Patents by Inventor Richard A. Lukaszewski

Richard A. Lukaszewski 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: 20080266803
    Abstract: A technique for cooling electrical bus structures is disclosed, in which a phase change heat spreader is thermally coupled to the bus. A continuous phase change cycle occurs within the heat spreader to draw heat from the bus during operation. The heat spreader may be planar, and extend over an area greater then the surface area of the bus to enhance cooling and to render the overall assembly more isothermal. The heat spreader may be placed near bus joints and circuits to remove heat caused by increased resistance at such locations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2007
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Inventors: Neil Golhardt, Scott Duane Day, Richard A. Lukaszewski, Lawrence D. Radosevich, Bruce W. Weiss
  • Publication number: 20080266046
    Abstract: A technique is disclosed for cooling resistive elements, such as brake resistors used in motor drives, as well as other resistors. A phase change heat spreader is thermally coupled to the resistive element and a continuous phase change cycle takes place in the heat spreader to extract heat from the resistive element. The element and heat spreader may be packaged as a modular unit or may be integrated into a system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2007
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Inventors: Richard A. Lukaszewski, John R. Brubaker, Paul J. Grosskreuz, Neil Gollhardt, Lawrence D. Radosevich, Bruce W. Weiss
  • Publication number: 20080140350
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for predicting junction device temperature of at least a first switching device in a power conversion module that includes the first switching device and at least a second switching device, the method comprising the steps of identifying a cross thermal impedance value indicative of how the temperature of the second switching device effects the first switching device temperature and using the cross thermal impedance value to predict the temperature of the at least a first switching device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Inventors: Russel J. Kerkman, Lixiang Wei, Richard A. Lukaszewski, Brian P. Brown, Neil Gollhardt, Bruce W. Weiss
  • Publication number: 20080140351
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for predicting junction device temperature of at least a first switching device in a power conversion module that includes a plurality of switching devices, the method comprising the steps of, during switching activity, identifying at least one operating characteristic of the first switching device and solving an equation that uses the identified operating characteristic to predict the temperature of the first switching device where the equation solved is a function of the location of the first switching device with respect to the other switching devices in the plurality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Inventors: Russel J. Kerkman, Lixiang Wei, Richard A. Lukaszewski, Brian P. Brown, Neil Gollhardt, Bruce W. Weiss
  • Patent number: 7356441
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for predicting junction device temperature of at least a first switching device in a power conversion module that includes the first switching device and at least a second switching device, the method comprising the steps of identifying a cross thermal impedance value indicative of how the temperature of the second switching device effects the first switching device temperature an using the cross thermal impedance value to predict the temperature of the at least a first switching device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Russel J. Kerkman, Lixiang Wei, Richard A. Lukaszewski, Brian P. Brown, Neil Gollhardt, Bruce W. Weiss
  • Publication number: 20080049468
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for converting X phase intermediate voltages on X intermediate lines to output voltage for driving a single three phase load, the apparatus comprising a positive DC bus, a negative DC bus and first and second three phase drives that each include a rectifier section and an inverter section, the rectifier sections each linked to a separate three of the X intermediate lines and to the positive and negative DC buses and the inverter linked to each of the positive and negative DC buses and to the single phase load such that each of the drives has a common positive DC bus and a common negative DC bus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2006
    Publication date: February 28, 2008
    Inventors: Lixiang Wei, Gary Leonard Skibinski, Richard A. Lukaszewski
  • Patent number: 7190143
    Abstract: A method for controlling a device including a plurality of switching devices operated in accordance with a pulse width modulation technique includes receiving a reference voltage signal associated with a first pair of the switching devices. A switching signal is generated. The first pair of switching devices are controlled based on the reference voltage signal and the switching signal in accordance with the pulse width modulation technique. A frequency of the switching signal is varied based on the value of the reference voltage signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2007
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Lixiang Wei, Richard A. Lukaszewski
  • Patent number: 7106025
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for canceling dead time effects in the form of common mode voltages produced by a three-phase power conversion device in a rectifier/inverter variable frequency drive (VFD) system includes limiting the voltage difference between phase voltages at certain switching transition times to an amount ?, that is a function of the dead time that is specified for the switches and delaying gating signals to the switches to remove unexpected pulses produced by common mode voltages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2006
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Qiang Yin, Russel J. Kerkman, Richard A. Lukaszewski