Abstract: A brushless DC motor and drive package is disclosed, including modular subassemblies which are integrated into a single unit. The drive includes power electronic circuitry and related control circuitry which is supported on a circuit board within the package. The circuit board is supported on an end cap of the motor and is housed within the package housing. The end cap supporting the circuit board preferably forms a bearing support recess for receiving a shaft bearing. The resulting package is extremely compact, and reduces or eliminates the need for separate drive circuitry and related support hardware.

Abstract: An integral brushless DC motor and drive package is disclosed that includes the brushless DC motor and drive circuitry supported by one of the motor end caps. The drive circuitry includes power electronic devices for converting input power to pulsed power for the motor. The power switching components extend from a circuit board and are received within recesses of the end cap. The switching components are electrically insulated from the end cap, but are thermally conductive to the end cap within the recesses to dissipate heat during operation. The switching components are preferably disposed in radially equally spaced positions on the circuit board to provide even heat loading to the end cap.

Abstract: A brushless DC motor drive is disclosed which includes drive and control circuitry incorporated into an integrated drive unit. The drive circuitry includes a ground offset or signal conditioning circuit which receives command input signals from a command device and corrects for variations in ground potential between the power source and to the drive. The corrected command signal is used for closed-loop velocity control of a brushless DC motor. The signal conditioning circuit also provides a reference voltage signal for use by a controller which controls the drive circuitry. The command input signal is also applied to an energy conservation circuit. The circuit applies power to the control circuit only when the command is above a preset threshold. When the command is below the threshold level, power is interrupted to the control circuit to reduce the energy consumption of the system.