Current Or Voltage Limiting (e.g., Over-voltage Or Over-current Protection, Etc.) Patents (Class 318/400.22)
  • Patent number: 8212512
    Abstract: A vehicle generator motor has a generator motor that is connected to an internal combustion engine and plural sets of three-phase windings, plural sets of inverter portions connected to the respective sets of the three-phase windings, and a control circuit portion for controlling the inverter portions in accordance with the operation state of the generator motor. When the generator motor operates as a motor and a variation value of an output torque or power generation amount thereof exceeds a predetermined value, the control circuit portion controls the inverter portions so as to stop armature current flowing in at least one set in plural sets of three-phase windings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Naohide Maeda, Masahiko Fujita
  • Publication number: 20120139463
    Abstract: Disclosed is a power supply module for a hall sensorless BLDC motor, including: a high-voltage/large-current power device t applied with high voltage/large current and including a plurality of power devices driving the hall sensorless brushless direct current (BLDC) motor; a motor driving circuit sensing and controlling a positional signal or a velocity signal of the hall sensorless BLDC motor and generating a PWM control signal for controlling the hall sensorless BLDC motor; and a power device driving circuit driving the high-voltage/large-current power device according to the PWM control signal of the motor driving circuit, wherein the high-voltage/large-current power device, the power device driving circuit, and the motor driving circuit are CMOS-integrated on the same substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: Yil Suk Yang, Jongdae Kim, Sewan Heo, Sang Gi Kim, Jimin Oh, Minki Kim
  • Patent number: 8179064
    Abstract: An electric motor protection system for protecting an electric motor of a household appliance includes a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the electric motor, a motor speed sensor for sensing a speed of the electric motor, a current sensing circuit for sensing an electric current supplied to the electric motor, a power control device for controlling the electrical power supplied to the electric motor, and a signal processing unit electrically connected to the temperature sensor, the motor speed sensor, the current sensing circuit, and the power control device. The signal processing unit is configured to make calculations and judgments based on the measurements of the temperature sensor, the motor speed sensor and the current sensing circuit, and a plurality of predetermined values, and to control the power control device accordingly so as to protect the motor from overheating, being overloaded, or driven by excessive current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: ARCFL Technology Limited
    Inventor: Wing Chung Li
  • Publication number: 20120104983
    Abstract: An electric grasscutter includes a motor (50) which drives a rotary blade (42). The motor (50) is a brushless motor accommodated in a motor housing (51) and including a rotor (53) provided integrally with an output shaft (52), and a stator (54) fixed to the motor housing (51). A motor control circuit which drives the motor (50) is accommodated in the motor housing (51). The motor control circuit includes an inverter having FETs (81-86) as switching elements, and a control section to control the FETs (81-86). The FETs (81-86) are fixed in contact with the motor housing (51).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2010
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Inventors: Hideyuki Tanimoto, Chikai Yoshimizu, Nobuhiro Takano, Hiromi Ozawa, Kazuhiko Funabashi
  • Patent number: 8159170
    Abstract: When cooling operation or dehumidifying operation is started, a blower fan for an evaporator and an exhaust fan for a condenser are driven at an initial rotational number. A compressor is driven at a fixed rotational number. Due to load variation, an operating current supplied from a power source is changed. When the operating current exceeds a reference value, the rotational number of the blower fan is gradually reduced. When an endothermic quantity by the evaporator decreases, a temperature of a gas refrigerant flowing through the evaporator is lowered. Since the load applied on the compressor is reduced, the operating current decreases. In this way, when the compressor is loaded, the operating current increased, however, by controlling operation of the fans as described above, it is possible to prevent that the power source is shut off due to overcurrent and operation is stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Atsushi Kakiuchi
  • Publication number: 20120086373
    Abstract: A motor drive circuit includes a positive and a negative supply rail for connection to a battery (104) a motor drive circuit including a plurality of motor drive subcircuits which each selectively permit current to flow into or out of a respective phase of a multi-phase motor (101) in response to control signals from a motor control circuit, and a switching means including at least one switch which is in series with a respective phase of the motor which is normally closed to permit the flow of current to and from the subcircuit to the respective motor phase. A fault signal detecting means (160) detects at least one fault condition and in the event of a fault condition being detected, causes the at least one switch to open. A snubber circuit (150) is associated with the motor and is arranged so that following the opening of the switch, energy stored in the motor windings is diverted away from the switching means through the snubber circuit to the battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Inventors: Maciej Kudanowski, Andrew McLean
  • Publication number: 20120074885
    Abstract: PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED To provide a motor control device that can diagnose an abnormality in overcurrent detection means and can previously avoid various problems caused by the abnormality MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS The motor control device has an overcurrent test unit 19 to send a first test voltage Vt1 lower than a reference voltage Vref for overcurrent determination and a second test voltage Vt2 not lower than the reference voltage Vref to an overcurrent determination unit 18 when a synchronous motor 11 is not rotated. The motor control device determine that an abnormality occurs in the overcurrent detection unit 18 when the overcurrent determination unit 18 determines that the first test voltage Vt1 from the overcurrent test unit 19 causes no overcurrent on the basis of a comparison result, or when the overcurrent determination unit 18 determines that the second test voltage Vt2 from the overcurrent test unit 19 causes an overcurrent on the basis of a comparison result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2010
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Applicant: SANDEN CORPORATION
    Inventor: Daisuke Hirono
  • Patent number: 8120298
    Abstract: The invention provides a control unit for at least one electric motor, wherein the control unit performs open-loop or closed-loop control of the motor speed of the electric motor in such a way that in the case of control values in specific ranges which are typical of a fault when the setpoint value is being predefined, such a fault being, for example, a line break, a voltage failure or a short circuit, the control unit drives the motor with a predefined setpoint value which differs from the current control value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Papst Licensing GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Andras Lelkes
  • Publication number: 20120038300
    Abstract: A control device for an AC rotating machine having a current limiting function of protecting the AC rotating machine and a driving unit such as an inverter from over-current, in which the control device has the reliable current limiting function in driving the AC rotating machine with known or unknown electrical constant. In the control device, a frequency correction value arithmetic unit has an amplification gain computing element for computing an amplification gain based on an electrical constant of the AC rotating machine and an amplifier for computing a frequency correction arithmetic value based on the amplification gain computed by the amplification gain computing element and the current of the AC rotating machine, in which the frequency correction arithmetic value is outputted as a frequency correction value in a predetermined running state of the AC rotating machine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2009
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sho Kato, Yoshihiko Kimpara, Takahiko Kobayashi, Satoru Terashima
  • Patent number: 8115431
    Abstract: An inverter control apparatus that controls a three-phase inverter which transforms a direct-current voltage into an alternating three-phase voltage, the inverter control apparatus includes: a voltage command vector generation portion that generates a first voltage command vector for specifying a vector of a voltage to be applied to a three-phase load that is connected to the inverter; a voltage command vector correction portion that in performing overmodulation with the inverter, corrects the first voltage command vector by setting a limit onto a coordinate-axis component of the first voltage command vector on an ab coordinate system to generate a second voltage command vector, wherein the inverter is so controlled that a voltage depending on the second voltage command vector is applied to the load, and the ab coordinate system is a coordinated system that depending on a phase of the first voltage command vector with respect to a predetermined fixed axis on a two-dimensional fixed coordinate system, rotates
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Eiichiro Hashimoto, Yoshio Tomigashi
  • Patent number: 8115429
    Abstract: If the magnitude of a command voltage vector is greater than a predetermined voltage value indicated by a voltage limit circle, the magnitude of a voltage vector, which corresponds to a q-axis current and which forms the command voltage vector, is adjusted so that the magnitude of the command voltage vector is equal to or less than the predetermined voltage value. Then a q-axis current estimated value is obtained based on i) the ratio of the magnitude of the voltage vector from the q-axis current after adjustment to the magnitude of the voltage vector from the q-axis current before adjustment, and ii) a q-axis current command value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Ueda, Shigeki Nagase, Kouya Yoshida
  • Patent number: 8106614
    Abstract: An electric motor circuit for controlling an electric motor of a mirror adjustment mechanism includes a switch-off circuit that is provided with a current sensor for measuring the electrical supply current and, depending thereon, generating a voltage. In an embodiment, a current branch is configured to be rendered conductive in response to the generated voltage; an electronic switch is configured to interrupt the supply current as a result of the current branch being rendered conductive. The current branch may be configured to form a first branch of a current mirror which is out of balance and is dimensioned such that the first branch does not carry current under normal operating conditions of the motor, and a second branch is conductive. In an embodiment, upon the occurrence of a supply current that is greater than a predetermined critical level, the first branch is also rendered conductive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignee: MCi (Mirror Controls International) Netherlands, B.V.
    Inventors: Willem Niesing, Bastiaan Huijzers
  • Publication number: 20110316460
    Abstract: A system and method for a vehicle control system is disclosed herein. The system includes an inverter circuit, a permanent magnet synchronous motor, and a crossover connected between the inverter circuit and the permanent magnet synchronous motor. The system may also include at least one current sensor installed between the inverter circuit and the permanent magnet synchronous motor. A contactor may also be connected between the inverter circuit and the permanent magnet synchronous motor and may pass or shut off electricity between the inverter circuit and the permanent magnet synchronous motor. The system may also include a control unit connected to the contactor and the current sensor. The control unit may detect a current abnormality using information from the current sensor and open the contactor if an abnormality is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2011
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Inventors: Ikuo Yasuoka, Shinichi Toda, Mitsuhiro Numazaki, Hidetoshi Manabe, Takashi Takagi
  • Patent number: 8084985
    Abstract: Two current threshold values are adopted, which are larger than the upper limit of current of an operating region. When a rotating speed is smaller than a speed threshold value, the current threshold value is adopted as a criterion to judge whether an input current to an inverter is abnormal, and when the rotating speed Rot is larger than that, the other current threshold value is adopted as the criterion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Daikin Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motonobu Ikeda, Satoshi Yagi, Michiya Takezoe, Hiroyuki Kondou, Hirotaka Doi, Hirohito Maeda
  • Patent number: 8084973
    Abstract: A motor driving circuit generates pulse driving signals, and controls the ON/OFF state of a switching circuit connected to a coil of a motor which is to be driven, thereby controlling the conduction period of the motor. A driving signal generating circuit generates the driving signals such that they are pulse modulated according to the torque target value for the motor, and outputs the driving signals to the switching circuit. A current detection circuit detects the current flowing through the coil of the motor. A current limiting circuit controls the logical values of the driving signals generated by the driving signal generating circuit such that the current detected by the current detection circuit does not exceed a predetermined current upper limit. The current limiting circuit increases the current upper limit according to the time elapsed in the starting operation of the motor. After the starting operation of the motor, the current upper limit is set to a predetermined fixed value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroaki Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8084967
    Abstract: A motor controller is provided. The motor controller includes a motor drive unit that drives a plurality of motors; a thermal shutdown unit that is provided in the motor drive unit and that stops the plurality of motors in the case of an overload; a lock signal generation unit that generates a lock signal corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of motors when a rotational speed of the respective motor reaches a threshold speed set for the respective motor; and an operation determination unit which, when the lock signal generation unit interrupts lock signals for all of the plurality of motors, determines that thermal shutdown unit has operated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Atsushi Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8084983
    Abstract: There are provided a laundry treatment machine and a method of controlling the same. A temperature around a motor is sensed and the range of current input to the motor in accordance with the sensed temperature is limited in stages. Therefore, the surrounding of the motor can be prevented from being overheated. In addition, since the range of the current input to the motor is limited in stages, when the current applied to the motor is limited, abnormal noise is not generated and the torque of the motor can be maximized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Un Yong Lee
  • Publication number: 20110285335
    Abstract: A motor drive device includes an inverter circuit, a driver circuit for outputting a PWM signal to the inverter circuit, a booster circuit for boosting a power supply voltage supplied from a power supply circuit, a fail safe circuit arranged between the inverter circuit and the motor, and a fail safe drive unit for outputting a signal for turning ON/OFF a semiconductor switching element of the fail safe circuit. A boost voltage output from the booster circuit is supplied to the driver circuit and also supplied to the fail safe drive unit. The fail safe drive unit drives the semiconductor switching element of the fail safe circuit by such boost voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2011
    Publication date: November 24, 2011
    Applicant: OMRON AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Tada
  • Patent number: 8063597
    Abstract: An electric circuit for supplying power to a DC application is disclosed. The electric circuit comprises a DC power source (1) connectable to an alternator charging circuit (2), an FET (T7), and a capacitor (8) connected across the gate terminal and the source terminal of the FET (T7). The drain terminal of the FET (T7) is connected to a negative terminal of the DC source (1). The FET (T7) protects the circuit against accidental connection of the alternator charging circuit (2) to the DC power source (1) with reversed polarity, by opening a switch (6) of the FET (T7) when this occurs. The capacitor (8) protects the FET (T7) from being pushed into avalanche in case a load-dump transient occurs. This is because the capacitor (8) in this case will charge and discharge, thereby introducing a time delay before the switch (6) is opened. Protection against load-dump transients is thereby obtained by means of a small component with low energy dissipation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Secop GmbH
    Inventor: Rune Thomsen
  • Publication number: 20110273122
    Abstract: A motor drive device has an inverter circuit, in which at least three sets of a pair of upper and lower arms including a semiconductor switching element on an upper arm and a lower arm is arranged, for supplying voltage to a motor based on ON/OFF operation of each semiconductor switching element by a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal, an inverter drive unit for outputting the PWM signal to each semiconductor switching element of the inverter circuit, a fail safe circuit, arranged between the inverter circuit and the motor, including a semiconductor switching element for shielding the voltage supply from the inverter circuit to the motor for each phase, and a fail safe drive unit for outputting a signal for turning ON/OFF the semiconductor switching element of the fail safe circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2011
    Publication date: November 10, 2011
    Applicant: OMRON AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiromi Murata, Tsuyoshi Tada, Masamitsu Hamasaki, Taiki Yamane
  • Patent number: 8054019
    Abstract: The invention concerns a method and an apparatus for controlling a three-or-more-phase motor driven by a frequency converter. In the method, a change-over switch of the frequency converter is controlled to a continuously conducting state and at the same time the phase voltages or phase currents of the other phases are controlled by switching the change-over switches in those motor phases at a switching frequency substantially higher than the frequency of the fundamental wave of the phase voltage or phase current. The apparatus comprises in conjunction with the frequency converter a number of change-over switches, at least one change-over switch for each motor phase. The change-over switches comprise controllable change-over contacts. The apparatus further comprises in conjunction with the frequency converter means for determining the motor phase currents and means for controlling the change-over contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Kone Corporation
    Inventors: Antti Kallioniemi, Lauri Stolt, Tuukka Kauppinen
  • Patent number: 8054021
    Abstract: A system comprises host logic and a programmable motor drive coupled to the host logic and configured to drive a motor. The programmable motor drive comprises a plurality of H-bridge circuits and the programmable motor drive is programmable to cause any two or more H-bridge circuits to be operated in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Paul D. Bliley, Steve P. Stemple, David Branson
  • Publication number: 20110248657
    Abstract: An inverter circuit is provided for a plurality of coils and includes switching elements forming switching element pairs in correspondence to each phase of the coils. Current detection sensors detect currents flowing low-side FETs, respectively. A control circuit has a failure detection section, which detects arm short-circuit failure of the element pairs based on current values detected by the current detection sensors at timing when one or the other of all the low-side FETs and all the high-side FETs are turned on and turned off, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2011
    Publication date: October 13, 2011
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Go ENDOH
  • Publication number: 20110221369
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for monitoring current in an electric motor. An electrical system comprises a direct current (DC) interface, an electric motor, and an inverter module between the DC interface and the electric motor. A first current sensor is configured to measure a DC current flowing between the DC interface and the inverter module. A second current sensor is configured to measure a first phase current flowing through the first phase of the electric motor. A control module is coupled to the current sensors, and the control module is configured to determine an expected value for the first phase current based at least in part on the DC current measured by the first current sensor and take remedial action based on a difference between the expected value and the measured first phase current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Publication date: September 15, 2011
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventor: BRIAN A. WELCHKO
  • Patent number: 8004220
    Abstract: A drive system for a motor having a rotor and a phase winding (a, b, c) comprises; a drive circuit including switch means associated with the winding a, b, c for varying the current passing through the winding; rotor position sensing means arranged to sense the position of the rotor; control means arranged to provide drive signals to control the switch means; a power input for connection to a power supply at a nominal voltage; and boost means in electric communication with the power input and power output, and controllable to boost the nominal voltage to a higher voltage for application to the winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: TRW Limited
    Inventors: Malcolm Eric Sparey, Adrian Szabo, Graham William White, Jeffrey Ronald Coles, Connel Brett Williams, Yangsheng Chen
  • Patent number: 7994747
    Abstract: A clamping circuit is included in a phased motor control circuit, particularly on an electrical connection connected to at least one electrostatic discharge cell and/or the driver control electronics of the phased motor control circuit. The clamping circuit triggers when a voltage that exceeds a clamping turn-on threshold occurs on the electrical connector, sourcing or sinking the discharge current so as to protect the electrostatic discharge cells and/or driver control electronics from destruction by said discharge current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Brian Dean Boling, Michael Ernest Dickeson, Frank P. Domingo, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20110156627
    Abstract: In a multi-system motor drive apparatus, a power supply relay is interrupted when a first power supply system fails at time t0. A power control unit doubles a current supplied to an inverter of a second power supply system thereby to supplement the electric power, which has been supplied by an inverter of the first power supply system. The total output of inverters is thus maintained before and after the failure. After an elapse of a predetermined period, the electric power supplied by the second power supply system is reduced gradually so that the inverter of the second power supply system will not be operated to supply the doubled power for a long period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2010
    Publication date: June 30, 2011
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kouichi NAKAMURA, Yasuhiko Mukai, Nobuhiko Uryu
  • Patent number: 7940017
    Abstract: The present invention is intended to, when rotation of a mirror rotation unit in a power-folding mirror is mechanically locked and its drive motor is thereby locked, make it possible to correctly detect this locked state. A motor 10 for a power-folding mirror is reversibly driven by an H-bridge drive circuit 12 formed of FETs 1 to 4. When the motor 10 is driven in normal rotation by turning the FETs 1 and 4 on and turning the FETs 2 and 3 off, the FET 1 is periodically turned off to detect a voltage of a terminal 10a of the motor 10 by means of a voltage detection circuit 14. When the FET 1 is turned off and the motor 10 is not locked, the motor 10 generates power by means of its inertial rotation, and when locked, the motor 10 generates no power, so the voltage detected by the voltage detection circuit 14 changes according to whether or not the motor 10 is locked. A CPU 20 determines whether or not the motor 10 is locked according to the voltage detected by the voltage detection circuit 14.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Murakami Corporation
    Inventor: Noriyuki Takemasa
  • Publication number: 20110062908
    Abstract: In configuring a power conversion device to drive an alternating-current motor for an electric vehicle, the device is configured in a small size, light weight, and at a low cost, while avoiding size increase of a cooler. A current-command generating unit provided in a controller to control the alternating-current motor is adjusted not to increase a loss of an inverter in a state that the inverter as a main circuit within the power conversion device is outputting a maximum voltage that can be generated at an output voltage of a direct-current power source and when a torque command is reduced, and outputs a current command to cause the alternating-current motor to generate a torque based on the torque command.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2007
    Publication date: March 17, 2011
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Hidetoshi Kitanaka
  • Publication number: 20110056226
    Abstract: Disclosed is a motor control apparatus for controlling a synchronous motor, which includes a receiver section for receiving the value detected by a temperature sensor installed inside the synchronous motor. The synchronous motor is started up with the current fed into it, whose magnitude is changed in accordance with the temperature received by the receiver section at the time of starting up the synchronous motor. In this way, the stable startup of the synchronous motor can be guaranteed and the useful life of the semiconductor elements can also be prolonged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2009
    Publication date: March 10, 2011
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomofumi Okubo, Norinaga Suzuki, Hajime Uematsu, Hideharu Tanaka, Masakazu Hase, Yoshiyuki Taguchi
  • Patent number: 7902776
    Abstract: An improved electric motor has a rotor (124), a stator (125) having at least one phase winding strand (126), an output stage (122) for influencing the current flow in said phase winding strand, a DC link circuit (170) for supplying the output stage (122) with current, including a link circuit capacitor (178), and a control unit (132) having an arrangement (152) for sensing a value characterizing the current recharge into the link circuit capacitor (178), which control unit (132) is configured to specify commutation instants as a function of the sensed value, and to perform commutation operations in the power stage (122) at the commutation instants thus specified. Avoiding a need for prolonged “currentless intervals” permits achieving higher efficiency and power output, particularly in a motor having less than three winding phases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: EBM-PAPST St. Beorgen GmbH and Co. KG
    Inventor: Arno Karwath
  • Patent number: 7903955
    Abstract: A driving device is provided for controlling rotation of a motor. The driving device comprises an inputting module, a comparing module and a processing module. The inputting module includes a first current source, a first voltage source and a first capacitance. The first capacitance is coupled between the first current source and the first voltage source for charging/discharging and generating a voltage signal. The comparing module is coupled to the inputting module for comparing a selecting signal with the voltage signal and generating a comparing signal. The processing module is coupled to the comparing module and generates a control signal according to a clock signal and the comparing signal, wherein the driving device controls the rotation of the motor by the control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Princeton Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Chi-Lin Hsu, En-Hsun Hsiao, Meng-Hsun Lee
  • Patent number: 7898229
    Abstract: Apparatus and associated systems and methods may relate to a process for supplying unidirectional current to a load, controlling a reverse electromotive force (REMF), capturing inductive energy from the load, and supplying the captured inductive energy to the load. In an illustrative example, an operating cycle may include a sequence of operations. First, inductive energy captured from the load on a previous cycle may be supplied to the load. Second, energy may be supplied to the load from an external power source. Third, a REMF voltage may be substantially controlled upon disconnecting the power source from the load. Fourth, the load current may be brought to zero by capturing the inductive energy for use on a subsequent cycle. In some embodiments, a single power stage may supply a DC inductive load, or a pair of power stages may be operated to supply bidirectional current to an AC load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2011
    Assignee: Flyback Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul M Babcock, David J Babcock, Phillip N Smith
  • Patent number: 7852024
    Abstract: A vehicle mirror device includes a drive unit to turn a mirror unit with respect to a base unit. The drive unit includes a motor and a control circuit. The motor is driven with a battery voltage. A current supply to the motor is cut OFF when a motor current flowing in the motor exceeds a threshold, and the control circuit changes the threshold depending on the battery voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2010
    Assignee: Ichikoh Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuji Sho, Takashi Ogawa
  • Patent number: 7840181
    Abstract: A first bias circuit outputs a first direct-current voltage to charge a first capacitor based on a clock signal. A second bias that outputs a second direct-current voltage to charge a second capacitor based on a clock signal. A first MOS transistor has a gate and a source. The first direct-current voltage is applied between the gate and the source of the first MOS transistor to bias the gate of the first MOS transistor. A second MOS transistor has a gate and a source, and a drain connected to the source of the first MOS transistor. The second direct-current voltage is applied between the gate and the source of the second MOS transistor to bias the gate of the second MOS transistor. A coupling capacitor has a first end connected to the source of the first MOS transistor, and a second end to which an alternating-current signal is input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Umeda, Shoji Ootaka
  • Patent number: 7834571
    Abstract: A protecting device of a fan system includes at least one first switch element and at least one control unit. The first switch element receives a first input signal. The control unit is electrically connected with the first switch element, receives the first input signal, and controls the first switch element to turn on or turn off according to the first input signal. The control unit stops outputting the first input signal when the first switch element turns on. The control unit outputs the first input signal when the first switch element turns off, so that a fan of the fan system can be driven by the first input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Delta Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Yu-Hiuan Lin, Chin-Fa Chiu, Chun-Lung Chiu, Ming-Shi Tsai
  • Patent number: 7821215
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a method of detecting a fault condition in a motor of a pump. The method includes sensing a first current value and a speed of the motor, attempting a recovery operation if the first current value is greater than a current threshold and if the speed of the motor is less than a motor speed low threshold, and sensing a second current value during the recovery operation and shutting down a drive to the motor if the second current value is also greater than the current threshold. The method also includes performing the recovery operation for a time period if the second current value is less than the current threshold and attempting to operate the motor in a normal mode after the time period has elapsed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Sta-Rite Industries, LLC
    Inventor: Robert M. Koehl
  • Patent number: 7791293
    Abstract: A current sensor of a motor controller detects the current applied to a motor drive circuit and thus a phase where a failure cannot be detected would occur without taking any measures. However, an abnormal current monitor section contained in a microcomputer receives a voltage signal of an average value of the currents detected in the current sensor by allowing a signal to pass through a first LPF having a cutoff frequency sufficiently lower than the frequency of a PWM signal. Therefore, whether or not the value is within a predetermined normal range is checked, whereby whether or not some failure containing a failure of the current sensor occurs can be easily determined about every phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeki Nagase, Takeshi Ueda, Ken Matsubara, Toshiaki Oya, Yasuyuki Yoshii
  • Publication number: 20100148707
    Abstract: The invention relates to a speed control method of a magnetic motor and is capable of providing a speed controller of the magnetic motor realizing highly stable, highly efficient and highly responsive control characteristics even around critical torque of the motor. When an excessive torque command value (or a q-axis commanded current value) greater than a torque maximum value (or a q-axis current) that can be outputted by the motor is required, an input of speed control is limited so that the q-axis commanded current value does not increase up to a limit value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2009
    Publication date: June 17, 2010
    Inventors: Kazuaki TOBARI, Yasuo Notohara, Wataru Hatsuse, Dongsheng Li, Kentaro Oi, Yuuji Funayama
  • Publication number: 20100134057
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for protecting against over voltage that is simple to produce, economical, compact and is simultaneously effective against over voltage for a converter (8) provided for supplying an electric motor (1) comprising at least one motor phase (L1, L2, L3). Said converter comprises an electric intermediate circuit (10) and several half-bridges (13a, 13b, 13c) that are connected in parallel in the intermediate circuit and respectively comprise a circuit breaker (15a, 15b, 15c) on the high potential side and a circuit breaker (17a, 17b, 17c) on the low potential side, in addition to an intermediately connected phase connection (14a, 14b, 14c).
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Applicant: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Bernhard Föcking, Guido Stöppler, Alexander Wagenpfeil
  • Patent number: 7719217
    Abstract: A drive device for a brushless motor executes an abnormality diagnosis (disconnection/short-circuit) of a motor side circuit. In detecting abnormality of the motor side circuit, the drive device includes a terminal voltage monitor circuit that monitors a terminal voltage of an output terminal that is connected to a motor terminal of respective phases. A microcomputer starts abnormality diagnosis under a condition where the motor is stopped, and an object to be driven has normally operated at the time of driving the motor. For executing the abnormality diagnosis, the microcomputer turns on/off only a transistor of the drive circuit of one phase in a state where all of transistors are turned off, and acquires monitor signals to execute the abnormality diagnosis based on signal levels of the monitor signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Youji Yokota, Azuma Kimura
  • Patent number: 7705554
    Abstract: A circuit arrangement and a method for adjusting the power consumption of a load of a cooling fan motor of a motor vehicle that can be operated by a direct-voltage system has at least one semiconductor switch in the supply current circuit of the load, and a control unit for triggering the semiconductor switch or switches. The load is connectable via at least one sense field-effect transistor to the direct-voltage system the measurement output of the sense FET is connected to the control unit, and the control unit furnishes a signal corresponding to the current consumption of the load at the respective operating point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Norbert Knab, Nikolas Haberl, Michael Koerner
  • Patent number: 7696707
    Abstract: In a semiconductor integrated circuit device of the invention, a plurality of external terminals include: a first external terminal (VCC, U, V and W terminals in the FIGURE) receiving a higher voltage than the other external terminals; and a second external terminal (FG terminal in the FIGURE) arranged adjacent to the first external terminal as one of the other external terminals, the second external terminal feeding out, from one end of a transistor Q1, a control pulse signal corresponding to the turning on and off of the transistor Q1, and the second external terminal is connected to an overvoltage protection circuit (consisting of R1, R2, Q2 and AND) that masks a control signal for turning on and off the transistor Q1 so that, when a voltage at the second external terminal reaches a predetermined threshold, the transistor Q1 is kept off all the time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2010
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Daiki Yanagishima
  • Publication number: 20100064706
    Abstract: There is provided a control device of a permanent-magnet type synchronous motor that sets a synchronous operation current at start-up in response to a current limiting value determined from the temperature of an inverter that supplies three-phase power to the permanent-magnet type synchronous motor, that monitors an output voltage or an output current of the inverter during a rotation stabilizing period after start-up, and that updates the synchronous operation current using this output voltage or output current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2007
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Makoto Hattori, Masahiko Asai, Takayuki Takashige, Koji Nakano, Takashi Nakagami
  • Publication number: 20100065351
    Abstract: A target power value determining unit (200) determines target power values Pc1* and Pc2* such that a sum ?Pc* of target load powers as a sum of target load power Pc1* and target load power Pc2* does not exceed a sum ?Win of allowable charging powers and a sum ?Wout of allowable discharging powers. In accordance with the generated target load power values Pc1* and Pc2*, switching commands PWM1 and PWM2 are generated. Consequently, an inverter executes a power conversion operation such that the powers exchanged between a main line ML and motor generators attain to the target load power values Pc1* and Pc2*, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2008
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinji Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 7671551
    Abstract: The invention teaches a brushless DC motor, comprising a brushless DC motor unit and a controller unit, wherein the brushless DC motor unit comprises a stator assembly, a permanent magnet rotor assembly magnetically coupled with the stator assembly, an enclosure supporting the installation of stator assembly and the permanent magnet rotator assembly, an end shield installed at the end of the enclosure, the rotating shaft of the permanent magnet rotor assembly projecting out of the end shield; the controller unit comprises an integrated power module, a microprocessor unit, a rotor position sensing circuit, a power source circuit, an I/O interface circuit, a current-sensing circuit, and a controller box; and the controller unit is electrically connected to the brushless DC motor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Assignee: Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ronghua Bi, Aiqian Peng, Wenwei Huang, Maosen Zeng, Jianwei Jin
  • Patent number: 7667421
    Abstract: A torque compensation method and system for a DC brushless motor. When the DC brushless motor coupled with an asymmetric load is rotating, the difference between an instant current and an average current of a shunt resister is an index of adjusting control signals within an absolute rotor position for the purpose of approaching the corresponding instant current to the average current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2010
    Assignee: Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Chih-Ming Huang
  • Patent number: 7659678
    Abstract: A system is disclosed for driving a DC motor (15) under conditions of a controlled average current. An inductive element may be arranged for connection in series with the DC motor. A switch (14) is preferably coupled to the inductive element for connecting and disconnecting a terminal of the inductive element from the voltage source. A diode may be arranged for connection in parallel with a combination of the inductive element and the DC motor arranged in series, with the appropriate polarity so that current circulating through the inductive element circulates through the diode when the switch disconnects the terminal from the voltage source. A capacitor is arranged for connection in parallel with the motor, for limiting a resulting voltage over the motor or for storing charge depending on the embodiment of the invention. A device for measuring a current through the motor is provided, and a device (13) for controlling operation of the switch dependent upon the measured current in the motor is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Inventor: Sergio A. Maiocchi
  • Publication number: 20100026222
    Abstract: A dynamo-electric machine control system including a dynamo-electric machine and an inverter that is interposed between a battery and the dynamo-electric machine and that controls a current flowing through the dynamo-electric machine, wherein a rotation speed and an output torque of the dynamo-electric machine are controlled by the inverter, the dynamo-electric machine control system includes a battery power deriving unit that derives a battery power to be supplied from the battery when the dynamo-electric machine is operated at the rotation speed and the output torque; a limit power determining unit that variably determines a limit power, which is a maximum allowable value of the battery power, in accordance with a battery voltage; and a torque limiting unit that limits the torque of the dynamo-electric machine such that the battery power derived by the battery power deriving unit does not exceed the limit power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicant: AISIN AW CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Yoshida, Subrata Saha, Daisuke Ogino, Jin Izawa, Kazuo Aoki
  • Publication number: 20100007295
    Abstract: A BLDC (brushless direct current) motor system of the present invention includes a control circuit, a sequencer, a driving circuit, and a BLDC motor. The control circuit determines the maximum torque and the maximum speed of the BLDC motor. The control circuit includes an over-current detection circuit to generate a reset signal in response to a switching current of the BLDC motor. The reset signal is generated when the switching current of the BLDC motor exceeds a threshold. A pulse width of the PWM signal is correlated to the level of a speed-control signal and the level of the torque-control signal. The pulse width of the PWM signal is also controlled by the reset signal generated by the over-current detection circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Publication date: January 14, 2010
    Applicant: SYSTEM GENERAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ta-Yung YANG, Pei-Sheng Tsu, Shih-Jen Yang, Yi-Min Hsu, Chung-Hui Yeh