Patents Examined by Charles S Laughlin
  • Patent number: 10971771
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a battery heating system and a control method thereof. The battery heating system includes a main positive switch, a main negative switch, an inverter, a motor, and a battery management unit. The inverter includes a first phase bridge arm, a second phase bridge arm and a third phase bridge arm connected in parallel. A motor controller in the inverter is configured to output a drive signal to a target upper-bridge-arm switch unit and a target lower-bridge-arm switch unit, so as to control the target upper-bridge-arm switch unit and the target lower-bridge-arm switch unit to be periodically turned on and off. The battery management unit is configured to collect state parameters of the battery pack. When the state parameters of the battery pack meet preset heating conditions, a control signal is sent to the motor controller to control the motor controller to output the drive signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited
    Inventors: Zhimin Dan, Xiyang Zuo, Wei Zhang, Yizhen Hou, Guowei Li, Xingyuan Wu, Yanru Li
  • Patent number: 10958157
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, an inspection apparatus inspects an inverter circuit including three pairs of arms. The apparatus includes a current controller and a control signal generator. The current controller generates a control output for controlling a current to be output by the inverter circuit. The control output enables the current to approach a target value of the current. The control signal generator generates a first control signal for controlling ON/OFF of a first arm as one of the three pairs of arms based on the control output, a second control signal for fixing a second arm paired with the first arm, in an OFF-state, and a third control signal for fixing at least part of arms other than the first arm and the second arm in an ON-state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Shigen Yasunaka, Shinji Takakura
  • Patent number: 10913363
    Abstract: A vehicle includes an electric machine and a controller configured to inject a voltage into the electric machine. The controller measures the currents caused by the voltage and processes the currents using a discrete Fourier transform to determine positive and negative sequence currents. A phase rotation sequence is identified by comparing the sequence currents to expected positive and negative sequence currents that are associated with possible phase rotation sequences. The electric machine may be controlled according to the identified phase rotation sequence. A cable swapped diagnostic may be output when the phase rotation sequence is different than an expected phase rotation sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Wei Xu, Fazal Urrahman Syed
  • Patent number: 10910979
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a motor drive control device driving a motor using position information detected by one sensor includes: a current detection unit detecting a magnitude of a coil current flowing through a coil of the motor; a rotation position detection unit detecting a rotation position of the motor based on the position information; and a hunting determination unit determining, based on the magnitude of the coil current, the rotation position of the motor, and a driving command for driving the motor, whether or not the motor is in a hunting condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI INC.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kaidu, Masato Aoki, Youhei Serizawa
  • Patent number: 10886867
    Abstract: An inverter control device that controls an inverter as a control target, the inverter being connected to a direct-current power supply and connected to an alternating-current rotating electrical machine so as to convert power between direct current and alternating current of a plurality of phases, and the inverter having an arm for each alternating-current phase, the arm including a series circuit of an upper-stage switching element and a lower-stage switching element, the inverter control device including an electronic control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: AISIN AW CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Subrata Saha, Arinori Shimada, Yuki Sugiyama, Masaya Kokubo
  • Patent number: 10840846
    Abstract: A motor control system includes a motor having an output line, motor control circuitry that includes DC bus lines and a smoothing capacitor between the DC bus lines and converts DC power supplied from outside the motor control circuitry into AC power and supply the AC power to the motor as driving power, and short circuit circuitry that, while the motor control circuitry is not supplying the driving power to the motor, makes a short circuit between the output line of the motor and a negative line of the DC bus lines of the motor control circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA YASKAWA DENKI
    Inventor: Kunimasa Ando
  • Patent number: 10826416
    Abstract: A motor device includes a motor having coils of three phases and a single-phase coil. The motor device includes a drive circuit of a first system capable of supplying a drive current to the coils of the three phases and a drive circuit of a second system capable of supplying a drive current to the single-phase coil. The drive circuit of the second system is different from the drive circuit of the first system. The drive circuit of the first system includes a three-phase inverter circuit connected to one end of each of the coils of the three phases, and the drive circuit of the second system includes a single-phase inverter circuit connected to both ends of the single-phase coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI INC.
    Inventors: Satoshi Hatahara, Wataru Nogamida
  • Patent number: 10772651
    Abstract: A surgical instrument is disclosed comprising a shaft and an end effector rotatably connected to the shaft about an articulation joint. The surgical instrument comprises a plurality of rotation joints which can be simultaneously operated to maintain the alignment of a portion of the surgical instrument relative to the patient tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: Ethicon LLC
    Inventors: Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Jason L. Harris, Chester O. Baxter, III
  • Patent number: 10727774
    Abstract: A multi-level high-speed adjustable speed drive has a plurality of modular multilevel, 3-phase inverter bridges, wherein the multilevel, 3-phase inverter bridges operate with fundamental frequency, f, wherein the multilevel, 3-phase inverter bridges include at least three levels, wherein the multilevel, 3-phase inverter bridges operate in Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) mode with 9 to 21× or operating in Fundamental Frequency Mode (FFM), wherein inverter commutation frequency equals the fundamental frequency, wherein the multilevel, 3-phase inverters operate with split phase such that one group is displaced from the other by an angle, ?=60°/q, wherein the phase displacement of a harmonic component of order n between groups, ?n is n?/q; a high-speed polyphase motor with phases arranged in q 3-phase groups; and electromagnetic means for blocking selected groups of harmonics while passing components at fundamental frequency, f, wherein the electromagnetic means includes coils carrying motor current linked by a magn
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: General Atomics
    Inventor: George Thomas Santamaria
  • Patent number: 10724615
    Abstract: A control device for a linear actuator comprises a motor coupled to a device for converting a rotational movement into a translational movement configured to move a translationally mobile part. The actuator comprises at least one mechanical stop placed on a fixed part of the actuator, the group of at least one mechanical stop being configured to act as an obstacle to the relative helicoidal movement of a stud of the translationally mobile part when the stud reaches at least one predetermined position, contact of the stud with a stop generating a torque. The control device comprises a control module connected to at least one strain gauge configured to generate a signal indicative of the detected torque, the control module being configured to compare the amplitude of the signal generated by the group of at least one strain gauge against at least one predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Damien Chassoulier, Didier Stanek, Alain-Vincent Blanc
  • Patent number: 10690370
    Abstract: The present invention includes a plurality of fan motors, first and second inverters for individually driving the fan motors, respectively, and one and a common control unit that performs a control arithmetic for each of the fan motors and generates an individual driving signal given to each of the inverters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Keisuke Uemura, Kazunori Hatakeyama, Yosuke Shinomoto, Mitsuo Kashima, Takashi Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 10686393
    Abstract: A method for correcting a compensation item of a PMSM motor, the method including: offline measuring an error data of a parameter of a PMSM motor in a control process; providing a series of current commands and calculating compensation values of the parameter corresponding to the series of current commands; establishing a lookup table with regard to the series of current commands and the compensation values of the parameter corresponding to the series of current commands; storing the lookup table in a memory of a motor controller; starting and allowing the motor to work at a normal state; and online correcting the error data of the parameter by using the lookup table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: ZHONGSHAN BROAD-OCEAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jizhong Wang, Justin W. Kaput
  • Patent number: 10653283
    Abstract: A self-propelled electronic device comprising: a housing; a drive wheel that enables the housing to travel; a wheel drop sensor that detects loss of contact of the drive wheel with a floor surface; and a travel control unit that controls travel of the housing, wherein, when the wheel drop sensor detects loss of contact of the drive wheel with the floor surface, the travel control unit continues travel of the housing for a predetermined continuous travel time, and if the wheel drop sensor still detects loss of contact of the drive wheel with the floor surface after the continuous travel time has elapsed, the travel control unit stops the rotation of the drive wheel, and then, rotates the drive wheel in a direction opposite to the direction of the rotation for a predetermined reverse travel time, to cause the housing to travel in a reverse direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masanori Tsuboi, Masashi Matsumoto, Toshihiro Senoo, Fumio Yoshimura
  • Patent number: 10658938
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an initial charging system for a medium-voltage inverter and a method for controlling the system. The initial charging system comprises: a first switch for switching between a medium-voltage inverter and a power supply thereto; a second switch for switching between an output stage of the medium-voltage inverter and an electric motor; a first initial charging unit disposed between and connected to the first switch and the medium-voltage inverter for limiting an initial excitation current to be applied to the phase-shift transformer; and a second initial charging unit disposed between and connected to an input stage of each power cell and the direct current (DC) link capacitor for limiting an initial charging current in the direct current (DC) link capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: LSIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Jong-Je Park
  • Patent number: 10627806
    Abstract: The present invention provides a servo control system and a robot. The servo control system is applied to a servo, and includes a main control module including an angle information receiving terminal and a detection control terminal; and an angle collection module including a magnet and a magnetic encoding chip spaced apart from the magnet by a certain distance. The magnet is connected to a rotation output shaft of the servo. The magnetic encoding chip includes an angle information output terminal and a detection control receiving terminal. In the above manner, the present invention can accurately acquire position information of a servo.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: UBTECH ROBOTICS CORP.
    Inventors: Dong Liu, Youjun Xiong
  • Patent number: 10622928
    Abstract: This disclosure discloses a linear motor including a stator and a mover including a field magnet and an armature winding. The mover includes a mover iron core including a plurality of teeth around each of which the armature winding is wound. Some or all of the plurality of teeth include a first hole formed in a slot housing the armature winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventors: Masanobu Kakihara, Shogo Makino, Toru Shikayama
  • Patent number: 10608614
    Abstract: A bi-state bifurcation-based control system and method for nonlinear resonators, which utilizes a control loop to servo on the edge of the bifurcation jump, either at the maximum “on” point prior to the Duffing bifurcation jump or along the rising edge of the parametric bifurcation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Gary K. Fedder, Congzhong Guo
  • Patent number: 10608563
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a driving control of a voice coil motor (hereinafter, referred to as ‘VCM’) which moves lens of a camera module, more particularly to a driving control method for VCM capable of reducing the noise generated at the time of initial driving or landing of the lens and reducing the moving time thereof, and the method is characterized by and include the steps of: applying a linearly increasing current with a first slope to the VCM up to a pre-set first inflection point in response to a camera operation-on command; and moving the lens to an infinite position by applying a linearly increasing current with a second slope less steep than the first slope to the VCM from the first inflection point to the infinite position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: DONGWOON ANATECH CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Seung Kwon Lee, Sun Pyo Lee, Ho Jun Lee, Sin Won Cho
  • Patent number: 10601349
    Abstract: A motor actuating apparatus includes three phase connections for three motor phase connections, a high-connection for a supply voltage and a low-connection for a reference potential of the supply voltage, three bridge branches having a series connection of a high-switch and a low-switch and a control device for actuating the switches of the bridge branches. The high-switches are connected to the high-connection and the low-switches are connected to the low-connection. Each of the three phase connections is connected to exactly one of the three bridge branches between the high-switch and the low-switch. The control device is adapted for actuating the switches of the bridge branches such that during a first time period a first phase connection is switched to passive and the second phase connection and third phase connection are alternatingly connected to the high-connection and the low-connection in a predeterminable duty cycle if the supply voltage is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignees: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Joerg Wangemann, Heiko Rothkranz, Jens Schult
  • Patent number: 10595836
    Abstract: A method comprising receiving an input coupling adjacent to a drive input driven by an actuating element, the input coupling being coupled to a joint output and the joint output being connected to a movable object. The method further comprising rotating the actuating element to drive the drive input and determining, by a control system, whether a resistance torque greater than an inherent drivetrain resistance torque is experienced by the actuating element. The inherent drivetrain resistance torque is for a drivetrain including the input coupling, the drive input, and the joint output. The method also includes determining, by the control system, whether the drive input has engaged the input coupling based on the determination that the resistance torque greater than the inherent drivetrain resistance torque has been experienced by the actuating element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Niels Smaby, Gregory W. Dachs, II, Bruce M. Schena