Patents by Inventor Joji Noie
Joji Noie 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).
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Patent number: 11770092Abstract: A bridge circuit includes a high-side transistor connected between a power supply terminal and an output terminal, and a low-side transistor connected between the output terminal and a ground terminal. A high-side pre-driver and a low-side pre-driver drive the high-side transistor and the low-side transistor. A first transistor is connected between the output terminal and the ground terminal in a manner to form the regenerative path parallel to the low-side transistor. In a regenerative state in which a current sinks from the output terminal, a regenerative control circuit controls the voltage of a control terminal of the first transistor in a manner that an output voltage of the output terminal approaches a target voltage higher than the power supply voltage of the power supply terminal by a first voltage width.Type: GrantFiled: August 2, 2022Date of Patent: September 26, 2023Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.Inventors: Yuji Saegusa, Joji Noie
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Publication number: 20230042290Abstract: A bridge circuit includes a high-side transistor connected between a power supply terminal and an output terminal, and a low-side transistor connected between the output terminal and a ground terminal. A high-side pre-driver and a low-side pre-driver drive the high-side transistor and the low-side transistor. A first transistor is connected between the output terminal and the ground terminal in a manner to form the regenerative path parallel to the low-side transistor. In a regenerative state in which a current sinks from the output terminal, a regenerative control circuit controls the voltage of a control terminal of the first transistor in a manner that an output voltage of the output terminal approaches a target voltage higher than the power supply voltage of the power supply terminal by a first voltage width.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 2, 2022Publication date: February 9, 2023Inventors: Yuji SAEGUSA, Joji NOIE
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Publication number: 20220352840Abstract: The present disclosure provides a motor driving circuit of capable of stopping operation within a short period of time. A bridge circuit of the present disclosure is connected to a fan motor. In response to a stop instruction, a control logic circuit fixes an upper arm of a source phase in which a current flows out to be off in the bridge circuit, and maintains statuses of other upper arms and lower arms. The control logic circuit then fixes the upper arms and the lower arms of all phases of the bridge circuit to be off.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 26, 2022Publication date: November 3, 2022Inventors: Hiroyuki SHIMIZU, Joji NOIE, Shinsuke SANO, Yuji SAEGUSA
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Patent number: 10644629Abstract: The present invention relates to a fan motor driving circuit, a driving method, and a cooling device and an electronic machine using the same. The present invention provides a motor driving circuit capable of suppressing strain on coil current and/or reducing noise. A control circuit a control circuit switches an output phase of an H-bridge circuit based on a Hall signal, and in a soft switching duration (Tss) that starts before and ends after the output-phase switching, slowly varies a duty ratio (DUTY1) of an output voltage (VOUT1) of one leg of the H-bridge circuit over time, and meanwhile, varies a duty ratio (DUTY2) of an output voltage (VOUT2) of another leg of the H-bridge circuit in an opposite direction with respect to the duty ratio (DUTY1) of the output voltage (VOUT1) of the one leg.Type: GrantFiled: February 13, 2019Date of Patent: May 5, 2020Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.Inventors: Joji Noie, Tomofumi Mishima, Yuki Gohara
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Publication number: 20190260316Abstract: The present invention relates to a fan motor driving circuit, a driving method, and a cooling device and an electronic machine using the same. The present invention provides a motor driving circuit capable of suppressing strain on coil current and/or reducing noise. A control circuit a control circuit switches an output phase of an H-bridge circuit based on a Hall signal, and in a soft switching duration (Tss) that starts before and ends after the output-phase switching, slowly varies a duty ratio (DUTY1) of an output voltage (VOUT1) of one leg of the H-bridge circuit over time, and meanwhile, varies a duty ratio (DUTY2) of an output voltage (VOUT2) of another leg of the H-bridge circuit in an opposite direction with respect to the duty ratio (DUTY1) of the output voltage (VOUT1) of the one leg.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2019Publication date: August 22, 2019Inventors: Joji NOIE, Tomofumi MISHIMA, Yuki GOHARA
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Patent number: 9954476Abstract: A TH terminal receives an analog control voltage VTH which indicates a rotational speed. With a first platform, a capacitor and a discharging resistor are connected in parallel between an OSC terminal and the ground. A charging resistor and a first switch are arranged in series between the OSC terminal and a reference voltage line via which a stabilized voltage is supplied. When an oscillator voltage VOSC that occurs at the OSC terminal reaches an upper-side threshold VH, a switching circuit turns off the first switch. When the oscillator voltage VOSC falls to a lower-side threshold value VL, the switching circuit turns on the first switch. The oscillator voltage VOSC is compared with the voltage at the TH terminal, so as to generate a pulse-modulated control pulse S3.Type: GrantFiled: May 27, 2016Date of Patent: April 24, 2018Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.Inventors: Tomofumi Mishima, Masahiro Nakamura, Joji Noie
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Publication number: 20160352279Abstract: A TH terminal receives an analog control voltage VTH which indicates a rotational speed. With a first platform, a capacitor and a discharging resistor are connected in parallel between an OSC terminal and the ground. A charging resistor and a first switch are arranged in series between the OSC terminal and a reference voltage line via which a stabilized voltage is supplied. When an oscillator voltage VOSC that occurs at the OSC terminal reaches an upper-side threshold VH, a switching circuit turns off the first switch. When the oscillator voltage VOSC falls to a lower-side threshold value VL, the switching circuit turns on the first switch. The oscillator voltage VOSC is compared with the voltage at the TH terminal, so as to generate a pulse-modulated control pulse S3.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 27, 2016Publication date: December 1, 2016Inventors: Tomofumi MISHIMA, Masahiro NAKAMURA, Joji NOIE
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Patent number: 8618763Abstract: The invention provides a motor with a low speed start function and a soft start function. The motor includes a first pulse generation circuit generating a first pulse signal of which a first duty ratio of one of logic levels is increased as a drive voltage corresponding the target rotation speed of the motor is increased, a second pulse generation circuit generating a second pulse signal of which a second duty ratio of one of logic levels is different from the first duty ratio, and a drive control circuit supplying a drive current to a motor coil at the second duty ratio in order to start the rotation of the motor that is stopping and supplying a drive current to the motor coil at the first duty ratio after a predetermined time passes from the start of the rotation of the motor in response to a rotation signal corresponding to the rotation of the motor.Type: GrantFiled: January 21, 2010Date of Patent: December 31, 2013Assignees: SANYO Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Semiconductor Components Industries, LLCInventors: Joji Noie, Toshiyuki Imai, Takahiro Iida, Tetsuya Yoshitomi
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Patent number: 8330406Abstract: This invention provides a motor drive circuit, which makes it possible to prevent braking when a power supply voltage is lower than a predetermined voltage while suppressing at a low cost a rise in a voltage on a power supply line when a kickback occurs. The motor drive circuit is formed to include first and second power supply lines connected with and shunted from a power supply, an H-bridge circuit, and a means to control the H-bridge circuit. The means controls the H-bridge circuit so that a regeneration path is not created in the H-bridge circuit when the power supply voltage is lower than a predetermined voltage.Type: GrantFiled: February 23, 2010Date of Patent: December 11, 2012Assignees: SANYO Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Semiconductor Components Industries, LLCInventor: Joji Noie
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Patent number: 8030864Abstract: A motor drive circuit includes a first amplifier circuit to amplify a difference between first and second position detection signals with a gain becoming smaller according to drop in power supply voltage, to output a first amplification signal, the first and second position detection signals being signals indicating a rotational position of a rotor in a motor, having a frequency corresponding to a rotation speed of the motor, and being opposite in phase to each other; a second amplifier circuit to amplify the difference between the first and second position detection signals with the gain, to output a second amplification signal opposite in phase to the first amplification signal; and a drive circuit to amplify the difference between the first amplification signal and the second amplification signal with a predetermined gain to be saturated at the power supply voltage, to output a driving voltage for driving the motor.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2009Date of Patent: October 4, 2011Assignees: Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Semiconductor Components Industries, LLCInventors: Toshiyuki Imai, Takahiro Iida, Joji Noie
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Patent number: 7839104Abstract: A motor drive circuit includes: a pulse generation circuit configured to generate a pulse signal whose duty ratio of one logic level is increased as a drive voltage is increased in accordance with a target rotation speed of a motor; and a drive control circuit that configured to drive the motor with the drive voltage using a duty ratio higher than the duty ratio of the pulse signal when the motor starts rotating from the stopped state, and configured to drive the motor with the drive voltage during a period when the pulse signal is at the one logic level after the motor starts rotating, based on a rotation signal corresponding to the rotation of the motor.Type: GrantFiled: October 15, 2008Date of Patent: November 23, 2010Assignees: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshiyuki Imai, Tetsuya Yoshitomi, Joji Noie
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Publication number: 20100219783Abstract: This invention provides a motor drive circuit, which makes it possible to prevent braking when a power supply voltage is lower than a predetermined voltage while suppressing at a low cost a rise in a voltage on a power supply line when a kickback occurs. The motor drive circuit is formed to include first and second power supply lines connected with and shunted from a power supply, an H-bridge circuit, and a means to control the H-bridge circuit. The means controls the H-bridge circuit so that a regeneration path is not created in the H-bridge circuit when the power supply voltage is lower than a predetermined voltage.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 23, 2010Publication date: September 2, 2010Applicants: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., SANYO Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventor: Joji NOIE
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Publication number: 20100181951Abstract: The invention provides a motor with a low speed start function and a soft start function. The motor includes a first pulse generation circuit generating a first pulse signal of which a first duty ratio of one of logic levels is increased as a drive voltage corresponding the target rotation speed of the motor is increased, a second pulse generation circuit generating a second pulse signal of which a second duty ratio of one of logic levels is different from the first duty ratio, and a drive control circuit supplying a drive current to a motor coil at the second duty ratio in order to start the rotation of the motor that is stopping and supplying a drive current to the motor coil at the first duty ratio after a predetermined time passes from the start of the rotation of the motor in response to a rotation signal corresponding to the rotation of the motor.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 21, 2010Publication date: July 22, 2010Applicants: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., SANYO Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Joji Noie, Toshiyuki Imai, Takahiro Iida, Tetsuya Yoshitomi
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Publication number: 20100033118Abstract: A motor drive circuit includes a first amplifier circuit to amplify a difference between first and second position detection signals with a gain becoming smaller according to drop in power supply voltage, to output a first amplification signal, the first and second position detection signals being signals indicating a rotational position of a rotor in a motor, having a frequency corresponding to a rotation speed of the motor, and being opposite in phase to each other; a second amplifier circuit to amplify the difference between the first and second position detection signals with the gain, to output a second amplification signal opposite in phase to the first amplification signal; and a drive circuit to amplify the difference between the first amplification signal and the second amplification signal with a predetermined gain to be saturated at the power supply voltage, to output a driving voltage for driving the motor.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 11, 2009Publication date: February 11, 2010Applicants: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshiyuki Imai, Takahiro Iida, Joji Noie
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Patent number: 7589485Abstract: A motor control circuit comprising: a rotation control circuit configured to control rotation of a motor based on a rotation control signal for controlling rotation of the motor and a rotational position detection signal from a Hall element for detecting a rotational position of the motor; a determining circuit configured to determine whether the rotation control signal has been generated for a predetermined time period; and a Hall element control circuit configured to apply a Hall element source voltage to the Hall element when the determining circuit determines that the rotation control signal has been generated for the predetermined time period, and to stop applying the Hall element source voltage to the Hall element when the determining circuit determines that the rotation control signal has not necessarily been generated for the predetermined time period.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 2008Date of Patent: September 15, 2009Assignees: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Tetsuya Yoshitomi, Joji Noie, Toshiyuki Imai
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Publication number: 20090167219Abstract: A motor drive circuit includes: a pulse generation circuit configured to generate a pulse signal whose duty ratio of one logic level is increased as a drive voltage is increased in accordance with a target rotation speed of a motor; and a drive control circuit that configured to drive the motor with the drive voltage using a duty ratio higher than the duty ratio of the pulse signal when the motor starts rotating from the stopped state, and configured to drive the motor with the drive voltage during a period when the pulse signal is at the one logic level after the motor starts rotating, based on a rotation signal corresponding to the rotation of the motor.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 15, 2008Publication date: July 2, 2009Applicants: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshiyuki Imai, Tetsuya Yoshitomi, Joji Noie
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Patent number: 7535189Abstract: A motor drive circuit comprises a first power line; a second power line; an H-bridge circuit that includes a first source transistor and a first sink transistor connected serially, a second source transistor and a second sink transistor connected serially, a motor coil connected at a connection point between the first source transistor and the first sink transistor, and first to fourth regenerative diodes disposed respectively on the first and second source transistors and the first and second sink transistors, the H-bridge circuit being connected between the first power line and the ground, the first source transistor and the second sink transistor being switched complementarily to the second source transistor and the first sink transistor; and a voltage constraint circuit connected between the second power line and control electrodes of the first and second source transistors, the voltage constraint circuit constraining increase in the voltage of the control electrodes of the first and second source transisType: GrantFiled: March 23, 2007Date of Patent: May 19, 2009Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.Inventor: Joji Noie
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Publication number: 20090102406Abstract: A motor control circuit comprising: a rotation control circuit configured to control rotation of a motor based on a rotation control signal for controlling rotation of the motor and a rotational position detection signal from a Hall element for detecting a rotational position of the motor; a determining circuit configured to determine whether the rotation control signal has been generated for a predetermined time period; and a Hall element control circuit configured to apply a Hall element source voltage to the Hall element when the determining circuit determines that the rotation control signal has been generated for the predetermined time period, and to stop applying the Hall element source voltage to the Hall element when the determining circuit determines that the rotation control signal has not necessarily been generated for the predetermined time period.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 20, 2008Publication date: April 23, 2009Applicants: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Tetsuya Yoshitomi, Joji Noie, Toshiyuki Imai
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Publication number: 20070241701Abstract: A motor drive circuit comprises a first power line; a second power line; an H-bridge circuit that includes a first source transistor and a first sink transistor connected serially, a second source transistor and a second sink transistor connected serially, a motor coil connected at a connection point between the first source transistor and the first sink transistor, and first to fourth regenerative diodes disposed respectively on the first and second source transistors and the first and second sink transistors, the H-bridge circuit being connected between the first power line and the ground, the first source transistor and the second sink transistor being switched complementarily to the second source transistor and the first sink transistor; and a voltage constraint circuit connected between the second power line and control electrodes of the first and second source transistors, the voltage constraint circuit constraining increase in the voltage of the control electrodes of the first and second source transisType: ApplicationFiled: March 23, 2007Publication date: October 18, 2007Applicant: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.Inventor: Joji Noie