Patents by Inventor John V. Byrne

John V. Byrne 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).

  • Patent number: 4986124
    Abstract: In a screened inductance sensor having a drive winding, a sense winding, and a conductive screen for varying the induced voltage in the sense winding by reason of the eddy currents generated in the conductive screen in the presence of the drive field, a physical barrier is interposed between the region of the sensor in the windings are located and the region in which the screen is located. These regions are fully environmentally isolated from each other by the physical barrier. The construction is especially suited to screened inductance level gauges, in particular for fuel tanks, where the conductive screen is part of a float assembly in contact with the fuel, but the electrical windings are kept dry in a separate portion of the gauge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1988
    Date of Patent: January 22, 1991
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Corporation
    Inventors: John V. Byrne, Francis McMullin, Aengus Murray
  • Patent number: 4943760
    Abstract: In a control system for a reluctance motor driving a load, the output of a reference waveform generator is applied to a power converter through a current controller. The output of the generator is determined by rotor position, as detected by a sensor. The generator establishes a relative magnitude for motor phase current for every position of the rotor during the period of energization of a motor phase. A further control input may determine the absolute magnitude of the motor phase current, subject to the waveform pattern established by the generator. The reference waveforms may be sinusoidal. A method of determining the configuration of suitable reference waveforms for a given motor involves monitoring selected parameters of motor operation while controlling other such parameter in a test procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1988
    Date of Patent: July 24, 1990
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Corporation
    Inventors: John V. Byrne, Francis McMullin, Francis Devitt, Jeremiah O'Dwyer, John Murphy, Michael Egan, Michael Brosnan, James Lawton
  • Patent number: 4853604
    Abstract: In a sensor having a drive winding for establishing a forward field, an electrically conductive screen is displaceable relative to a sense winding. In the presence of the drive field, eddy currents are generated in the screen to establish a counter-field opposing the forward field, so that the sense winding is shaded by the screen to a varying extent during relative displacement of screen and sense winding and the voltage induced in the sense winding is accordingly correspondingly varied. Application of a high frequency input to the drive winding results in a modulated output from the sense winding which may be demodulated to provide a signal indicative of screen position relative to sense winding. The position signal may be further processed to provide a speed signal. The sensor may assume a multiplicity of linear or planar, rotational and axial or solenoidal configurations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 1, 1989
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Francis McMullin, John V. Byrne, Aengus Murray
  • Patent number: 4763056
    Abstract: In a power supply system for a variable reluctance motor, each phase winding of the motor is connectible across a pair of supply rails by first and second switch means located respectively between the first supply rail and the winding and between the winding and the second supply rail. The first switch means is a fast switch-off device such as a gate turn-off thyristor or a transistor, while the second switch means is a slow turn-off device, such as a thyristor suitable for application to a line-commutation situation. In a two-phase configuration, where the second switch means is a thyristor, force-commutation of the second switch means may be achieved by means of a suitable capacitor interconnection between the thyristors switching the respective phases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 1986
    Date of Patent: August 9, 1988
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: John V. Byrne, Jeremiah B. O'Dwyer
  • Patent number: 4737698
    Abstract: In a sensor having a drive winding for establishing a forward field, an electrically conductive screen is displaceable relative to a sense winding. In the presence of the drive field, eddy currents are generated in the screen to establish a counter-field opposing the forward field, so that the sense winding is shaded by the screen to a varying extent during relative displacement of screen and sense winding and the voltage induced in the sense winding is accordingly correspondingly varied. Application of a high frequency input to the drive winding results in a modulated output from the sense winding which may be demodulated to provide a signal indicative of screen position relative to sense winding. The position signal may be further processed to provide a speed signal. The sensor may assume a multiplicity of linear or planar, rotational and axial or solenoidal configurations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Kollmorgan Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Francis McMullin, John V. Byrne, Aengus Murray
  • Patent number: 4698537
    Abstract: In a two-phase salient pole variable reluctance motor in which the number of stator poles is four or a multiple of four, alternate stator poles carry windings of different phases and each stator pole has an elongated pole shoe, so that the pole tips of each adjacent pair of stator poles are closely spaced. Each rotor pole has an iron depletion layer in the vicinity of its poleface surface which defines a saturating zone, across which the greater part of the magnetomotive force produced by stator windings is developed by uniform flux build-up with rotor angle throughout almost the entire duration of pole overlap. A working stroke approximating a stator pole pitch is achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 1986
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1987
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: John V. Byrne, Jeremiah B. O'Dwyer
  • Patent number: 4682093
    Abstract: In a power supply system, an inductance L is connected between a rail at a voltage V.sub.1 and a rail at earth through a switch S. When the switch is opened, a current i.sub.2 flowing from the inductance L is directed to a third rail through a diode D, voltage on the third rail rising to V.sub.2. The system may function as a dc to dc converter with an output voltage between the V.sub.1 rail and V.sub.2 rail equal to V.sub.2 -V.sub.1. The system may alternatively be used in, for example, a reluctance motor drive, in which case a further inductance with associated switch and diode is included in the circuit in inverse configuration to prevent excessive voltage rise on the third rail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1985
    Date of Patent: July 21, 1987
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: John Murphy, Francis McMullin, Michael Egan, John V. Byrne, Patrick Kenneally
  • Patent number: 4670696
    Abstract: A drive system includes a reluctance motor, driving a load. The motor has stator and rotor poles and magnetizing windings for each stator pole. The airgap is small so that saturation occurs during pole overlap, and the poles are constructed so that there is torque overlap between phases as successive phases are energized during rotor rotation. A sensor provides a rotor position input to a reference waveform generator. The output of the generator is determined by rotor position and is applied to a power converter through a current controller. Accordingly the waveform generator establishes a relative magnitude for motor phase current for every position of the rotor during the period of energization of a motor phase. A further input may be applied to the system to determine the absolute magnitude of the phase current, subject to the waveform pattern established by the generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1985
    Date of Patent: June 2, 1987
    Assignee: Kollmorgen Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: John V. Byrne, Francis McMullin, Francis Devitt, Jeremiah O'Dwyer