Patents Examined by Cortez M Cook
  • Patent number: 11218097
    Abstract: A method for determining a rotor position of an electric motor, an elevator and an electrical converter unit are presented. The method comprises supplying a first excitation signal to the electric motor, determining a first response signal generated in the motor in response to the first excitation signal, determining, based on the first response signal, an electrical angle of a direct axis of the motor with respect to a stationary reference frame, supplying a second excitation signal to the motor, wherein the second excitation signal is based on the determined electrical angle, determining a second response signal generated in the motor in response to the second excitation signal, and determining the rotor position based on the second response signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: KONE Corporation
    Inventors: Tuukka Kauppinen, Lauri Stolt, Mikko Paakkinen
  • Patent number: 11196366
    Abstract: An automatic correction method for a pin connection and a motor driving device are provided. The automatic correction method includes: sensing a driven motor to generate a plurality of sensing results corresponding to a plurality of pin connection modes between a Hall sensor and a motor controller, and counting a number of changes of the plurality of sensing results to obtain a plurality of numbers of external interruptions corresponding to the plurality of pin connection modes; obtaining a correct pin connection mode in the plurality of pin connection modes according to the plurality of numbers of external interruptions; and operating the Hall sensor and the motor controller to be electrically coupled via the correct pin connection mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Acer Incorporated
    Inventors: Chu-Hsiang Hsu, Hao-Ming Chen
  • Patent number: 11196378
    Abstract: A motor control device generates three-phase drive currents having a phase difference by combining on-off actions of switching elements and supplies the three-phase drive currents to three-phase coils of a brushless motor. The motor control device includes a drive circuit including a bridge circuit that uses multiple switching elements and a control circuit that sets a control pulse, which causes each of the switching elements to perform on-off actions. The control circuit includes a control pulse generating unit that generates a control pulse. The control circuit further includes a set value retaining unit that retains a set value of an on-time length of the control pulse, which is referred to when the control pulse is generated in the control pulse generating unit. The control circuit further includes a set value changing unit that changes the set value retained in the set value retaining unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yukito Suehiro
  • Patent number: 11196365
    Abstract: A motor control apparatus includes: a switching power supply; a first motor configured to operate with a voltage from the switching power supply; and a control unit configured to control the first motor, wherein the control unit is further configured to cause the switching power supply to supply power of the switching power supply to a load other than the first motor before detecting an initial position of a rotor of the first motor using a current flowing through the first motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takashi Odate, Hidetoshi Hanamoto
  • Patent number: 11196367
    Abstract: A control device of an electric motor that drives an axis influenced by gravity includes: a determination unit that determines whether an overrun operation to move past a target position of the axis is allowable; and a drive control unit that, in a case in which it is determined by the determination unit that the overrun operation is allowable and the axis is driven in an antigravity direction, controls driving of the electric motor so that, after the axis being driven to the overrun position past the target position in the antigravity direction, the axis is driven again in a gravity direction to stop at the target position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tatsuya Senoo
  • Patent number: 11193987
    Abstract: Provided is a control system of an industrial machine that can automatically detect the presence or absence of a wiring error at a start-up of a machine, and that prevents a dangerous operation such as high rotation/high torque of a motor from occurring due to a wiring error. A control system of an industrial machine includes: a control unit that controls driving of a drive unit of the industrial machine; a command unit that issues a command to the control unit; and a wiring error detection device that detects a wiring error in a system of the control unit and the drive unit on a basis of a feedback value of actual driving of the drive unit upon a start-up of the industrial machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Daisuke Kobayashi, Takashi Idei
  • Patent number: 11183957
    Abstract: A motor control method is provided. The method includes: receiving a plurality of voltage control signals from a rotation speed controller to output a plurality of PWM signals; receiving the plurality of PWM signals to output three phase currents, so that a motor rotates; sensing three phase current values of the three phase currents; directly calculating a real rotor angle of the motor according to two of the three phase current values; and adjusting the plurality of the outputted voltage control signals according to an expected rotor speed and the calculated real rotor angle, so as to make the real rotor speed of the motor reach the expected rotor speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Midastek Microelectronics Inc.
    Inventors: Ming-Hung Tsai, Chung-Ping Tan, Wei-Tien Chen
  • Patent number: 11177757
    Abstract: The present invention includes a control amount calculation unit which calculates two or more control amounts each indicating a driving condition of a rotary electric machine on the basis of output current from and a switching state in a power converter; a limitation range-provided command value generation unit which generates limitation range-provided command values relative to command values for the control amounts; and a switching state determination unit which determines a switching state such that each control amount falls within the limitation range of the corresponding limitation range-provided command value. For at least one of the limitation range-provided command values, the limitation range thereof is temporally changed on the basis of the driving condition of the rotary electric machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignees: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION NAGAOKA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Sota Sano, Akira Satake, Kiyoshi Ohishi, Yuki Yokokura, Tenjiro Hiwatari
  • Patent number: 11167644
    Abstract: A system for active short circuit notification in an electric motor of a hybrid electric vehicle including a traction battery, an internal combustion engine in mechanical communication with the motor, and a propulsion system driven by the motor or engine. The system includes an inverter and inverter controller to generate signals to operate inverter switches to produce AC for the motor or DC for battery charging. In response to motor speed exceeding a threshold, the inverter controller is configured to generate signals to operate the switches to produce an active short circuit in the motor to prevent battery overcharging. In response to an active short circuit, the inverter controller is configured to transmit a notification signal to a vehicle controller configured to generate an engine stop control signal operative to stop the engine to reduce current circulation between the inverter and motor caused by the active short circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: LEAR CORPORATION
    Inventor: Xiaoyan Wang
  • Patent number: 11146200
    Abstract: A system for controlling a motor may include an alternating current (AC) bus configured to transmit an AC power signal to a set of stator windings, where the AC power signal produces a first rotating magnetic flux at the set of stator windings. The system may also include a high frequency contactless transformer configured to transmit an excitation signal to a set of rotor windings, where the excitation signal produces a second rotating magnetic flux at the rotor. The system may also include electrical circuitry configured to determine a rotor voltage and a rotor current associated with the excitation signal, determine a rotor flux magnitude estimate and a rotor flux angle estimate based on the rotor voltage and the rotor current, and determine an inverter control signal operable to generate the excitation signal based at least partially on the rotor flux magnitude estimate and the rotor flux angle estimate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Lijun Gao, Shengyi Liu
  • Patent number: 11139761
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a controller that controls a motor, a first transmission channel connected to a first power-supply terminal of an alternating-current source that supplies an alternating-current voltage, a second transmission channel connected to a second power-supply terminal of the alternating-current source, and a third transmission channel connected to each of the first transmission channel and the second transmission channel. The controller switches the rotational speed of the motor based on the voltage value of a signal input to the controller in accordance with a first connection status of the first transmission channel and the third transmission channel and a second connection status of the second transmission channel and the third transmission channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: NIDEC SERVO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keiichi Abe, Koji Harada, Huafei Cai, Masashi Nagumo, Takayuki Suematsu
  • Patent number: 11133767
    Abstract: A variety of methods, controllers and electric machine systems are described for pulse control of electric machines (e.g., electric motors and generators). To improve the energy conversion efficiency of the machine, pulse control involves determining if the machine should operate in a continuous mode or pulse mode, and if the latter, defining a magnitude, duty cycle, and frequency for the pulses. One or more tables, indexing by a wide range of speeds and torque requests, is/are used to define the pulsing frequency or a pulsing frequency pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Tula eTechnology, Inc.
    Inventors: Louis J. Serrano, Paul Carvell, Adya S. Tripathi
  • Patent number: 11128212
    Abstract: Systems and methods for current ripple reduction for a direct current (DC) source powering an alternating current (AC) load. In accordance with one embodiment, the system and method involve interleaved operation of a 3×3-phase AC motor having multiple groups of windings. In accordance with another embodiment, the system and method involve interleaved operation of multiple co-shafted 3-phase AC motors. In accordance with a further embodiment, the system and method involve interleaved operation multiple 3-phase AC motors (not co-shafted) of the same level of power. The interleaved operation entails interleaved switching inside a set of inverters which are connected in parallel between a DC bus and the windings of the AC motor (motors).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Shengyi Liu, Eugene V. Solodovnik, Frederic Lacaux, Kamiar J. Karimi
  • Patent number: 11128242
    Abstract: A motor driving device controls a three-phase motor and a single-phase motor to operate in parallel. The motor driving device includes a dc terminal in which an upper and a lower DC-link capacitor are located. The motor driving device also includes a neutral terminal disposed between the upper and lower DC-link capacitors. The motor driving device includes an inverter that includes three pairs of upper switching elements and lower switching elements. Two pairs of upper switching elements and lower switching elements among three pairs are connected to a-phase terminal and b-phase terminal of the three-phase motor, respectively. The other pair of upper switching elements and lower switching elements among three pairs is connected to a first terminal of the single-phase motor. The neutral terminal is connected to c-phase terminal of the three-phase motor and a second terminal of the single-phase motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Sunku Kwon, Chaseung Jun
  • Patent number: 11121631
    Abstract: ADC-to-DC converter which is configured to provide a main DC supply and an auxiliary DC supply from a single energy source such as a fuel cell. The main supply voltage may be greater than the voltage provided by the energy source, and the auxiliary supply voltage may be less than the voltage provided by the energy source. In some embodiments boost and buck conversion are provided by a single switching bridge, such as an inverter. Such an inverter may comprise three-legs connected between a main output voltage and a reference or ground voltage. Each leg of such an inverter may comprise two switches connected in series. These legs may share a common DC voltage link, for example a common ground and positive rail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Sevcon Limited
    Inventor: Peter Barrass
  • Patent number: 11121636
    Abstract: In a system and method for operating a system, which includes a first inverter which feeds a first electric motor, and a second inverter which feeds a second electric motor, the DC-voltage side connection of the first inverter is connected to the DC-voltage side connection of a rectifier which is supplied from an electrical AC-voltage supply network, the DC-voltage side connection of the second inverter is connected to the DC-voltage side connection of the rectifier, in particular, the two DC-voltage side connections of the inverters are switched in parallel, and a controller is provided, in particular in the first inverter, which controls the current accepted and acquired by the first inverter at its DC-voltage side terminal toward a setpoint value in that the torque of the first electric motor fed by the first inverter is the controlled variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: SEW-EURODRIVE GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventors: Josef Schmidt, Thomas Zöller, Jens Schäfer, Matthias Hauck
  • Patent number: 11114961
    Abstract: A motor driving control device includes a motor driving unit, a position detection unit, a current detection unit and a control unit. The control unit includes a change detecting means configured to detect a predetermined phase change in the position signal, a first switching means configured to sequentially switch energization patterns of the coils with the plurality of phases based on a timing when the phase change is detected, and a second switching means configured to, in a state where the change detecting means does not detect the phase change, when a value of the drive current becomes a predetermined first threshold or more during a monitoring time period after a timing when the predetermined phase change in the position signal is expected, perform an operation to forcibly switch to a next energization pattern regardless of the timing of switching the energization pattern by the first switching means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: MINEBEA MITSUMI INC.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kaidu, Wataru Nogamida, Masato Aoki
  • Patent number: 11114970
    Abstract: A motor driver includes an inverter used for driving a motor and configured to apply an alternating-current voltage to the motor. The inverter drives, during start operation, a switching element of the inverter with a first PWM signal that is PWM modulated with a carrier frequency that is a first integer multiple of a frequency of the alternating-current voltage, and thereafter drives the switching element with a second PWM signal that is PWM modulated with a carrier frequency that is a second integer multiple of the frequency of the alternating-current voltage. The second integer is smaller than the first integer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunori Hatakeyama, Keisuke Uemura, Yosuke Shinomoto, Koichi Arisawa
  • Patent number: 11114967
    Abstract: A controller of a rotary axis includes: a storage unit that stores data of a braking distance for each rotation number of the rotary axis and provides a current braking distance S3 corresponding to a current rotation number of the rotary axis; and a deceleration command calculating unit that calculates a speed command V2 of the rotary axis on a basis of the remaining movement amount S2 and the current braking distance S3; in which the deceleration command calculating unit maintains the current rotation number of the rotary axis in a case in which a difference S4 between the remaining movement amount S2 and the current braking distance S3 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and starts deceleration of the rotary axis in a case in which the difference S4 is less than the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tarou Ogiso
  • Patent number: 11108259
    Abstract: A charging control apparatus: an information acquisition circuit configured to acquire, when a storage battery of a vehicle that is being stopped is charged with the power from the external power supply, location information indicating a current location of the vehicle, and altitude information on surroundings of the current location; a calculation circuit configured to calculate, when a travel route has not been designated, a change amount of a state of charge (SOC) of the storage battery from the current location to at least one predetermined point in the surroundings, based on the location information and the altitude information; and a setting circuit configured to set, based on the calculated change amount of the SOC, a charge amount of the storage battery to be charged with the power from the external power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Fumito Ito