Patents by Inventor Michael SPERBER

Michael SPERBER 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: 11976426
    Abstract: A soil processing machine, in particular a soil compactor, includes at least one drive roller and an electrohydraulic drive system for driving at least one drive roller. The drive system has a traction hydraulic circuit having at least one hydraulic motor and at least one hydraulic pump. The circuit includes a first line region between a first connection fitting of the at least one hydraulic pump and a first connection fitting of each hydraulic motor to drive the at least one drive roller in a first rotatable direction and a second line region between a second connection fitting of the at least one hydraulic pump and a second connection fitting of each hydraulic motor to drive the at least one drive roller in a second, opposite rotatable direction. A valve assembly is provided with each line region for selectively interrupting and releasing a fluid flow connection between the at least one hydraulic pump and at least one hydraulic motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: HAMM AG
    Inventors: Thomas Klein, Stefan Braunschläger, Ronny Pieske, Michael Sperber, Josef Dagner
  • Patent number: 11968810
    Abstract: A power module for operating an electric vehicle drive may include one or more of the following: a plurality of semiconductor components; an intermediate circuit capacitor connected in parallel to the semiconductor components; a heatsink for the removal of heat generated by the semiconductor components, where the heatsink is located between the semiconductor components and the intermediate circuit capacitor; and an intermediate circuit line that electrically connects the intermediate circuit capacitor to the semiconductor components. The intermediate circuit line may extend perpendicular to a direction of flow for the coolant in the heatsink on a side of the semiconductor components facing away from the heatsink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
    Inventors: Ake Ewald, Michael Sperber, Stefan Hain
  • Patent number: 11956895
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a printed circuit board having at least two current-conducting layer plies, wherein the current-conducting layer plies extend in an axial direction of the printed circuit board and are arranged in succession in a thickness direction of the printed circuit board. A component fastened by THT is arranged on one side of the printed circuit board. At least one connecting element extends through the printed circuit board through a passage opening in the thickness direction. The current-conducting layer ply is adjacent to the component fastened by THT reaches as far as the connecting element and the current-conducting layer ply that is remote from the component fastened by THT is at a distance from the connecting element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventor: Michael Sperber
  • Publication number: 20240032187
    Abstract: A high-current element for high-current printed circuit boards is formed from at least two metal sheets which are connected to form a sheet-metal stack and which have a plurality of pins at least at an end region thereof, and wherein the sheet-metal stack has a terminal region, a pin region, and a connection region, and wherein the metal sheets are connected to one another in the connection region, and the pins are arranged in the pin region and formed for contacting with the high-current printed circuit board, and the terminal region is set up to be used as a terminal region for connecting the high-current element to external power terminals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Michael Sperber, Ake Ewald, Chandra Gupta Hazarika
  • Publication number: 20230129246
    Abstract: A soil processing machine, in particular a soil compactor, includes at least one drive roller and an electrohydraulic drive system for driving at least one drive roller. The drive system has a traction hydraulic circuit having at least one hydraulic motor and at least one hydraulic pump. The circuit includes a first line region between a first connection fitting of the at least one hydraulic pump and a first connection fitting of each hydraulic motor to drive the at least one drive roller in a first rotatable direction and a second line region between a second connection fitting of the at least one hydraulic pump and a second connection fitting of each hydraulic motor to drive the at least one drive roller in a second, opposite rotatable direction. A valve assembly is provided with each line region for selectively interrupting and releasing a fluid flow connection between the at least one hydraulic pump and at least one hydraulic motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2022
    Publication date: April 27, 2023
    Inventors: Thomas KLEIN, Stefan BRAUNSCHLÄGER, Ronny PIESKE, Michael SPERBER, Josef DAGNER
  • Publication number: 20230126669
    Abstract: In a method for operating a soil-working machine, in particular a soil compactor, wherein the soil-working machine (10) comprises a plurality of consumers of electrical energy fed from an energy store (58), a load state of the energy store (58) is registered and when the presence of a state of excessive load of the energy store (58) is detected, at least one consumer of electrical energy is deactivated and/or the power consumption of at least one consumer of electrical energy is reduced, and/or consumers of electrical energy are put into operation with a time offset in order to avoid entering a state of excessive load of the energy store (58).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2022
    Publication date: April 27, 2023
    Inventors: Josef DAGNER, Stefan BRAUNSCHLÄGER, Michael SPERBER
  • Publication number: 20230113182
    Abstract: A soil processing machine, in particular a soil compactor, comprising at least one battery (28) supported on a machine frame (24) and at least one consumer of electrical energy (30) fed from the at least one battery (28), further comprising at least one interchangeable charging module (32) which is detachably supported on the machine frame (24), has a battery connection region (95) for connecting the at least one interchangeable charging module (32) to a battery management system (34), and has a voltage supply connection region (84) for connecting the at least one interchangeable charging module (32) to an external voltage source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2022
    Publication date: April 13, 2023
    Inventors: Josef DAGNER, Stefan BRAUNSCHLÄGER, Michael SPERBER, Stefan BÄUML
  • Publication number: 20230099177
    Abstract: A soil processing machine, in particular a soil compactor, includes a hydraulic steering system with at least one steering element actuated with pressurized fluid and an electrohydraulic pressurized fluid source with at least one steering pressurized fluid pump that can be driven by at least one electric motor for feeding pressurized fluid into a steering pressurized fluid circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2022
    Publication date: March 30, 2023
    Inventors: Josef DAGNER, Stefan BRAUNSCHLÄGER, Thomas KLEIN, Michael SPERBER
  • Patent number: 11532995
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electronic module for an electric drive in a vehicle, comprising an input-side electrical connection for inputting an input current generated by an energy source; an intermediate circuit with a capacitor; a semiconductor bridge circuit, connected in parallel to the intermediate circuit, wherein the bridge circuit comprises a high-side switch, and a low-side switch connected in series to the high-side switch, wherein the high-side switch is connected to the input-side electrical connection via a first current path, wherein the low-side switch is connected to the input-side electrical connection via a second current path, wherein the first current path and the second current path are the same length; and an output-side electrical connection for outputting an output current generated by the bridge circuit from the input current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
    Inventors: Michael Sperber, Stefan Hain
  • Patent number: 11497146
    Abstract: A power module for operating an electric vehicle drive, comprising power switches for generating an output current based on an input current; control electronics for controlling the power switches including a first region, to which a first electric potential is applied, and a second region, to which a second electric potential is applied, wherein the second electric potential is higher than the first electric potential; a heatsink for discharging heat generated by the power switches and the control electronics; a shielding layer for electrically shielding the control electronics placed between the heatsink and the control electronics, such that the control electronics lies on the shielding layer, and the shielding layer lies on the heatsink; wherein the shielding layer is designed to connect the heatsink thermally and electrically to the first region, and thermally to the second region, and electrically insulate it therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Michael Sperber, Thomas Schupp, Christian Schanda
  • Patent number: 11413969
    Abstract: A control apparatus for operating an electric drive for a vehicle may include one or more power modules, which have one or more power semiconductors; an intermediate circuit capacitor, which is connected in parallel to the power module(s); a cooler for dissipating heat generated by the power module(s); and an interconnect device for obtaining electrical contact to the power module(s), wherein the cooler extends over at least two main planes forming an angle to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Michael Sperber, Stefan Hain, ChandraGupta Hazarika
  • Publication number: 20220201903
    Abstract: A power module for operating an electric vehicle drive may include one or more of the following: a plurality of semiconductor components; an intermediate circuit capacitor connected in parallel to the semiconductor components; a heatsink for the removal of heat generated by the semiconductor components, where the heatsink is located between the semiconductor components and the intermediate circuit capacitor; and an intermediate circuit line that electrically connects the intermediate circuit capacitor to the semiconductor components. The intermediate circuit line may extend perpendicular to a direction of flow for the coolant in the heatsink on a side of the semiconductor components facing away from the heatsink.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2021
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Ake Ewald, Michael Sperber, Stefan Hain
  • Patent number: 11246244
    Abstract: A power electronics assembly comprises a heat sink, at least two half bridge modules mounted on one side of the heat sink, a circuit board mounted on the half bridge modules, and at least one capacitor mounted on the circuit boards, wherein each of the half bridge modules has a housing that has a cold side that is mounted on the heat sink, and the housing has a connection side from which numerous connection pins project for each DC connection in the half bridge module that are connected to the circuit board, and wherein conductors in the circuit board are designed to connect the half bridge modules in parallel and connect them to the at least one capacitor to form a DC link.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AG
    Inventors: Marco Denk, Johannes Hager, Michael Sperber
  • Publication number: 20220007505
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a printed circuit board having at least two current-conducting layer plies, wherein the current-conducting layer plies extend in an axial direction of the printed circuit board and are arranged in succession in a thickness direction of the printed circuit board. A component fastened by THT is arranged on one side of the printed circuit board. At least one connecting element extends through the printed circuit board through a passage opening in the thickness direction. The current-conducting layer ply is adjacent to the component fastened by THT reaches as far as the connecting element and the current-conducting layer ply that is remote from the component fastened by THT is at a distance from the connecting element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2021
    Publication date: January 6, 2022
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventor: Michael Sperber
  • Publication number: 20210392791
    Abstract: A power module for operating an electric vehicle drive, comprising power switches for generating an output current based on an input current; control electronics for controlling the power switches including a first region, to which a first electric potential is applied, and a second region, to which a second electric potential is applied, wherein the second electric potential is higher than the first electric potential; a heatsink for discharging heat generated by the power switches and the control electronics; a shielding layer for electrically shielding the control electronics placed between the heatsink and the control electronics, such that the control electronics lies on the shielding layer, and the shielding layer lies on the heatsink; wherein the shielding layer is designed to connect the heatsink thermally and electrically to the first region, and thermally to the second region, and electrically insulate it therefrom.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Publication date: December 16, 2021
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Michael SPERBER, Thomas Schupp, Christian Schanda
  • Publication number: 20210126546
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electronic module for an electric drive in a vehicle, comprising an input-side electrical connection for inputting an input current generated by an energy source; an intermediate circuit with a capacitor; a semiconductor bridge circuit, connected in parallel to the intermediate circuit, wherein the bridge circuit comprises a high-side switch, and a low-side switch connected in series to the high-side switch, wherein the high-side switch is connected to the input-side electrical connection via a first current path, wherein the low-side switch is connected to the input-side electrical connection via a second current path, wherein the first current path and the second current path are the same length; and an output-side electrical connection for outputting an output current generated by the bridge circuit from the input current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Michael Sperber, Stefan Hain
  • Publication number: 20210094424
    Abstract: A control apparatus for operating an electric drive for a vehicle may include one or more power modules, which have one or more power semiconductors; an intermediate circuit capacitor, which is connected in parallel to the power module(s); a cooler for dissipating heat generated by the power module(s); and an interconnect device for obtaining electrical contact to the power module(s), wherein the cooler extends over at least two main planes forming an angle to one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Michael Sperber, Stefan Hain, ChandraGupta Hazarika
  • Publication number: 20210068310
    Abstract: A control apparatus for operating an electric drive for a vehicle may include one or more of the following: a plurality of power module, which has one or more power semiconductors; an intermediate circuit capacitor, which is connected in parallel to the power module; a cooler for dissipating heat generated by the power module; an interconnect device for obtaining electrical contact to the power module, where the interconnect device has a first section and a second section at an angle to the first section, and where the first section and the second section are each perpendicular to a main plane of the power module.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2020
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Stefan Hain, Michael Sperber
  • Publication number: 20210014999
    Abstract: A power electronics assembly comprises a heat sink, at least two half bridge modules mounted on one side of the heat sink, a circuit board mounted on the half bridge modules, and at least one capacitor mounted on the circuit boards, wherein each of the half bridge modules has a housing that has a cold side that is mounted on the heat sink, and the housing has a connection side from which numerous connection pins project for each DC connection in the half bridge module that are connected to the circuit board, and wherein conductors in the circuit board are designed to connect the half bridge modules in parallel and connect them to the at least one capacitor to form a DC link.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2019
    Publication date: January 14, 2021
    Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Marco DENK, Johannes HAGER, Michael SPERBER
  • Patent number: 10820408
    Abstract: A multi-layer circuit board comprising a carrier plate with an upper surface and a lower surface, and at least one electrically conductive upper inner layer located on the upper surface of the carrier plate and an electrically insulating upper intermediate layer located thereon, and an electrically conductive upper outer layer located thereon, forming the outermost layer of the upper surface. At least one electrically conductive lower inner layer is located on the lower surface of the carrier plate and an electrically insulating lower intermediate layer located thereon, and an electrically conductive lower outer layer located thereon, forming the outermost layer of the lower surface. The upper and/or lower outer layers are populated with components, and conductor paths in one of the inner layers are oriented in different directions from conductor paths in the other inner layer, and the region between the conductor paths is flooded with a voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventor: Michael Sperber