Patents by Inventor Jean-Luc Thomas

Jean-Luc Thomas has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20170361544
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing a part made of plastic material for a motor vehicle, said part comprising at least one first section to which at least one second section is applied, in which the first section is produced. The second section of the part made of plastic material is produced by three-dimensional printing directly onto the first section of the part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2015
    Publication date: December 21, 2017
    Applicant: Compagnie Plastic Omnium
    Inventor: Jean-Luc THOMAS
  • Patent number: 7642478
    Abstract: A device for controlling a circuit-breaker intended for opening and closing this electric power cut-off device comprising a mobile contact, this control device comprising a motor with a rotary output shaft and being connected to power supply means and actuating means transforming the output displacement of the motor into a displacement of the contact, this device also comprising a mechanical spring arrangement involved in opening and closing the contact. The actuation means include a set of jointed elements providing the connection of the rotary shaft and of the ring, and, in the closed position of the contact, the set of jointed elements is near a dead centre position, a so-called open dead centre, the opening spring being only able to drive it towards the open position upon moving past this dead centre during opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2010
    Assignee: Areva T&D SA
    Inventors: Eric Courbon, Jean-Pierre Dupraz, Serge Poullain, Sylvain Plante, Jean-Luc Thomas, Ernst Suter, Robert Luscher
  • Publication number: 20070163869
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for controlling a circuit-breaker intended for opening and closing this electric power cut-off device comprising a mobile contact, this control device comprising a motor (3) with a rotary output shaft (12) and being connected to power supply means (4-9) and actuating means transforming the output displacement of the motor into a displacement of the contact, this device also comprising a mechanical spring arrangement involved in opening and closing the contact. According to the invention, the actuation means include a set of jointed elements providing the connection of the rotary shaft and of the ring, and, in the closed position of the contact, the set of jointed elements is near a dead centre position, a so-called open dead centre, the opening spring (15) being only able to drive it towards the open position upon moving past this dead centre during opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2005
    Publication date: July 19, 2007
    Applicant: AREVA T&D SA
    Inventors: Eric Courbon, Jean-Pierre Dupraz, Serge Poullain, Sylvain Plante, Jean-Luc Thomas, Ernst Suter, Robert Luscher
  • Patent number: 7109674
    Abstract: A method is described for regulating the average electromagnetic torque of a polyphase rotating electrical machine, supplied with a polyphase voltage and a polyphase current that are generated by an inverter. The method comprises a step of controlling the machine, using an exact response control process to do this, a step of determining the value of the harmonics of the voltage and/or the current which are generated by the inverter, and a step of calculating the instantaneous torque set point as a function of the value of the harmonics and an average torque set point, so as to produce an instantaneous torque set point suitable for limiting the difference between the average of the instantaneous electromagnetic torque, between two successive regulation times, and said average torque set point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: ALSTOM
    Inventors: Abdelkrim Benchaib, Jean-Luc Thomas, Serge Poullain, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Eric Bonin
  • Patent number: 7095197
    Abstract: A method is described of regulating the instantaneous electromagnetic torque of a polyphase rotating electrical machine equipped with stator and/or rotor windings supplied by a voltage and a current generated by an inverter formed of switches whose switching is controllable. The method comprises a step of commanding the switching of the switches of the inverter using the fundamental frequency of the voltage generated by the inverter and a form of synchronous pulse width modulation configured as a function of an input set point, and a step of calculating the input set point from an instantaneous torque set point at each regulation time. The method further comprises a step of determining the time interval between two successive regulation times so that the time interval corresponds to an integer multiple of the period of oscillation of the instantaneous torque of the machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2006
    Assignee: ALSTOM
    Inventors: Abdelkrim Benchaib, Jean-Luc Thomas, Serge Poullain, Jean-Claude Alacoque
  • Patent number: 6856111
    Abstract: Method and device for controlling the angular speed of an electromechanical drive train with little damping. The control of the speed of the load driven in rotation by an electromechanical drive train with little damping, possibly having transmission nonlinearities such as play, without measuring said speed, is accomplished by using an observer in conjunction with a robust CRONE-type non-integer order controller, the physical realization of which is achieved by an integer order controller obtained by approximation in the frequency domain. The device thus provides good damping for the system in the presence of resonance frequencies and excellent robustness, while still allowing a relatively simple adjustment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Alain Oustaloup, Jocelyn Sabatier, Serge Poullain, Patrick Latteux
  • Patent number: 6850863
    Abstract: The method of determining the stopped angular position of a rotor comprises the following steps: a) applying a sequence of successive voltage vectors to the terminals of the windings of the stator, said sequence including first and second voltage vectors adapted to modify the electrical characteristics of the windings and a third voltage vector adapted to cancel out the torque created by applying the first and second voltage vectors, b) determining a response signal from all of the windings to application of the first and second voltage vectors, and c) establishing the angular position of the rotor with an uncertainty of ±90° from the signals determined in the step b).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2005
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventors: Abdelkrim Benchaib, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Serg Poullain, Jean-Luc Thomas
  • Publication number: 20050001571
    Abstract: A method is described of regulating the instantaneous electromagnetic torque of a polyphase rotating electrical machine equipped with stator and/or rotor windings supplied by a voltage and a current generated by an inverter formed of switches whose switching is controllable. The method comprises a step of commanding the switching of the switches of the inverter using the fundamental frequency of the voltage generated by the inverter and a form of synchronous pulse width modulation configured as a function of an input set point, and a step of calculating the input set point from an instantaneous torque set point at each regulation time. The method further comprises a step of determining the time interval between two successive regulation times so that the time interval corresponds to an integer multiple of the period of oscillation of the instantaneous torque of the machine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2004
    Publication date: January 6, 2005
    Inventors: Abdelkrim Benchaib, Jean-Luc Thomas, Serge Poullain, Jean-Claude Alacoque
  • Publication number: 20050001572
    Abstract: A method is described for regulating the average electromagnetic torque of a polyphase rotating electrical machine, supplied with a polyphase voltage and a polyphase current that are generated by an inverter. The method comprises a step of controlling the machine, using an exact response control process to do this, a step of determining the value of the harmonics of the voltage and/or the current which are generated by the inverter, and a step of calculating the instantaneous torque set point as a function of the value of the harmonics and an average torque set point, so as to produce an instantaneous torque set point suitable for limiting the difference between the average of the instantaneous electromagnetic torque, between two successive regulation times, and said average torque set point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2004
    Publication date: January 6, 2005
    Inventors: Abdelkrim Benchaib, Jean-Luc Thomas, Serge Poullain, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Eric Bonin
  • Publication number: 20040158425
    Abstract: The invention concerns a method and a device for controlling the angular speed of an electromechanical chain with low damping. Speed control of a load (10) driven in rotation by an electromechanical chain with low damping, possibly having transmission nonlinearities such as clearances, without measuring said speed, is provided by jointly using an observer (18) and a robust corrector (20) of non integer order, of the CRONE type, whereof the physical execution is provided by a corrector of integer order, obtained by approximation in the frequency domain. The device thus provides proper damping of the system in the presence of resonant frequencies and excellent robustness, while enabling a relatively simple adjustment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2004
    Publication date: August 12, 2004
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Alain Oustaloup, Jocelyn Sabatier, Serge Poullain, Patrick Latteux
  • Publication number: 20040085064
    Abstract: The method of determining the stopped angular position of a rotor comprises the following steps:
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2003
    Publication date: May 6, 2004
    Applicant: ALSTOM
    Inventors: Abdelkrim Benchaib, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Serge Poullain, Jean-Luc Thomas
  • Patent number: 6605917
    Abstract: A method of regulating a rotating electrical machine includes a preparatory step of determining a discrete voltage control law for the machine. The discrete control voltage to be applied at each sampling time is determined in the form of a first term corresponding to free evolution of the state of the machine in the absence of control, between the preceding sampling time and the current sampling time, and a second term dependent on the set point torque and a set point for the magnetic energy consumed by the machine. The method further includes, at each sampling time, a step of determining, with the aid of the discrete control law, the control voltage to be applied to the machine for the torque of the machine to reach the set point torque and the magnetic energy consumed by the machine to correspond to the set point magnetic energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2003
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Serge Poullain, Abdelkrim Benchaib
  • Publication number: 20020149337
    Abstract: A method of regulating a rotating electrical machine includes a preparatory step of determining a discrete voltage control law for the machine. The discrete control voltage to be applied at each sampling time is determined in the form of a first term corresponding to free evolution of the state of the machine in the absence of control, between the preceding sampling time and the current sampling time, and a second term dependent on the set point torque and a set point for the magnetic energy consumed by the machine. The method further includes, at each sampling time, a step of determining, with the aid of the discrete control law, the control voltage to be applied to the machine for the torque of the machine to reach the set point torque and the magnetic energy consumed by the machine to correspond to the set point magnetic energy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2002
    Publication date: October 17, 2002
    Applicant: ALSTOM
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Serge Poullain, Abdelkrim Benchaib
  • Patent number: 6313603
    Abstract: A method of regulating a rotary machine powered by a voltage inverter receiving, as input a control voltage delivered by a regulator servo-controlling the electromagnetic torque on a reference value, the regulator receiving as inputs the reference value and sat least one sampled signal representative of the torque of the machine, and proceeding at each sampling instant, to predict the torque value at a following sampling instant and to modify the control voltage accordingly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2001
    Assignee: Alstom
    Inventors: Serge Poullain, Jean-Luc Thomas
  • Patent number: 6236954
    Abstract: A process for estimating the speed of a vehicle or of an assemblage of vehicles, based on measuring the speeds of the mechanically independent wheels, while all the wheels are slipping with respect to the rolling surface, the process includes a step using mechanical and kinematic information characteristic of the vehicle or vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Alstom Transport SA
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Patrick Latteux, Jean-Claude Alacoque, Guy Bornard, Mazen Alamir
  • Patent number: 6198248
    Abstract: A method of controlling the torque of a rotary machine powered by means of an inverter and servo-controlled by a system having sensors, an observer, and a computer which delivers controls to the switches of the inverter on the basis of values supplied to the observer by the sensors, in the form of sequences of three vectors to bring the torque &Ggr; and the stator flux &PHgr;S of the machine towards reference values for &Ggr;ref and &PHgr;Sref. The measurement sampling period is selected to be equal to the sequence period DTML which corresponds to half the switching period of the inverter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2001
    Assignee: Alstom Enterprise SA
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Vincent Dionnet, Serge Poullain
  • Patent number: 6087801
    Abstract: In a process for controlling a rotating machine having n phases powered by a voltage inverter defining m.sup.n states of the stator phase voltage vector the electromagnetic torque .GAMMA. and the stator flux .vertline..phi..sub.s .vertline. of the machine are servocontrolled. A calculator calculates a succession of n states of the phase voltage vector to move the torque .GAMMA. and the flux .vertline..phi..sub.s .vertline. towards the set points .GAMMA..sub.ref, .vertline..phi..sub.s .vertline..sub.ref. On each sampling, the calculator calculates the remaining application time of the current state and the updated application times of the future states of the phase vector. Asynchronously with the sampling times and the calculation times, the calculator sends SPmLL switch control signals to switch from the current state to the next state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2000
    Assignee: Alcatel
    Inventors: Olivier Bethoux, Serge Poullain, Jean-Luc Thomas, Camal Ait Mahrez, Guy Bornard
  • Patent number: 5940285
    Abstract: A multilevel converter including, in particular, a capacitor for each of its cells, and control means comprising means for evaluating the mean voltage across the terminals of each of the capacitors, means for measuring any difference on each of said capacitors between the evaluated mean charge voltage and the nominal mean charge voltage of the capacitor, and additional control means changing the time positions of the converter control signals in a direction such that the measured difference is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1999
    Assignee: GEC Alsthom Transport SA
    Inventors: Philippe Carrere, Jean-Paul Lavieville, Thierry Meynard, Jean-Luc Thomas
  • Patent number: 5907228
    Abstract: In a method of regulating a rotating machine with n phases fed with alternating current by a voltage inverter including n SPmLL defining m.sup.n states V.sub.i (i.epsilon.{1, . . , m.sup.n }) of the stator phase voltage vector V.sub.s, the machine having an electromagnetic torque T.sub.em and a stator flux .phi..sub.S slaved to a commanded electromagnetic torque T.sub.emref and stator flux .phi..sub.Sref, for transient conditions in which the electromagnetic torque T.sub.em and/or the stator flux .phi..sub.S are respectively far away from the commanded electromagnetic torque T.sub.emref and/or stator flux .phi..sub.Sref, from all possible states V.sub.i of the stator phase voltage vector V.sub.s, the one is chosen which is optimal for causing the torque T.sub.em and the stator flux .phi..sub.S to converge towards the commanded torque T.sub.emref and stator flux .phi..sub.Sref ; and switching of the SPmLL corresponding to the chosen state of the phase voltage vector V.sub.s is commanded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 25, 1999
    Assignee: Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale D'Electricite
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Thomas, Serge Poullain, Olivier Bethoux, Guy Bornard
  • Patent number: 5777452
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for controlling the electromagnetic torque of an asynchronous machine. The apparatus includes a corrector which controls the electromagnetic torque of an asynchronous machine by regulating the magnetic flux and by controlling the electromagnetic torque C.sub.m, the corrector including a regulator circuit (3) for regulating the rotor magnetic flux .phi..sub.r , having non-linear control using input/output linearization by static looping and whose output controls the d-component of the stator current i.sub.s, a first linear corrector (1) of the proportional, integral type whose output v is the input to the regulator circuit, and a second linear corrector (2) of the proportional, integral type whose output controls the angular frequency of the rotor currents .omega..sub.s1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1998
    Assignee: Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale D'Electricite
    Inventor: Jean-Luc Thomas