration response properties. The present invention starts from geometrical deviation of multiple stages of rotor/stator of an aircraft engine, amount of unbalance of rotor/stator, rigidity of rotor/stator and vibration amplitude of rotor/stator, considers the influence of the area of the assembly contact surface between two stages of rotors/stators, and sets the rotation speed of rotor/stator to be the climbing rotation speed to obtain vibration amplitude parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: HARBIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Jiubin Tan, Yongmeng Liu, Chuanzhi Sun
  • Patent number: 10483897
    Abstract: A switched reluctance motor system includes a switched reluctance motor, a rotor including a plurality of salient poles, a stator including a plurality of salient poles, coils of three phases wound around the salient poles of the stator, and an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to drive the switched reluctance motor in a pole configuration pattern of NSNSNS in which the salient poles of the stator that have different polarities are alternately arranged. The electronic control unit is configured to perform current waveform control when an excitation sound frequency of a given order coincides with a resonance frequency of the switched reluctance motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHII KAISHA, Tokyo University of Science Foundation
    Inventors: Junichi Deguchi, Takahiro Shiina, Kensuke Yoshizue, Nobukazu Hoshi, Yusuke Kobayashi, Yosuke Murakami, Tomoya Abe
  • Patent number: 10419002
    Abstract: An apparatus for rectifying a resolver output signal may include: a resolver configured to receive an excitation signal and to output a resolver output signal based on the excitation signal, the excitation signal indicating a position of a rotor of a motor; a microprocessor configured to receive a reference rectification signal generated by rectification of the excitation signal and to output a delay signal by delaying the reference rectification signal according to a preset value; and a delay amount detection circuit configured to receive a reference excitation signal generated by rectification of the resolver output signal, to receive the delay signal from the microprocessor, to compare the reference excitation signal with the delay signal, and to output a phase difference detection signal and a delay amount excess/shortage signal to the microprocessor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Myoungseok Lee
  • Patent number: 10409595
    Abstract: In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may include a controller configured to control a process value using closed-loop control, wherein: (i) when using closed-loop control, the controller controls the process value based on a measured process value indicative of the process value communicated from a sensor and by generating a driving signal that is a maximum of a first driving signal which is the function of the measured process value and a second driving signal; and (ii) the controller is configured to disable polling by the controller of the sensor for the measured process value when the driving signal is greater than a threshold open-loop driving signal sufficient to maintain the process value within a desired range of the process value in the absence of closed-loop control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
    Inventors: Hasnain Shabbir, Dominick A. Lovicott
  • Patent number: 10389265
    Abstract: A circuit element includes an upper switching device, a lower switching device, an upper diode device, and a lower diode device. An upper drain is connected to a first terminal connected to a positive electrode of a power supply, and an upper source is connected to a third terminal. A lower drain is connected to a fourth terminal, and a lower source is connected to a second terminal connected to a negative electrode of the power supply. An upper anode is connected to the fourth terminal, and an upper cathode is connected to the first terminal. A lower anode is connected to the second terminal, and a lower cathode is connected to the third terminal. The third terminal and the fourth terminal are arranged so as to be able to be short-circuited outside of a package.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignees: Nidec Corporation, ROHM Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Yoshinaga, Masato Nakanishi, Yasuo Ishiyama, Toru Takahashi, Takumi Okada, Katsuhiko Yoshihara
  • Patent number: 10320324
    Abstract: A method of starting and/or driving a fan assembly, the fan assembly comprising a BLDC motor having one or more coils, and a bearing comprising a lubricant. The method comprises performing a special action for intentionally heating up the one or more coils and thereby indirectly heating up the lubricant. The method may comprise measuring a temperature of the bearing, or measuring a value related to said temperature, and performing the special action only if said temperature is below a certain threshold temperature. Performing the special action comprises setting an off-time to a first predefined value and setting an on-time to a second predefined value, the first and second predefined value having a first ratio. Starting the motor comprises setting the off-time to a third value and setting the on-time to a fourth predefined value, the third and fourth predefined value having a second ratio larger than the first ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: MELEXIS BULGARIA LTD.
    Inventors: Dirk Leman, Iwan Haemers, Robin Ansias
  • Patent number: 10267659
    Abstract: The invention provides an angle detecting device, which comprises absolute encoders provided on a rotation member which rotates at a constant speed, a clock signal generating component, a counter circuit, an angle calculating component, and a trigger signal generating component, wherein an angle trigger signal is inputted to the absolute encoders and the counter circuit at a predetermined time interval, the absolute encoders input rotation angles for each angle trigger signal to the angle calculating component, the counter circuit outputs the number of clock counts to the angle calculating component from the moment when a rotation angle measuring trigger signal is inputted by inputting the rotation angle measuring trigger signal for detecting the rotation angle of the rotation member to the counter circuit, and wherein the angle calculating component detects the rotation angle of the rotation member based on the rotation angles from the absolute encoders and on the number of the clock counts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: TOPCON Corporation
    Inventor: Satoshi Yanobe
  • Patent number: 10256751
    Abstract: A drive circuit having asymmetrical drivers. In an embodiment, a brushless DC motor may be driven by a drive circuit having three high-side MOSFETs and three low-side MOSFETs. A driver controller turns the MOSFETs on and off according to a drive algorithm such that phase currents are injected into motor coils to be driven. The high-side MOSFETs may be sized differently than the low-side MOSFETs. As such, when a MacDonald waveform (or similar drive algorithm) is used to drive the phases of the motor, less power may be required during disk spin-up because the MOSFETs that are on more (e.g., the low-side MOSFETs with a MacDonald waveform) may be sized larger than the MOSFETs that are on less (e.g., the high-side MOSFETs). In this manner, less power is dissipated in the larger size MOSFETs that are on more than the others.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Frederic Bonvin
  • Patent number: 10186999
    Abstract: For flux vector control, a controller generates a control signal for a permanent magnet machine. The controller further generates an output voltage angle as a function of the control signal that regulates the permanent magnet machine. The output voltage angle includes an angular canceling function that cancels an angular control portion of a dynamic response of the permanent magnet machine such that the control signal controls the permanent magnet machine as a second-order quadrant-axis current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Zhendong Zhang
  • Patent number: 10168375
    Abstract: A phase current integration method for diagnosing a fault in a switched reluctance motor power converter determines whether the main switch of a switched reluctance motor power converter is experiencing a short circuit or an open circuit fault by measuring a phase current io(t) transient value of said converter in a non-fault state as well as a present phase current i(t) transient value of said converter, so as to obtain, by an integration operation, an integration value SnO of a phase current during a certain period under the non-fault state, and an integration value Sn of a phase current during a certain period under a present state, the ratio En of the two values indicating a fault characteristic value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: China University of Mining and Technology
    Inventors: Hao Chen, Xing Wang, Shengquan Wang
  • Patent number: 10164550
    Abstract: A method, circuit configuration and bridge circuit for charging a capacitance effective on the main current terminals of a semiconductor switch, in particular an intrinsic capacitance, in particular the drain-source capacitance of a MOSFET semiconductor switch or the collector-emitter capacitance of an IGBT semiconductor switch, the precharging, in particular the at least partial charging, of the effective capacitance being forcibly controlled via a charging current path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: SEW-EURODRIVE GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Harald Wolf
  • Patent number: 10141880
    Abstract: With a driving current as IDRV, with a reference voltage as VREF, and with a gain as k, a current detection circuit generates a detection voltage VS represented by VS=VREF+k×IDRV. An error amplifier amplifies a difference between the detection voltage VS and a control voltage that indicates a position of the VCM so as to generate an error voltage VERR. A first driver switches the driving current IDRV between a source current and a sink current with respect to one end of the coil according to the error voltage VERR. A second driver switches the driving current IDRV between a sink current and a source current with respect to the other end of the coil according to the error voltage VERR. The driving circuit allows an external circuit to set the level of the reference voltage VREF.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tatsuya Ninomiya
  • Patent number: 10071762
    Abstract: Technical solutions are described for detecting an error in an inverter associated with a motor of a power steering system and operating the power steering system in response to the error. An example system includes a transistor pair that selectively provides power to a corresponding phase coil of the motor. The system further includes a detection module that detects a resistance error in the transistor pair by monitoring a voltage across a shunt resistor of the transistor pair in response to a gate drive command applied to the transistor pair. The system further includes a mitigation module that selects a mode of operation of the inverter based on the resistance error. The system also includes a motor control module that controls the inverter according to the mode of operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: STEERING SOLUTIONS IP HOLDING CORPORATION
    Inventor: Dennis B. Skellenger
  • Patent number: 10063168
    Abstract: A motor controller includes an inverter configured to convert a direct current to an alternating current, a control unit that generates a PWM signal for driving the inverter in response to a motor drive command from an external device, and a safety circuit arranged between the inverter and the control unit. The inverter includes an upper switching element and a lower switching element. The safety circuit includes logic gates which are provided corresponding to the upper switching element and the lower switching element, respectively and each of which has two or more inputs to cut off the PWM signal based on a safety input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: OMRON Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Kiribuchi, Ryuichi Jimbo
  • Patent number: 9935565
    Abstract: In accordance with an embodiment, motor control circuit has a first selector connected to a second selector through an analog to digital converter. The first selector has an input that is connected to an external pin. In addition, the second selector has a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs, wherein a first register is connected to a first input and a second register is connected to a second output of the second selector. In accordance with another embodiment, at a beginning step of a method for setting a duty of a drive signal of a motor, a duty setting signal is applied to an external pin. The duty setting signal is converted into a digital duty setting signal. One of the digital duty setting signal or a predetermined duty signal is transmitted to a storage register.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventor: Takashi Ogawa
  • Patent number: 9923447
    Abstract: A power conversion device includes a carrier generating unit, a setting unit, a PWM signal generating unit, and a power conversion unit. The carrier generating unit generates a carrier of a particular set carrier frequency during a certain continuation time. The setting unit sets the continuation time to be random and sets one carrier frequency among a plurality of mutually-different carrier frequencies as the set carrier frequency. The PWM signal generating unit generates a PWM signal based on the carrier generated by the carrier generating unit. The power conversion unit executes a power conversion based on the PWM signal and supplies converted power to a load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Shun Taniguchi, Kazuya Yasui, Kazuaki Yuuki, Yoshitake Kamijo
  • Patent number: 9843258
    Abstract: A buck voltage converter is disclosed. The buck voltage generator includes a controller configured to generate one or more pulse width modulation (PWM) signals, and a plurality of serially connected switches configured to receive the PWM signals and to generate an output voltage signal at an output terminal based on the received PWM signals. The output voltage signal has an average voltage corresponding with a duty cycle of the PWM signals, a first switch of the plurality of serially connected switches has a first breakdown voltage and a second switch of the plurality of serially connected switches has a second breakdown voltage, and the first breakdown voltage is less than the second breakdown voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: Empower Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy Alan Phillips
  • Patent number: 9829348
    Abstract: A method for identifying a position of a multi-phase brushless motor includes applying a plurality of detection voltage pulses to the motor, each detection voltage pulse corresponding to a respective driving phase of the motor, measuring a time period associated with a current reaching a predetermined current limit for each applied detection voltage pulse, and identifying a driving phase associated with a shortest time period for the current to reach the predetermined current limit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: Marvell World Trade Ltd.
    Inventors: Yichao Wang, Foo Leng Leong
  • Patent number: 9787223
    Abstract: A motor control apparatus controls a start/stop operation of a motor and includes a counting unit that performs a count-up or count-down operation from a predetermined initial value with a lapse of time in response to receiving an operation start instruction for the motor; a signal output unit that outputs a first state signal in response to receiving the operation start instruction, and outputs a second state signal only when a result of the counting by the counting unit falls outside a predetermined range; and a drive unit that outputs an ON signal to the motor in response to receiving the first state signal from the signal output unit, and outputs an OFF signal to the motor in response to receiving the second state signal from the signal output unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Takahashi, Hiroyuki Iwasaki
  • Patent number: 9787227
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a driver circuit and a motor control circuit. The driver receives first and second supply voltages and a control signal, and generates a target voltage on an output terminal according to the control signal. The motor control circuit is configured to generate the control signal and measure a rise time of a current of the driver circuit during a period of time in which the output terminal is at the target voltage. A method includes, during a time interval, providing the first supply voltage on an output of a first driver circuit, generating a target voltage on an output of a second driver circuit, and measuring a rise time of a current flowing between the outputs of the first and second driver circuits. For both the apparatus and method, the target voltage is between and substantially different from the first and second supply voltages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: Marvell International Ltd.
    Inventors: Yichao Wang, Kong Yin Leong, Ravishanker Krishnamoorthy
  • Patent number: 9774285
    Abstract: A driving circuit of a PMSM can include: a current sampling circuit that obtains a current sampling signal by sampling a rotor current of one phase of the PMSM; a sliding mode estimating circuit that receives the current sampling signal and a voltage sampling signal that represents a rotor voltage of the phase, estimates a back electromotive force information of the phase, and generates a first voltage signal that represents the back electromotive force information; a speed computing circuit that receives the first voltage signal, and generates an angular velocity signal that represents rotor cycle information; and a PWM control circuit that generates a PWM control signal according to the angular velocity signal, where the PWM control signal controls the turn on/off of switches in a three-phase inverter, to control an operating current of the PMSM to be a sine wave current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2017
    Assignee: Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD
    Inventors: Xiaodong Huang, Xinghao Zhang
  • Patent number: 9772131
    Abstract: A heat pump device capable of efficiently and reliably preventing a liquid refrigerant from stagnating in a compressor an air conditioner, a heat pump water heater, a refrigerator, and a freezing machine including the heat pump device. The configuration is such that, when the compressor is under operation standby, a high-frequency voltage synchronizing with a carrier signal is supplied to the compressor motor to carry out the locked energization of the compressor motor. From respective inter-phase voltages, respective phase voltages, or respective phase currents of the compressor motor for a plurality of high-frequency energization cycles, the detection values for one high-frequency energization cycle are restored. A power value calculated using the restored detection values for one high-frequency energization cycle is controlled to coincide with a heating power command necessary for discharging the liquid refrigerant stagnated in the compressor to the outside of the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunori Hatakeyama, Shota Kamiya, Kenta Yuasa, Shinya Matsushita, Shinsaku Kusube
  • Patent number: 9729093
    Abstract: A method for controlling a U-shape single phase synchronous permanent magnetic motor having a rotor and a stator and coupled to a single phase alternating current (AC) power source through a switch includes estimating back-electromotive force and the position of the rotor based on a voltage feedback signal, a current feedback signal, and a phase feedback signal indicative of a zero-crossing of the single phase AC power source. Once the speed and position of the rotor are determined, a controller can trigger a switch to supply power to the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin J. Fitzpatrick, Biao He, Qiang Mei, Ying Xiao
  • Patent number: 9729088
    Abstract: A method of starting-up a switched reluctance, SR, motor is provided. The method comprises simultaneously energizing a plurality of phases at a first time point with respective phase voltages that are substantially the same, until the motor rotor is stabilized in alignment with either one of the plurality of phases; simultaneously de-energizing the plurality of phases at a second time point that follows the first time point; monitoring a decrease of respective phase currents in the plurality of phases from a third time point that follows the second time point by a first predetermined time interval; determining a phase of alignment of the rotor using evaluation of the decrease of the phase currents following simultaneous de-energizing of the plurality of phases; and, initiating rotation of the rotor from the determined phase of alignment of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventor: Pavel Grasblum
  • Patent number: 9602033
    Abstract: The motor control apparatus controlling rotation of a brushless motor includes a controller to control an angular velocity of the motor, and a load torque calculator to calculate a load torque at which the motor drives a driven member, by using a detection signal output from a rotation detector to output the detection signal in response to the rotation of the motor. When the motor drives the driven member toward a target stop position, the controller calculates a deceleration rotation amount, which is a remaining rotation amount of the motor at start of deceleration of the motor from its drive state that is one of an acceleration state and a constant velocity state, and controls the angular velocity of the motor on a basis of the deceleration rotation amount. The controller calculates the deceleration rotation amount by using the load torque calculated in the drive state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Junki Yoshimuta
  • Patent number: 9590548
    Abstract: A method of regulating an output voltage of an alternator. The method comprises measuring first and second external contacts of the alternator regulator module operably coupled to first and second output contacts of the alternator respectively during an ON state of an excitation cycle for the alternator, measuring a second voltage across the first and second external contacts of the alternator regulator module during an OFF state of an excitation cycle for the alternator, deriving an average voltage value of the first and second voltage measurements, and deriving an offset value based at least partly on the derived average voltage value. The method further comprises measuring an instantaneous voltage across the first and second external contacts of the alternator regulator module, and configuring a control signal for regulating the output voltage of the alternator based at least partly on the instantaneous voltage measurement and the derived offset value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Vasily Alekseyevich Syngaevskiy, Denis Sergeevich Shuvalov, Kirill Alexandrovich Treshchanovskiy
  • Patent number: 9465399
    Abstract: A current generator device includes a processing unit including an input module designed to acquire input data representing a desired current wave. The processing unit also includes a management and control module connected to the input module and designed for receiving the input data and generating a primary voltage wave. The processing unit also includes an output module connected to the management and control module and designed to receive the primary voltage wave and to process it so as to generate an output current wave. The management and control module are further designed for receiving the output current wave from the output module and comparing the output current wave with the desired current wave and, if they are not substantially equal, modifying the primary voltage wave so as to obtain a new output current wave substantially equal to the desired current wave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: PRODIT ENGINEERING S.p.A.
    Inventors: Mario La Rosa, Sergio Fusero, Fortunato Petrocelli, Giorgio Bruno Ventre
  • Patent number: 9394084
    Abstract: A method of controlling an aircraft electrical system (40). The electrical system (40) comprises an alternating current electrical machine (56, 58) comprising a plurality of phases, each phase having a power rating, the electrical machine (56, 58) being configured to operate on failure of one or more phases. The method comprises: determining a power requirement; sensing a fault of one or more phases of the electrical machine (56, 58), and controlling the electrical machine (56, 58) to operate in a fault condition, in which the remaining phases of the electrical machine (56, 58) provide the electrical power requirement; and providing an overrating signal to a flight computer (66) of the aircraft (2) where the power provided by each phase exceeds the power rating of the respective phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Huw Llewellyn Edwards, Parag Vyas
  • Patent number: 8917042
    Abstract: A drive circuit is provided for reducing conducted electromagnetic interference provided by a power line to a motor controller. The power line includes a first alternating current (AC) line output and a second AC line output. The drive circuit includes an EMI filter having a first input terminal, a second input terminal, a first output terminal, and a second output terminal. The first input terminal is configured to be coupled to the first AC line output and the second input terminal is configured to be coupled to the second AC line output. The drive circuit further includes at least two series-coupled filter capacitors positioned after the EMI filter and a power factor correction (PFC) choke. The PFC choke is coupled at a first end to the second output terminal and at a second end between the series-coupled filter capacitors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Regal Beloit America, Inc.
    Inventors: Roger Carlos Becerra, Yao Da
  • Patent number: 8878467
    Abstract: Drive circuits that provide power factor correction and input current waveform shaping for controlling the speed and torque in a switched reluctance machine (SRM). The machine's phase windings are split into two segments, one of which is used for active power factor correction, input ac current waveform shaping and partial torque generation and the other of which is used for torque generation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Regal Beloit America, Inc.
    Inventor: Krishnan Ramu
  • Publication number: 20140239857
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling a switched reluctance motor with use of a power conversion circuit. In the apparatus, a command voltage setter sets a command voltage for a coil of the motor, where the command voltage is set to change gradually during either or both of a ramp-up period and a ramp-down period of the command voltage. A voltage controller controls an applied voltage to the coil to the command voltage set by the command voltage setter by operating the power conversion circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yoshinobu KAMADA
  • Patent number: 8796966
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a motor controller and related method. The invention is particularly well suited for use with an alternating current (AC) induction motor. Previously motor controllers did not take into account the combined effect a control circuit and controlled motor, had upon a mains supply and more particularly their separate and combined effect upon the power factor of an alternating current. The invention solves this problem by providing a motor controller which modifies an input current to an alternating current (AC) motor. The motor controller comprises: a power input rectifier; a low voltage power supply; a variable output voltage circuit for adjusting a drive output voltage circuit; and a control circuit arranged to control the variable output voltage circuit and to provide timed waveforms to the drive output voltage circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Inventor: Raymond John Peto
  • Publication number: 20140021889
    Abstract: A control system for compensating a hysteresis band of a switched reluctance (SR) machine having a rotor and a stator is provided. The control system may include a converter circuit and a controller. The converter circuit may be operatively coupled to the stator and include a plurality of switches in selective communication with each phase of the stator. The controller may be in communication with each of the stator and the converter circuit, and configured to monitor at least one phase current of the SR machine relative to a current threshold of the hysteresis band, determine an adjustment value based on a difference between the phase current and the current threshold if the phase current exceeds the current threshold, and compensate the current threshold by the adjustment value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2012
    Publication date: January 23, 2014
    Applicant: CATERPILLAR, INC.
    Inventors: Jesse Gerdes, Jackson Wai, Ahmed Khalil
  • Patent number: 8354811
    Abstract: A switching circuit includes two power transistors (22, 24) connected in series and a circuit (26, 28) for exciting each transistor suitable for simultaneously switching the two transistors. The circuit includes elements (30) for generating a corrective current (?i) for controlling a corrected-control transistor (22) among the two transistors (22, 24) according to the difference in temporal variation of the voltage at the conduction terminals of the two series-connected transistors (22, 24), and elements (37) for applying the current to the gate electrode of the corrected-control transistor (22).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Converteam SAS
    Inventor: Bernard Gollentz
  • Patent number: 8264182
    Abstract: A power factor correction system includes a rectifier that rectifies the voltage of an alternating current (ac) power source to produce a voltage waveform that transitions, in a half sinusoid, from a minimum amplitude to a maximum amplitude and back to the minimum amplitude twice in the period of the ac power source. A phase winding of a motor conveys current induced by the voltage waveform, and a regulator regulates the flow of the current conveyed by the phase winding for storage as energy in a storage component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Ramu, Inc.
    Inventor: Krishnan Ramu