Antibacklash Systems (e.g., With Unidirectional Approach To Balance) Patents (Class 318/630)
  • Patent number: 11660746
    Abstract: A robot includes a first driving source, a second driving source, an output portion to which both rotation of the first driving source and rotation of the second driving source are transmitted, and a control device configured to execute a first process and a second process. In the first process, the control device controls the first driving source and the second driving source such that when the output portion is rotated toward a predetermined direction, a rotational direction of the output portion is limited to the predetermined direction. In the second process, the control device controls the first driving source and the second driving source such that when the output portion is rotated toward a predetermined direction, the output portion is able to rotate toward a direction opposite to the predetermined direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tsutomu Osaka
  • Patent number: 11643874
    Abstract: An electromechanical actuator (11) for a closure, obscuring or solar protection installation (6) includes a motor assembly (16), including an electric motor (261) and a reduction gearbox (265), first and second (133) mechanical modules for filtering vibrations, and an output shaft (20), inserted at least partially in a casing (17), the electromechanical actuator (11) extends along a longitudinal axis (X), the first and the second mechanical modules (33, 133) being disposed on either side of the motor assembly (16) along the longitudinal axis (X) and each having a rigid transmission coupling, with at least a first degree of freedom perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis (X), allowing the motor assembly (16) to move along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (X), the electromechanical actuator also comprising at least one elastic module (130) that limits the movement of the motor assembly (16) along the perpendicular plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: SOMFY ACTIVITES SA
    Inventors: Eric Lagarde, Héléna Robert, Dylan Mohamed
  • Patent number: 11643873
    Abstract: Home-automation actuator (11) comprising a motor (16), a housing (17), a mechanical module for filtering vibrations (33; 33a; 33b; 33c), a module for absorbing vibrations (130) and a torque support (21), the mechanical module comprising a first end (35, 135) and a second end (39, 139), —the first end (35, 135) being connected to the housing (17), —the second end (39, 139) being connected to the torque support (21), the mechanical module providing the connection between the housing (17) and the torque support so as to rotate around a first axis (X) of the actuator, the absorption module translationally connecting the housing (17) to the torque support (21) allowing a rotational degree of freedom between the housing (17) and the torque support (21).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: SOMFY ACTIVITES SA
    Inventors: Cyril Schuehmacher, Sébastien Lemaître, Jérôme Pezet, Adrien Brondex, Eric Lagarde
  • Patent number: 11603927
    Abstract: A shift range control apparatus controls a shift range switching system that switches shift ranges by controlling driving of a motor. This control apparatus calculates a motor angle based on a motor rotation angle signal, acquires an output shaft signal based on a rotation position of an output shaft from an output shaft sensor, sets a target rotation angle based on a target shift range and the output shaft signal, and controls driving of the motor such that the motor angle becomes the target rotation angle. The control apparatus sets the target rotation angle to a target limit value, in response to the target rotation angle that is set based on the output shaft signal being a value at which rotation occurs that is further toward a back side in a rotation direction than the target limit value that is set based on shift ranges before and after switching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Sakaguchi, Masahiko Akiyama, Masashi Misawa, Kenshi Masuo
  • Patent number: 11247645
    Abstract: An output shaft receives transmission of a driving force of a motor. A valley forming member has valley portions correspondingly to shift ranges and rotates integrally with the output shaft. An engaging member is biased with a biasing member in a direction to be fitted to a valley portion and is configured to be fitted to a target valley portion, which is a valley portion corresponding to a target shift range. The motor control unit performs a control to drive the motor. The motor shaft, which is a rotary shaft of the motor, and the output shaft have a play therebetween. The motor control unit determines a motor target position to locate the engaging member at a position shifted by a predetermined amount before the center of the target valley portion in the driving direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shigeru Kamio
  • Patent number: 11171582
    Abstract: A drive device includes a first motor, a second motor, and circuitry. The first motor includes a first rotation detector and is configured to rotate a driven shaft to apply a driving torque to the driven shaft. The second motor includes a second rotation detector and is configured to rotate the driven shaft to reduce backlash between the first motor and the driven shaft. The circuitry is configured to control the first motor and the second motor, based on a detection signal of the second rotation detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Takahisa Koike
  • Patent number: 10757334
    Abstract: An actuator of a camera module includes a driving coil disposed to face a detection target; a driving circuit including a plurality of transistors connected to the driving coil; and a processor configured to provide a respective gate control signal to a gate of each of the plurality of transistors, and detect a displacement of the detection target based on a component of an oscillation signal generated in a driving signal applied to the driving coil in response to an operation of any one of the plurality of transistors being switched by the respective gate control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Youn Joong Lee, Chang Seok Lee, Koon Shik Cho, Ho Kwon Yoon
  • Patent number: 10423170
    Abstract: Included are a first position detection part that detects a first position which is the position of a movable part; a second position detection part that detects a second position which is the position of a driven part; a positional error calculation part that calculates positional error, which is deviation between a converted first position detection value and a second position detection value; and a positional error variation calculation part that calculates an absolute value for variation of positional error since reversal of a position command was detected, in which addition of a backlash correction amount is started if the absolute value for the variation of the positional error exceeds a first reference value, and addition of a backlash acceleration amount is started if the absolute value of variation of the positional error exceeds a second reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
    Inventors: Shoutarou Hashimoto, Tadashi Okita, Yuuki Morita
  • Patent number: 10353374
    Abstract: A controller including: a positional deviation calculating unit that calculates positional deviation using a position command directed to a servo motor for driving a cutting tool, etc., and a position feedback value corresponding to the position of the cutting tool, etc.; an oscillation command calculating unit that calculates an oscillation command using the position command and a spindle axis angle of the rotated work, etc., or using the position feedback value and the spindle axis angle; an oscillation offset calculating unit that calculates an offset for the oscillation command using the positional deviation, the oscillation command, and the spindle axis angle; and a driving unit that determines a drive signal for the servo motor based on the positional deviation, the oscillation command, and the oscillation offset, and outputs the drive signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoto Sonoda, Makoto Haga
  • Patent number: 10073433
    Abstract: A numerical controller controls a position of a control axis in synchronization with a reference value by using tabular data. When the numerical controller sequentially reads a command block from the tabular data and analyzes the command block so as to acquire a reference value and a coordinate value of a control point, the numerical controller outputs a reference value of the control point, which is shifted based on a shift amount specified by a shift command, in command blocks subsequent to the command block which includes the shift command, in a case where the shift command for shifting a reference value is included in the read command block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: FANUC Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshifumi Wake, Akira Kanemaru, Yasushi Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 9958857
    Abstract: To provide a motor control device, motor control method, and non-transitory computer readable medium recording a motor control program, which add a backlash correction amount to a position command for a motor at the appropriate timing. Included are a first position detection part that detects a first position which is a position of a movable part; a second position detection part that detects a second position which is a position of a driven part; a positional error calculation part that calculates positional error, which is deviation between a converted first position detected value and a second position detected value; and a backlash correction part that adds a backlash correction amount when the absolute value for the variation of the positional error since reversal of a position command was detected exceeds the predetermined reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shoutarou Hashimoto, Tadashi Okita, Yuuki Morita
  • Patent number: 9785125
    Abstract: A motor control device includes a first position detecting unit for detecting a position of a movable part, a second position detecting unit for detecting a position of a driven part, an error computing unit for computing an error between a first position detection value detected by the first position detecting unit and a second position detection value detected by the second position detecting unit, a memory unit for memorizing, as an initial error, an error computed when the movable part engages with the driven part, a compensation amount computing unit for computing a backlash compensation amount for compensating backlash, a compensation gain computing unit for computing a compensation gain based on the acceleration command, and a compensation amount computing unit for computing the backlash compensation amount using the compensation gain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsutomu Nakamura, Satoshi Ikai
  • Patent number: 9129083
    Abstract: Automatically computing the reflected mass or reflected inertia of a computer-aided design model comprised of a motor includes executing a simulation of the model, using the simulation results to compute the reflected mass or reflected inertia, and treating the non-motor parts of the model as a virtual body having a time-varying mass or a time-varying inertia. The mass or inertia of the virtual body at a specific time is the reflected mass or reflected inertia, respectively, of the model at the specific time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Dassault Systems SolidWorks Corporation
    Inventors: Shrikant Vitthal Savant, Kyeong Hwi Lee
  • Patent number: 9024552
    Abstract: The present invention includes a voltage applying step of applying an applied voltage including a DC component and a plurality of frequency components to a PM motor, a motor current detecting step of detecting a motor current flowing depending on the applied voltage, and a current control gain adjusting step of calculating a current control gain based on frequency characteristics of the applied voltage and the motor current. In this manner, a stable current control gain having a high current response can be adjusted within a short period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Tazawa, Masaru Nishizono
  • Patent number: 9018886
    Abstract: A motor control system (10) which includes a difference calculating part (31) which calculates a difference between a first position detection value of a moving part and a second position detection value of a driven part, a judging part (32) which judges if a moving part has engaged with the driven part when the moving part is made to move from any initial position in a first and second drive directions, a holding part (33) which holds the difference as initial difference linked with the first or second drive direction, when the moving part has engaged with the driven part, and a correction amount calculating part (34) which calculates a backlash correction amount, the correction amount calculating part using the difference based on the current positions of the moving part and the driven part and the initial difference to calculate the backlash correction amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
    Inventors: Yasusuke Iwashita, Kenichi Takayama, Satoshi Ikai
  • Patent number: 8988022
    Abstract: The present invention includes a voltage applying step of applying an applied voltage including a DC component and a plurality of frequency components to a PM motor, a motor current detecting step of detecting a motor current flowing depending on the applied voltage, and a current control gain adjusting step of calculating a current control gain based on frequency characteristics of the applied voltage and the motor current. In this manner, a stable current control gain having a high current response can be adjusted within a short period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Tazawa, Masaru Nishizono
  • Publication number: 20150054445
    Abstract: An electric endoscope includes a motor that generates a rotational driving force, a torque shaft that transmits the rotational driving force from a proximal end portion to a distal end portion, a connecting section for bending a bending portion by the rotational driving force transmitted by the torque shaft, an input section that instructs a target rotation amount of the motor, a detecting section that detects rotation information of the motor in a rotating state thereof, an estimating section that estimates a rotation state of the motor based on the rotation information, a motor physical model, a torque shaft physical model and a connecting section physical model, and a control section that performs control so that the rotation state of the distal end portion matches with a rotation state of the target rotation amount based on the estimated rotation state of the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Applicant: OLYMPUS MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORP.
    Inventor: Toshimasa KAWAI
  • Patent number: 8950323
    Abstract: In a sheet-fed printing press including; an impression cylinder gear driven by an upstream drive motor of an upstream printing unit group; an impression cylinder rotationally driven by the impression cylinder gear; a transfer cylinder gear of a convertible press mechanism rotationally driven by the upstream drive motor through the impression cylinder; and a transfer cylinder which is provided with a notch and is rotationally driven by the transfer cylinder gear, a load motor is provided to the transfer cylinder or the transfer cylinder gear, and braking force of the load motor is controlled according to load on the upstream drive motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Komori Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyoshi Kamoda, Hiromitsu Numauchi
  • Patent number: 8903518
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a motor includes, a position detection unit which detects the position of a driven body, a positional error acquiring unit which acquires for each sampling cycle a positional error representing a deviation between the position command given to the motor and the position of the driven body detected by the position detection unit, a dead-zone processing unit which outputs the positional error by replacing the positional error with zero if the positional error acquired by the positional error acquiring unit lies within a predetermined dead-zone range, and a repetitive control unit which calculates an amount of correction such that the positional error output from the dead-zone processing unit is reduced to zero, and wherein: the motor is controlled based on the positional error acquired by the positional error acquiring unit and the amount of correction calculated by the repetitive control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: FANUC Corporation
    Inventors: Naoto Sonoda, Yukio Toyozawa, Yasusuke Iwashita
  • Patent number: 8803466
    Abstract: A motor control apparatus includes a position detector to detect a position of a motor. A speed operator calculates a first speed of the motor. A position controller outputs a first speed command. A speed controller acquires a difference between the first speed command and a second speed of the motor to output a first torque/thrust command. A phase compensator includes a lowpass filter to advance a phase of the second speed, and acquires the first speed and the first torque/thrust command to output the second speed. An inertia variation inhibitor includes a disturbance observer estimating a disturbance torque/thrust. The inertia variation inhibitor acquires the first speed and a second torque/thrust command, and adds the disturbance torque/thrust to the first torque/thrust command to output the second torque/thrust command. A torque/thrust controller acquires the second torque/thrust command to control a motor torque/thrust.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventors: Yasufumi Yoshiura, Yasuhiko Kaku
  • Publication number: 20140197773
    Abstract: A motor control device includes a position command generating unit, a difference calculating unit for calculating a difference between a positional detection value of a movable unit and a positional detection value of a driven unit, a retaining unit for retaining, as an engaging difference, the difference when the movable unit is moved in a first or second direction to engage with the driven unit, in association with the first direction and the second direction, and a compensation amount calculating unit for calculating a backlash compensation amount based on the difference calculated by the difference calculating unit and the engaging difference retained by the retaining unit. It is determined whether or not the movable unit is engaged with the driven unit by comparing a movement amount of the driven unit with a threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2014
    Publication date: July 17, 2014
    Applicant: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoshi Ikai, Tsutomu Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20140117919
    Abstract: A servo control device includes a follow-up control unit that controls a control target that drives a mechanical system by a motor, a command function unit that has input therein a phase signal ? indicating a phase of a cyclic operation performed by the control target, and that calculates a machine motion command according to the phase signal ? by a preset first function, a second derivative unit that uses a second function obtained by second-order differentiating the first function with respect to the phase signal to calculate a value of the second function according to the phase signal as a second-order differential base signal, a correction-value computation unit that computes a first command correction value for correcting the motor motion command by using a product of a square value of the phase velocity, the second-order differential base signal, and a first constant, and a correction-value addition unit that calculates the motor motion command based on an added value of the first command correction val
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2012
    Publication date: May 1, 2014
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Ikeda, Yoshihiro Marushita, Koji Mahara, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Hidemasa Ogi
  • Patent number: 8674649
    Abstract: A high acceleration rotary actuator motor assembly is provided comprising a plurality of phase motor elements provided in tandem on a shaft, each phase element including a rotor carrying magnets which alternate exposed poles, the rotor being connected to the shaft and surrounded by a stator formed of a plurality of interconnected segmented stator elements having a contiguous winding to form four magnetic poles, the stator being in electrical communication with a phase electric drive unit, wherein each of the poles exert a magnetic force upon the magnets carried by the rotor when the poles are electrically charged by the phase electric drive unit. The rotors and magnets of each phase motor element are offset about the shaft from one another. In addition, the phase motor elements are electrically isolated from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Inventor: Gerald K. Langreck
  • Publication number: 20140062378
    Abstract: A motor control system (10) which includes a difference calculating part (31) which calculates a difference between a first position detection value of a moving part and a second position detection value of a driven part, a judging part (32) which judges if a moving part has engaged with the driven part when the moving part is made to move from any initial position in a first and second drive directions, a holding part (33) which holds the difference as initial difference linked with the first or second drive direction, when the moving part has engaged with the driven part, and a correction amount calculating part (34) which calculates a backlash correction amount, the correction amount calculating part using the difference based on the current positions of the moving part and the driven part and the initial difference to calculate the backlash correction amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2013
    Publication date: March 6, 2014
    Applicant: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasusuke IWASHITA, Kenichi TAKAYAMA, Satoshi IKAI
  • Patent number: 8620536
    Abstract: Controlling a digging operation of an industrial machine that includes a dipper, a crowd motor drive, and a controller. The crowd motor drive is configured to provide one or more control signals to a crowd motor, and the crowd motor is operable to provide a force to the dipper to move the dipper toward or away from a bank. The controller is connected to the crowd motor drive and is configured to monitor a characteristic of the industrial machine, identify an impact event associated with the dipper based on the monitored characteristic of the industrial machine, and set a crowd motoring torque limit for the crowd motor drive when the impact event is identified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Harnischfeger Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Colwell, William Hren, David Wendt, Michael Linstroth
  • Patent number: 8571766
    Abstract: Systems, methods, devices, and computer readable media for controlling a digging operation of an industrial machine that includes a dipper and a crowd drive. A method includes determining an acceleration associated with the industrial machine, determining a crowd retract factor based on the acceleration, comparing the crowd retract factor to a threshold crowd retract factor, setting a crowd speed reference and a crowd retract torque for the crowd drive for a period of time based on the comparison of the crowd retract factor to the threshold crowd retract factor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2013
    Assignee: Harnischfeger Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Colwell, William Hren, David Wendt, Michael Linstroth
  • Publication number: 20130271058
    Abstract: A method is specified for ascertaining an actuating position of a vehicle part that can be moved by an electric actuating motor. The speed of an actuating motor correlated therewith is acquired in a time-resolved manner during an actuation process. An initial no-load phase of the actuation process is identified, during which the actuating motor rotates while overcoming the system tolerance of the actuating mechanism without motion of the vehicle part. An actuating position measure for the actuating position of the vehicle part is ascertained from the motor rotation, with this measure being corrected during the no-load phase. By averaging over time, a test quantity is ascertained from the second derivative or the measured quantity correlating herewith. The end of the initial no-load phase is identified in this process when the test quantity exceeds a predetermined limit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2013
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: BROSE FAHRZEUGTEILE GMBH & CO. KG HALLSTADT
    Inventor: BROSE FAHRZEUGTEILE GMBH & CO. KG HALLSTADT
  • Publication number: 20130271059
    Abstract: In order to ascertain the actuating position of a vehicle part that is moved by an electric actuating motor via an actuating mechanism, an angle of rotation correlating with the number of motor shaft rotations during the actuation process or a motor signal correlated therewith are ascertained during an actuation process. An actuating position measure for the actuating position of the vehicle part is derived from the angle of rotation or the motor signal correlating therewith. During this process, an unloaded angle of rotation, through which the motor shaft rotates during an initial no-load phase of the actuation process without motion of the vehicle part is compensated by a predetermined correction term. The correction term is changed according to a stored dependency on a characteristic quantity for the age of the actuating mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2013
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. KG, Hallstadt
    Inventors: Markus SCHLESIGER, Roland KALB, Martin LIEB, Marcus SCHOLZ, Steffen BAUERSACHS, Christoph STRAUB, Detlef RUSS, Matthias WEIDINGER
  • Patent number: 8527168
    Abstract: A method for ascertaining a rotational speed parameter for determining a setpoint torque for driving a drivetrain. The drivetrain comprises a first and at least one second drive assembly for driving a hybrid vehicle. The first drive assembly can be coupled to the drivetrain by means of a clutch. The second drive assembly is mechanically coupled to the drivetrain. When the hybrid vehicle is being driven by means of at least the first drive assembly, the rotational speed parameter corresponds to the value of a shaft rotational speed. When the hybrid vehicle is being driven only by means of the second drive assembly, the rotational speed parameter corresponds to the value of a determined rotational speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander Maass, Christian Vienken, Manfred Hellmann, Kai Moegle
  • Patent number: 8525460
    Abstract: An SEA architecture for controlling the torque applied by an SEA that has particular application for controlling the position of a robot link. The SEA architecture includes a motor coupled to one end of an elastic spring and a load coupled to an opposite end of the elastic spring, where the motor drives the load through the spring. The orientation of the shaft of the motor and the load are measured by position sensors. Position signals from the position sensors are sent to an embedded processor that determines the orientation of the load relative to the motor shaft to determine the torque on the spring. The embedded processor receives reference torque signals from a remote controller, and the embedded processor operates a high-speed servo loop about the desired joint torque. The remote controller determines the desired joint torque based on higher order objectives by their impedance or positioning objectives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignees: GM Global Technology Operations LLC, The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Matthew J. Reiland, Brian Hargrave, Robert Platt, Muhammad E. Abdallah, Frank Noble Permenter
  • Patent number: 8511192
    Abstract: A device for preventing backlash in a gear train, comprising a first and second drive gear, driven by a first and second motor, with a driven gear, a system controller defining a nominal trajectory of said driven gear, a position feedback controller for calculating a speed set point, a phase controller for calculating a difference between said first and second motor torque, providing torque upper and lower levels, comparing said difference to said upper and lower levels and adjusting the phase set point for said first and second motors based at least upon the comparing, where the phase is reduced if said difference is greater than or equal to said upper level, said phase is increased if said difference is less than or equal to said lower level, and said phase is kept constant if said difference is greater than said lower level and less than said upper level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Hitec Luxembourg S.A.
    Inventors: Pierre Hirtt, Yves Leiner, Elvis Dolivier
  • Patent number: 8482243
    Abstract: A high acceleration rotary actuator motor assembly is provided comprising a plurality of phase motor elements provided in tandem on a shaft, each phase element including a rotor carrying magnets which alternate exposed poles, the rotor being connected to the shaft and surrounded by a stator formed of a plurality of interconnected segmented stator elements having a contiguous winding to form four magnetic poles, the stator being in electrical communication with a phase electric drive unit, wherein each of the poles exert a magnetic force upon the magnets carried by the rotor when the poles are electrically charged by the phase electric drive unit. The rotors and magnets of each phase motor element are offset about the shaft from one another. In addition, the phase motor elements are electrically isolated from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Inventor: Gerald K. Langreck
  • Patent number: 8461794
    Abstract: In a method and apparatus for controlling of a servo-drive, in particular of a solid state actuator in which the servo-drive is controlled during each control process by means of a two-point regulator (R2P), the two-point regulator (R2P) has a power signal (I) as control signal for actuation of the servo-drive. An upper switch point (PO) of the two-point controller (R2P) is allocated to one maximum power value (ÎOn) and a lower switch point (PU) of the two-point controller (R2P) is allocated to one minimum power value (ÎUm). The upper switch point (PO) and the lower switch point (PU) are established during the controlling process so that they are separated in pairs by at least a minimum default spacing (Dmin).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2013
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Walter Schrod, Christian Tump
  • Publication number: 20130142620
    Abstract: A method of determining the actual position of a control surface (27). The method comprises receiving a signal (34) representative of a required position of the control surface (27), repositioning the control surface (27) in response to the signal (34) by moving an actuator (26), measuring a secondary position indicator, calculating the actual position of the control surface (27) on the basis of the secondary position indicator and, comparing the actual position with the required position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Publication date: June 6, 2013
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
  • Patent number: 8355847
    Abstract: Systems, methods, devices, and computer readable media for controlling a digging operation of an industrial machine that includes a dipper and a crowd drive. A method includes determining an acceleration associated with the industrial machine, determining a crowd retract factor based on the acceleration, comparing the crowd retract factor to a threshold crowd retract factor, setting a crowd speed reference and a crowd retract torque for the crowd drive for a period of time based on the comparison of the crowd retract factor to the threshold crowd retract factor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Harnischfeger Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Colwell, William Hren, David Wendt, Michael Linstroth
  • Patent number: 8324852
    Abstract: It is an object to detect the axial position of a rotor without using a sensor. A method for detecting the position of a motor including a rotor and a stator around which armature windings of a plurality of phases are wound is provided, wherein a position detecting coil is disposed on one axial end face of a stator core, an induced voltage generated in the position detecting coil is detected, and the axial position of the rotor is detected on the basis of the detection result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
    Inventors: Yohei Kakiuchi, Takeshi Okubo, Yasuharu Yamamoto, Tatsuya Hidaka
  • Patent number: 8253354
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and device for transferring signal data from a sender to one or more receivers. The invention includes receiving a quantity as a function of time, arranging the quantity into a first polynomial to obtain values for polynomial coefficients of a first continuous signal, and transferring the values of the polynomial coefficients of the first continuous signal via a first data transfer link to one or more receivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: ABB Oy
    Inventor: Mika Niemi
  • Patent number: 8237390
    Abstract: A drive unit comprising of a driving motor and of at least two flexible linking members, which twist on each other when a rotational shaft of the driving motor rotates and thus produce a pulling force on a motion element that is attached to or is a part of link of a legged robot's leg mechanism is disclosed. A control method to control the invented drive unit so that a passive, a passive-dynamic or an active walking modes and transition between the modes of a legged robot is achieved without any additional mechanical means is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Inventor: Ivan Godler
  • Publication number: 20120182194
    Abstract: A three-axis antenna positioner has an X-Y over azimuth configuration, and includes an azimuth drive assembly, an X-axis drive assembly, and a Y-axis drive assembly. Each drive assembly is independently operable. The azimuth drive assembly imparts 540° azimuthal rotational motion to an antenna about an azimuth axis. The X-axis drive assembly rotates the antenna about a horizontal X-axis at elevation angles between ?90° and +90°. The Y-axis drive assembly rotates the antenna about a Y-axis at elevation complement angles between ?2° and +105°. The azimuth axis, the X-axis, and the Y-axis all intersect at a common intersection point, and are mutually orthogonal. A controller operates each drive assembly so as to minimize antenna tracking velocity and acceleration. Each drive assembly may include dual drives, and may be operated in a bias drive mode to substantially eliminate backlash.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Publication date: July 19, 2012
    Inventors: Theodore Young, Stephen W. White, Kevin B. Davis, Joseph H. Fahle, Jeffrey S. Hertig, Richard T. Van Pelt, Earl K. Jones, John L. Schaumann, Cary C. Bedford
  • Publication number: 20120119689
    Abstract: An amount of a rotational angle corresponding to a half of a play (included in an insert-fit coupling device having a maximum production tolerance) is set as a correction amount. When a shift range is changed to a target range, a target rotational angle for an output shaft corresponding to such target range is calculated. The target rotational angle is corrected to get a virtual rotational angle for the output shaft, so that the output shaft may be further rotated by the correction amount in addition to the target rotational angle. A control error for a stop position of a roller is controlled within a half of the play. According to the invention, it is not necessary to carry out a learning process for the play.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2011
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun YAMADA, Masaaki Shinojima, Kiyoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 8093856
    Abstract: In a position control apparatus that drives a feed-axis with a servomotor of a machine tool, the machine tool may be quickly accelerated or decelerated in a state where a machine structural member that supports and fixes a structural member including a driving system has a lower rigidity, or in a state where an element having a lower rigidity is present beyond a load position where the detection by a linear scale is performed. In such cases, a generated deflection may induce a displacement in a mechanical system. A relative locus error may be generated between a workpiece to be processed and a front end portion of the tool. Further, a mechanism rigidity generally changes according to a machine posture. The generated deflection amount changes in magnitude. The present embodiment estimates and compensates a displacement amount of the front end portion of the tool that may be caused by the deflection of the mechanical system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Okuma Corporation
    Inventor: Masashi Miyaji
  • Publication number: 20120001582
    Abstract: A controller for an electro-mechanical actuation system such as a missile fin actuator includes a Kalman estimator circuit which generates an estimate of operating state including position and velocity of motor, position and velocity of a position-controlled element (PCE), and motor current. The estimate is generated based on a dynamic model explicitly including the effect of structural stiffness and damping in the coupling between the motor and the PCE, for example by treating it as a mechanical oscillator having spring and damping constants. The Kalman estimator operates on a motor drive control signal and a measured position signal which may be from a Hall sensor sensing motor position. A linear quadratic regulator circuit generates a control effort signal by applying a state feedback gain matrix to a state vector. The state feedback gain matrix minimizes a quadratic cost function representing variance of the control effort signal and/or the measured position signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2010
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Applicant: WOODWARD HRT, INC.
    Inventor: Austin Park
  • Patent number: 7800334
    Abstract: The invention relates to a drive system comprising a control unit (1), which is connected to drive units (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g) via a data bus (2) for the exchange of data. According to the invention, one drive unit (3a, 3b) is connected to the drive motor (7a, 7b) in order to control the latter (7a, 7b) and an additional drive unit (3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g) is connected to a magnetic bearing (11c, 11d, 11e, 11f, 11g) of a magnetic spindle bearing arrangement (23) in order to control said bearing (11c, 11d, 11e, 11f, 11g). The invention thus provides a drive system, in which a magnetic spindle bearing arrangement (23) is integrated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Jens Hamann, Uwe Ladra, Dietmar Stoiber, Bernd Wedel
  • Patent number: 7795834
    Abstract: A controller includes a rotating direction detecting unit 34 to detect the rotating direction of a servo motor 6, a reversing distance computing unit 31 to compute a rotating angle of the servo motor 6, a rotation resistance computing unit 35 to compute rotation resistance on the servo motor side 6, and an elastic deformation error amount computing unit 21 to compute a deformation error amount of a ball screw 3. In the controller, when the rotating direction detecting unit 34 detects reverse of the servo motor 6, the rotation resistance computing unit 35 computes rotation resistance based on a rotating angle ?? of the servo motor 6 after the servo motor is reversed. The elastic deformation error amount computing unit 21 computes the elastic deformation error amount ? based on the computed rotation resistance. Thereby, a position command value inputted into the position control unit 14 can be corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Okuma Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Norihisa
  • Publication number: 20100181955
    Abstract: In position tandem control in which one movable member is driven by two motors, an output of the integral element of the velocity control unit in the control system for one motor is copied to the integral element of the velocity control unit in the control system for the other motor. A preload is added to a torque command output from each of the velocity control units in the motor control systems for two motors so that torques in mutually opposite directions are generated to suppress backlash between gears.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2009
    Publication date: July 22, 2010
    Applicant: FANUC LTD
    Inventors: Kazuomi MAEDA, Yukio Toyozawa, Yasusuke Iwashita
  • Patent number: 7671548
    Abstract: An electric drive system comprising several electric drives, each of which comprises an electric motor, and a control system which is arranged to control said several electric drives and comprises a first outer controller and a first speed controller. A signal supplied to the input of the first speed controller is generated by using the output signal of said first outer controller, and the first speed controller is arranged to generate an output torque signal at its output. The control system further comprises a torque controller per each electric drive, which torque controller is arranged to control the torque of the corresponding electric motor. A signal supplied to the input of each torque controller is generated by using the output torque signal of the first speed controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Assignee: ABB Oy
    Inventor: Osmo Pasuri
  • Publication number: 20090302796
    Abstract: A position control apparatus includes a reverse displacement calculation unit configured to calculate a reverse displacement that represents an amount of movement made from a preceding reverse point to a current reverse point by an axis that performs a reversing motion; a reversing-time segmenting number calculation unit configured to compare the reverse displacement to a predetermined value, and, when the reverse displacement is less than the predetermined value, increase a value of a reversing-time segmenting number, which is a coefficient indicating a number of segments per unit time during a reversing motion, and, when the reverse displacement is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, decrease the value of the reversing-time segmenting number; and a quadrant inversion compensation unit configured to automatically adjust a quadrant inversion compensation amount according to the reversing-time segmenting number and perform the quadrant inversion compensation based on the automatically adjusted co
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2009
    Publication date: December 10, 2009
    Applicant: OKUMA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masaya Minamide
  • Publication number: 20090277373
    Abstract: A pointer measuring instrument capable of indicating “zero” on an indication panel by a pointer even if a play (backlash) is present in gears. The measuring instrument comprises a pointer reference position setting means (7a, 7b) for determining the reference position of the pointer (4). A control means (6) rotates the pointer (4) in the direction toward the reference position when a power supply to a stepping motor (2) is turned on, and performs a first drive for stopping the rotation of the pointer (4) when it receives a pointer reference position arrival signal from the pointer reference position setting means (7a). Then, the control means performs a second drive for moving the pointer (4) by a first angle from the reference position in the reverse direction away from the reference position, and performs a third drive for rotating the gear (3S) of a reduction mechanism (3) on the stepping motor (2) side by a second angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2007
    Publication date: November 12, 2009
    Inventors: Katsuhiro Sasaki, Satoshi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7598688
    Abstract: A flat surface tilting device including a selectably positionable flat surface element assembly defining a flat surface element having a flat surface and a pivot location portion, the pivot location portion being generally centered with respect to the flat surface, a pivot support element pivotably engaging the pivot location portion, an electromagnet, fixed with respect to the pivot support element and arranged for application of magnetic force in a direction generally perpendicular to the flat surface thereby to pivot the flat surface element about the pivot support element, a sensor for sensing the position of the flat surface element and feedback circuitry operative in response to an output of the sensor to govern operation of the electromagnet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2009
    Assignee: Orbotech Ltd
    Inventors: Yechiel Slor, Arkady Bronfman, Roni Tzubery, Dan Zemer
  • Publication number: 20090237026
    Abstract: Method and system for backlash control in gear trains that are driven by electric drives controlled by a drive controller. The drive controller causes the drives to generate continuously opposing torques and adjusts torque rotational offsets so as to maintain desired backlash and gross motion of the driven gear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2009
    Publication date: September 24, 2009
    Applicant: Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
    Inventors: Razvan Panaitescu, Markus Geyer, Jose Mendez