With Signals, Meters, Recorders Or Testing Devices Patents (Class 318/490)
  • Patent number: 8872460
    Abstract: An integrated drive motor (IDM) power distribution architecture utilizes an IDM power interface module (IPIM) to create a control voltage that is distributed to all the IDMs in a network. This power distribution may be accomplished along a hybrid cable, for example, that includes both signal conductors and power conductors. The IPIM is capable of detecting short circuits and/or overload conditions and disabling the power supply to the IDMs. Additionally, a second power supply may be utilized in the IPIM such that when the power supply to the IDMs is deactivated, the IPIM may remain functional, for example, to report one or more fault conditions to the user. Additionally, this reporting of fault status may be accomplished via a user display integrated with or coupled to the IPIM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Cooper, Mark Alan Gries, Zoran Vrankovic, David Dean Van Dorpe
  • Patent number: 8872461
    Abstract: An improper wiring detecting system of a parallel inverter system can include two polyphase inverters connected in parallel, and voltage detectors to detect an output voltage of each of the phases of each of the inverters. Control units can control turning-on and -off of semiconductor switching devices of the inverters, and a wiring condition deciding means can operate at least one control unit to turn-on specified switching devices in at least one inverter to form a closed circuit between arbitrary two phases of the at least one inverter. The system can carry out comparisons among values of output voltages of the two inverters corresponding to respective phases and detected by the voltage detectors, and make a decision as to whether wiring is correct or not on the basis of the results of the comparisons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takayuki Kaneko
  • Patent number: 8872462
    Abstract: A motor control device includes a vibration-damping-control setting unit to designate one of a plurality of candidate frequencies of a vibration-damping frequency, a signal-for-estimation computing unit to output, based on an operation signal related to a controlled object, a signal for estimation in which signal components of the other candidate frequencies excluding the designated one candidate frequency are reduced from a vibration component of a control system, and a resonance-characteristic estimating unit to estimate one resonance frequency from the output signal for estimation. The vibration-damping-control setting unit designates each of the candidate frequencies individually as one candidate frequency and sets, in a feedforward control unit, each of resonance frequencies estimated by the resonance-characteristic estimating unit related to the individually designated each one candidate frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Sekiguchi, Hidetoshi Ikeda, Takashi Isoda, Shuya Sano
  • Publication number: 20140312822
    Abstract: A motor drive device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a converter (2) for converting an AC voltage input from a main power supply into a DC voltage, a DC link unit (4) for rectifying the DC voltage output from the converter, an inverter (10) for converting the DC voltage rectified by the DC link unit into an AC voltage for driving a motor using a semiconductor switching element, a voltage application unit (6) that is provided independently of the main power supply to apply a voltage to the DC link unit, a voltage detector (7) for detecting a voltage of the DC link unit after application of the voltage by the voltage application unit, and an abnormality determination unit (8) for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality of the DC link unit based on the voltage detected by the voltage detector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2014
    Publication date: October 23, 2014
    Applicant: Fanuc Corporation
    Inventor: Youichirou Ooi
  • Patent number: 8866425
    Abstract: Complete drive system, called motor-drive unit, for use in remote locations with limited radial space like downhole, narrow tunnels, pipelines and other applications with similar conditions. Given the spatial limitations the unit must have elongated shape. It includes a number of motors connected mechanically in series and a lower number of inverters, driving groups of the motors so that load is equally distributed along axis of the unit. Motors within each group can be electrically connected in series or in parallel. The motor-drive unit is supposed to be fed by DC voltage via a cable with length up to several km; therefore, it includes a buck converter for stabilization of voltage inside the unit and a power-line communication module to be controllable from the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: SmartMotor AS
    Inventors: Richard Lund, Alexey Matveev, Roy Nilsen, Sigurd Övrebö
  • Patent number: 8866428
    Abstract: A method for determining a temperature of an electric motor including stator windings includes injecting an AC current into a D-axis current of a stator winding at a frequency that is synchronized with a control frequency of the electric motor, determining a DC-phase current, determining a resistance of the stator winding corresponding to the DC-phase current and an applied voltage, and determining a temperature of the electric motor as a function of the resistance of the stator winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Lei Hao, Yilu Zhang, Siwei Cheng
  • Publication number: 20140306635
    Abstract: A motor control device performs drive control of a motor connected to an object. The motor control device includes a rotation detection unit that detects rotation of the motor and outputs a detection signal, a counter unit that receives the detection signal from the rotation detection unit and outputs a count based on the received detection signal, and an error detection unit that receives counts from the counter unit at intervals of a reference period, computes a difference between a present count received from the counter unit and a previously received count, and detects that an error arises in the rotation detection unit when the difference is continuously less than a reference value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya WATAHIKI, Natsuko ISHIZUKA
  • Publication number: 20140306634
    Abstract: A power failure detection unit in an AC-DC converter device detects power failure of a 3-phase AC power supply at the time of driving a motor, and generates a power failure detection signal in accordance with detection of power failure. A transmitter unit in the AC-DC converter device transmits the power failure detection signal using a cable, radio, or an optical fiber. A receiver unit in a DC-AC converter device receives the power failure detection signal transmitted from the transmitter unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Koujirou SAKAI
  • Patent number: 8860349
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of safety cutoff of an electromechanical motor vehicle power steering, in which safety switches (26, 27, 28) are provided for electrical separation of a servomotor from a control system or a vehicle electrical system, wherein the following steps are provided: a) receiving a fault signal in a control system (30); b) sending a switch-off signal via control lines (31, 32, 33) to the safety switches (26, 27, 28); c) checking the electrical voltages present on the safety switches (26, 27, 28); d) deciding whether the switch-off signal on each safety switch (26, 27, 28) has led to switch-off; e) if the switch-off signal on one or more safety switches (26, 27, 28) has not led to switch-off, switching those safety switches (26, 27, 28) back on, which could not be switched off; f) repeating steps b) to e) until all safety switches have been switched off successfully (26, 27, 28).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: ThyssenKrupp Presta AG
    Inventor: Zoltan Baranyai
  • Publication number: 20140300306
    Abstract: In a device in which the rotation angle of the rotor is detected with a resolver, the rotation angle of the rotor with less error can be obtained while reducing burden of the operator. The measured angle value acquisition unit (210) acquires the measured-rotation angle value of a motor shaft. The error calculation unit (220) calculates the error included in each of measured-rotation angle values. The frequency component acquisition unit (230) determines the phase and the amplitude of a frequency component of the error based on the errors. Thus, by using the error frequency component acquisition device (121), the phase and amplitude of the frequency component of the error included in the measured-rotation angle value can be automatically calculated and the correction with respect to the measure-rotation angle value can be performed using the acquired phase and amplitude. Therefore, the rotation angle of the rotor with less error can be obtained, while reducing the burden of the operator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2012
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Inventor: Yoshiki Kato
  • Patent number: 8853986
    Abstract: Method for diagnosing a fan, in particular in a cooling circuit of an internal combustion engine, a current driving the fan being ascertained. The fan is triggered by a defined trigger signal, and depending on the ascertained current, a diagnosis of whether the fan is defective is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Peter Wiltsch
  • Patent number: 8853987
    Abstract: In an electric tool, in order to carry out a phase control or an antiphase control using a transistor, constant voltage generating means of the tool includes a series circuit including a resistor and a diode, and a parallel circuit including a capacitor and a Zener diode. One end of the resistor is connected between an AC power supply and an AC motor. A cathode of the diode is connected to one capacitor end and a cathode of the Zener diode. The other capacitor end and an anode of the Zener diode are connected to transistor sources. One ends of resistors are connected to gates of the transistors, and a voltage at the other ends of the resistors are switched between a voltage at a node between the series circuit and the parallel circuit and a voltage of the source of the transistors to turn the transistors ON or OFF.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Maeda Metal Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Takayoshi Obatake
  • Publication number: 20140292252
    Abstract: A method for determining a phase angle between voltage applied to a winding of the electric motor and an electric current flowing through the winding may include receiving a signal from the electric motor, including a value of a voltage applied to a winding of the electric motor. The method may also include determining a value of an electric current flowing through the winding and determining a phase angle between the voltage applied to the winding and the electric current flowing through the winding. The method may also include determining a speed or a stall state of the electric motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: DANIEL LOPEZ-DIAZ, HANS GOMMERINGER
  • Patent number: 8849613
    Abstract: Vibration protection in a compressor system with a variable speed compressor may include operating a variable speed compressor of a compressor system at a first frequency, measuring a vibration of the compressor system at the first frequency, determining whether the vibration exceeds a maximum vibration value, and operating the variable speed compressor at an average frequency equivalent to the first frequency, when the vibration exceeds the maximum vibration value, by identifying an allowed upper frequency and an allowed lower frequency, calculating an upper operating time and a lower operating time, and operating the variable speed compressor at the allowed upper frequency for the upper operating time and the allowed lower frequency for the lower operating time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Jean-Luc M. Caillat
  • Patent number: 8847536
    Abstract: An electric power steering apparatus includes a shunt resistor connected to an inverter, a controlling motor current detection circuit connected to two terminals of the shunt resistor in a positive direction, which detects phase currents of a motor and uses the detected phase current as a controlling motor current detection value of assist control, and a diagnostic motor current detection circuit that is connected to two terminals of the shunt resistor in an opposite direction and detects a failure of the controlling motor current detection circuit. Each phase current of the motor is detected by one-shunt type and the assist control is performed, and two systems of a circuit for amplifying a voltage between two terminals of the shunt resistor are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: NSK Ltd.
    Inventors: Shin Kumagai, Shigeru Fukinuki
  • Publication number: 20140285131
    Abstract: The invention provides a motor driving apparatus of the invention comprises a power semiconductor device (11) for power conversion; a driving unit (12) controlling driving of the power semiconductor device (11) to supply power to a motor; a heat transmission structure (13) transferring a heat generated from the power semiconductor device (11) to a cooling medium via a heat conduction member; a temperature detection unit (14) detecting a real temperature of the heat conduction member; a current detection unit (15) detecting a current value of an output current from the power semiconductor device (11) to the motor; a temperature estimation unit (16) calculating an estimated temperature of the heat conduction member based on the output current value; and an abnormality detection unit (17) determining presence or absence of an abnormality in the heat transmission structure (13) based on a difference between the real and the estimated temperatures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2014
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicant: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Taku Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20140265982
    Abstract: A control apparatus having high control performance is provided. A control apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a control apparatus that controls a DC motor, including a first current detection system that detects a current value of the DC motor, a second current detection system that detects a current value of the DC motor, and a control unit that controls the DC motor based on a signal indicating a current value input from the first or second current detection system, in which the second current detection system includes an amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: MITUTOYO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yo TERASHITA, Tomohiro USUI
  • Publication number: 20140265984
    Abstract: An electric motor has a control circuit that enables an operational speed of the electric motor to be selected with reference to multiple ranges of speeds and the input voltage to the motor. Switching between speed ranges occurs in response to activation of a switch or in response to expiration of a time period set by a selector switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Merkle-Korff Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Hollenbeck, Bruce Ley, Trevor Perdue, Bart Long, Justin Mumaw
  • Publication number: 20140265976
    Abstract: An electric motor drive system includes a fan configured to cool power electronic components of the electric motor drive system. The electric motor drive system also includes a temperature sensor disposed proximate an air inlet of the fan and configured to sense an ambient temperature of air entering the air inlet. In addition, the electric motor drive system includes a processor communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor and configured to determine at least one of a drive prognostic and a derating requirement based on the sensed ambient temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Bruce William Weiss, Robert Michael Michalski, Lixiang Wei, Garron Koch Morris, Brian Patrick Brown
  • Publication number: 20140265983
    Abstract: A system and method for monitoring and controlling the amount of electrical current provided to a motor used to actuate a field device within a control system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: FISHER CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL LLC
    Inventor: Clyde T. Eisenbeis
  • Publication number: 20140265981
    Abstract: A control system for controlling a motor having a stator and a rotor coupled to the stator is provided. The control system includes a plurality of input taps and an input coupled to the plurality of input taps. The input is configured to transmit an input voltage to at least one input tap of the plurality of input taps. The control system also includes a microcontroller coupled to the input. The microcontroller is programmed to determine the at least one input tap of the plurality of input taps that is asserted by the input voltage; access from a memory a predetermined input condition; detect an invalid operating input condition of the motor based on a comparison of the predetermined input condition and the at least one input tap of the plurality of input taps that is asserted by the input; and perform a function to change an operating characteristic of the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: REGAL BELOIT AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Bryan J. Stout, Gregory P. Sullivan
  • Publication number: 20140265741
    Abstract: A system to monitor the temperature of power electronic devices in a motor drive includes a base plate defining a planar surface on which the electronic devices and/or circuit boards within the motor drive may be mounted. The power electronic devices are mounted to the base plate through the direct bond copper (DBC). A circuit board is mounted to the base plate which includes a temperature sensor mounted on the circuit board proximate to the power electronic devices. The temperature sensor generates a digital signal corresponding to the temperature measured by the sensor. A copper pad is included between each layer of the circuit board and between the first layer of the circuit board and the sensor. The circuit board also includes vias extending through each layer of the board. The copper pads and vias establish a thermally conductive path between the temperature sensor and the base plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Zoran Vrankovic, Rongjun Huang, Mark Cooper, David M. Brod
  • Publication number: 20140253007
    Abstract: A method for generating a challenge-response pair in an electric machine as a basis for an identification or authentication is described, the electric machine having a stator and a rotor, a first alternating voltage between two points of a first defined point pair of the electric machine being applied as a challenge, which causes an induction in the electric machine, a variable dependent on the caused induction being determined as a response. The first alternating voltage has a frequency which is higher than the working frequency of the electric machine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2014
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Jamshid SHOKROLLAHI, Hamit HACIOGLU, Hanne BECK
  • Patent number: 8829838
    Abstract: The present invention provides a power converter which, while ensuring safety, implements control for the flow of a constant current in a specified switching element, more accurately determines the lifetime of a switching element, and reduces the number of temperature detectors. The power converter is provided with a mechanism which causes a brake device to operate or which confirms that a brake mechanism is operating. The power converter supplies current to the d-axis and the q-axis of a rotational coordinate system, within the range of the braking torque of the brake mechanism, and passes the desired current to the desired element. Furthermore, temperature detectors are attached only in chips in sections where a crack readily develops in the upper solder layer or peeling is readily generated in the wire bonding, and in chips where a crack readily develops in the lower solder layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideki Ayano, Katsumi Ishikawa, Kazutoshi Ogawa, Tsutomu Kominami, Mami Kunihiro
  • Patent number: 8829840
    Abstract: A condition monitoring method for an electrical machine is provided. The method includes providing at least one first sensor element embedded in or disposed on at least one substrate element located in a stator core for obtaining a first set of data. The method also includes providing at least one second sensor element for obtaining a second set of data from the electrical machine. Further, the method includes generating signals indicative of changes in characteristics of the first sensor element based on the second set of data. Finally, the method includes refining the first set of data by combining the first set of data with the generated signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Emad Andarawis Andarawis, Ertugrul Berkcan, Brock Matthew Lape, David Richard Esler
  • Publication number: 20140246995
    Abstract: A motor-drive circuit includes: an output transistor configured to supply a drive current to a motor for a cooling fan; a switching-control circuit configured to control switching of the output transistor so that the motor rotates in a first direction, or rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction; and a switching circuit configured to, when a first time has elapsed since start of rotation of the motor in the first direction, cause the switching-control circuit to start switching control so that the motor stops rotating in the first direction and thereafter rotates in the second direction, and configured to, when a second time has elapsed since start of rotation of the motor in the second direction, cause the switching-control circuit to start switching control so that the motor stops rotating in the second direction and thereafter rotates in the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2014
    Publication date: September 4, 2014
    Applicant: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Tetsuya Yoshitomi, Masashi Tanabe, Shunji Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20140247002
    Abstract: A motor assembly coupled to an external alternating voltage input, the motor assembly comprising a motor including a stator and a rotor rotatable about a longitudinal axis. The motor assembly further includes a circuit assembly, the circuit assembly having a state detector operable to detect the state of the external alternating voltage input and a control unit operable to control the motor based on the state of the external alternating voltage input detected by the state detector. The motor assembly also includes a housing substantially encasing the motor, and the circuit assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2013
    Publication date: September 4, 2014
    Applicant: Regal Beloit America, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Wilson, Guy Bonner, Vijay Earanky, Marc C. McKinzie
  • Patent number: 8823307
    Abstract: A system, method and computer program product for monitoring including detecting internal faults especially inter-turn faults of a synchronous generator and thus protecting the synchronous generator. The synchronous generator includes a winding for each phase of a power network, a terminal for each phase arranged on a terminal side of the synchronous generator, and connected to the respective winding, the terminals on the terminal side are connected to an electrical power network, and the synchronous generator is arranged to input power to the electrical power network by means of the terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: ABB Research Ltd.
    Inventors: Zoran Gajic, Mustafa Ibrahim, Antonis Marinopoulos, Pedro Rodriguez, Jianping Wang, Liwei Wang
  • Publication number: 20140232313
    Abstract: A power inverter comprises at least a box-shaped housing; and a power module, a smoothing capacitor, a base plate made of a flat plate, and a rotating electric machine control circuit board arranged in order in the housing. The base plate is arranged with the fringes fixed to the inner wall surfaces of the housing, and the smoothing capacitor and rotating electric machine control circuit board are fixed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2014
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenichiro NAKAJIMA, Haruki HAMADA, Hideyo SUZUKI
  • Publication number: 20140232314
    Abstract: A control device for rotary machine includes: a voltage instruction generation section for generating a voltage instruction; a voltage application section for applying voltage to a rotary machine based on the voltage instruction; a current detection section for detecting rotary machine current of the rotary machine; and an inductance calculation section for calculating an inductance of the rotary machine from the voltage instruction and the rotary machine current. The voltage instruction generation section generates voltage instructions of constant DC voltages. The voltage application section applies voltages to the rotary machine based on the voltage instructions. The inductance calculation section calculates the inductance from a voltage instruction for measurement arbitrarily selected from the voltage instructions, and the rotary machine currents detected by the current detection section before and after application of the voltage instruction for measurement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yosuke Hachiya, Tetsuya Kojima, Shoji Adachi
  • Patent number: 8805588
    Abstract: An embodiment is a method, and related system, to implement the square root extraction operation, which grants a 32 bits precision, which has high execution speed and is able to process a decimal radicand. An embodiment relates to a method for controlling an electric machine, comprising the detection of the value of at least one electrical quantity characterizing the machine operation and processing the detected value of said electrical quantity. The control method controls the machine operation on the basis of this processing. In particular the processing of the detected value of the electrical quantity comprises calculating a square root of a radicand value related to the detected value of electrical quantities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS, STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Giuseppe D'Angelo, Fabio Marchio′, Giovanni Moselli, Andre Roger
  • Publication number: 20140217945
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for automatic resonance detection is disclosed for a motor-driven mechanical system such as a voice coil motor (VCM) in which a resonance detector and driver are provided. The automatic resonance detector may be implemented on the same integrated circuit as the driver, and dynamically determines the natural resonant frequency of the VCM driven by the driver. The resonant frequency is determined by measuring the back electromotive force (BEMF) of the VCM, detecting the slope of the BEMF signal, and determining the resonant frequency from the slope of the BEMF signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2013
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: Analog Devices Technology
    Inventors: Alan Patrick Cahill, Gary Casey, John A. Cleary, Eoin Edward English, Christian Jimenez, Javier Calpe Maravilla, Colin G. Lyden, Thomas F. Roche
  • Publication number: 20140221097
    Abstract: A control device comprises an electric motor and a controller. The controller may be configured to receive a signal from the electric motor and selectively change a state of the control device responsive to the signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2013
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mark Plagge, Andrew Jesse Milluzzi
  • Patent number: 8796977
    Abstract: A voltage regulator for a pair of electric motors has an input for a signal indicative of the desired speed for the motors and a pulse width modulation control circuit device. A control module provides a conditioning signal to the control circuit to output to the motors a square wave voltage having a duty-cycle which varies according to a predetermined function of the signal applied to the input of the regulator. The control circuit device has first and second electronic solid state switches associated with the motor and controlled by the control module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Gate S.R.L.
    Inventors: Maurizio Barbero, Franco Quagliata
  • Publication number: 20140203750
    Abstract: According to an embodiment of the invention, a motor starter includes a connection module, which includes a second and third interface, wherein the second interface is electrically conductively connected to the third interface. The security evaluation unit can be mechanically coupled to the connection module so that an electrically conductive connection is produced between the first and second interfaces. The secure switch unit can be mechanically coupled to the connection module so that an electrically conductive connection between the third and fourth interfaces is produced, so that, in the coupled state of the security evaluation unit and the secure switch unit to the connection module; there is an electrically conductive connection between the first and fourth interfaces via the connection module, so that the control command can be transmitted from the security evaluation unit via the connection module to the secure switch unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2012
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Klaus Aufschneider, Markus Meier, Fritz Royer, Johann Seitz
  • Publication number: 20140203749
    Abstract: The present invention provides a motor controller having one or more multi-functional pins. The motor controller includes a plurality of pins but does not include a dedicated pin for transmitting a clock signal and a dedicated pin for transmitting a motor specification database setting signal, wherein the clock signal and the motor specification database setting signal are for setting motor specification data. The clock signal and the motor specification database setting signal are transmitted through two of the plural pins which are multi-functional function pins shared by other functions in a normal operation mode. In a motor specification database setting mode, these multi-functional function pins are used for transmitting the clock signal and the motor specification database setting signal. In the normal operation mode, these multi-functional function pins are used for other functions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2013
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yu-Kuang Wu, Wei-Hsu Chang
  • Publication number: 20140204431
    Abstract: A CPU determines that a motor is undergoing a forward rotation when a time difference between a detection timing of a light beam deflected by a rotating polygonal mirror and an output timing of a detection signal from a magnetic detector element falls within a predetermined range, and that the motor is undergoing a reverse rotation when the time difference does not fall within the predetermined range. With this configuration, a detection circuit for detecting voltage induced in three phases is unnecessary, and therefore the cost can be reduced. Furthermore, there is no need to detect voltage induced in each of the three phases. As it suffices to simply detect the time difference, the amount of time required to detect a rotation direction can be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2012
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toshikazu Tsuchiya
  • Publication number: 20140197770
    Abstract: A load characteristic estimating apparatus for a driving machine includes an action-command generating unit for generating an action command for a position and speed of a driving machine, a driving-force-command generating unit for generating a driving force command to cause an action of the driving machine to follow the action command, a driving unit for generating driving force corresponding to the driving force command and drive the driving machine, a sign determining unit for determining, based on driving speed of the driving machine, the state of the driving machine, a load-driving-force estimating unit for calculating, based on the driving force command, a load driving force signal, and a normal reverse-rotation-average calculating unit and a reverse-rotation-average calculating unit, configured to calculate a sequential average of the load driving force signal, respectively when the determination result is a normal and reverse rotation action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2012
    Publication date: July 17, 2014
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Shimoda, Hidetoshi Ikeda, Hiroyuki Sekiguchi, Takashi Isoda
  • Publication number: 20140199157
    Abstract: A method for barring a rotor of a thermally loaded turbomachine includes stopping normal operation of the turbomachine; providing a barring device for rotating the rotor about a machine axis; coupling the barring device to the rotor; letting the rotor cool down during cool down of the rotor rotating the rotor by means of the barring device. A damage of the machine due to thermally induced buckling during the barring process is avoided by consecutively determining the force or torque applied to the rotor by the barring device for rotating the rotor and/or the circumferential speed of the rotor during barring. The rotation of the rotor is controlled by means of the barring device in dependence of the determined force or torque and/or circumferential speed in order to reduce a bending or imbalance of the rotor, which is due to a nonuniform temperature distribution on the rotor during cool down.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2014
    Publication date: July 17, 2014
    Applicant: ALSTOM Technology Ltd
    Inventors: Axel HAERMS, Felix Staehli, Marc Rauch, Eric Knopf
  • Publication number: 20140191697
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for diagnosing stator windings in an electric motor. An exemplary method for diagnosing stator windings in an electric motor involves determining an input energy imbalance across phases of the stator windings for an electrical period of the electric motor and identifying a fault condition when the input energy imbalance is greater than a first threshold value. In some embodiments, an input energy ratio across phases of the stator windings is also determined for the electrical period, wherein the fault condition is identified as a phase-to-phase short circuit fault condition when the input energy ratio is greater than a second threshold value and the input energy imbalance is greater than the first threshold value, or alternatively, as an in-phase short circuit fault condition when the input energy ratio is less than the second threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2013
    Publication date: July 10, 2014
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: XIAOFENG MAO, LEI HAO
  • Publication number: 20140184124
    Abstract: In a method for protecting a fan of a computing device, firstly, a current supplied to the fan is read. Secondly, if the current supplied to the fan is more than or equal to a predefined current, a baseboard management controller(BMC) is controlled to send a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to decrease a duty cycle of the fan by a predefined proportion, so that the current supplied to the fan is decreased. Thirdly, if the decreased current is more than or equal to the predefined current, the BMC is controlled to send the PWM signal to the fan to decrease the duty cycle of the fan by a predefined proportion, so as to decrease the decreased current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Inventors: MING-HUI CHIANG, YAO-TING CHANG
  • Publication number: 20140184122
    Abstract: A construction machine includes: a swing structure (1d); an electric motor (16) that drives the swing structure; an operating device (4b) that outputs an operating signal according to an operating amount and an operating direction; an inverter device (13) that controls the electric motor based on a control signal generated based on the operating signal; a position sensor (24) that detects an actual speed of the electric motor; and a second controller (22) that determines whether at least one of a first condition and a second condition is satisfied. The first condition is satisfied when a sign of a value computed by subtracting the actual speed V from a target speed V* of the electric motor that defined by the control signal; and the second condition is satisfied when a difference between the target speed and the actual speed is greater than a reference value Vth, and when the acceleration is greater than a reference value ?th.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Applicant: HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Ogawa, Kohei Sakurai, Yuichiro Morita
  • Publication number: 20140184125
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method (40) for monitoring a torque of an electric motor (10), in particular for application in a motor vehicle, wherein the electric motor (10) is supplied with electric current (IS1, IS2, IS3) in multiple phases. A first torque value (M2) of the torque generated by the electric motor (10) is determined (58) on the basis of the electric output of the electric motor (10) and a detected rotational speed (n) of a rotor of the electric motor (10). A second torque value (M1) is determined on the basis of at least one measured phase current (IS1, IS2, IS3) and a rotational position of the rotor, and the two determined torque values (M1, M2) are compared (60) to one another for plausibility checking.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2012
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Applicant: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Chengxuan Fu, Wilfried Feuchter
  • Publication number: 20140167669
    Abstract: An offset compensation method of a current sensor is provided for determining whether an offset compensation of the current sensor is abnormal, and a motor driving system includes the current sensor. The offset compensation method includes: compensating for an offset of the current sensor, and determining whether the offset compensation of the current sensor is abnormal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Jae-Sang Lim, Seong Yeop Lim, Gu Bae Kang, Ji Wan Cha
  • Publication number: 20140159633
    Abstract: There are provided a motor control apparatus and method. The motor control apparatus includes: a signal generating unit generating a first signal; a sampling unit obtaining the numbers of pulses of the first signal included in a plurality of sampling sections having different start timings, respectively; and a calculating unit calculating a speed of a motor using the numbers of pulses of the first signal obtained with respect to the plurality of sampling sections.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.,
    Inventor: Bon Young GU
  • Publication number: 20140159635
    Abstract: In various implementations, a condition of a motor may be monitored based at least partially on time required to achieve a change in speed. A notification may be transmitted based on the condition of the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2012
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Inventors: Joe Powell, Randall L. Lisbona
  • Patent number: 8749927
    Abstract: A unit for recording operating information of an electronically commutated motor (ECM) is described. The unit includes a system controller communicatively coupled to an ECM. The system controller includes a processing device configured to control the unit. The unit also includes a memory device communicatively coupled to the system controller. The memory device is configured to receive and store ECM operating information provided by the processing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Regal Beloit America, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian L. Beifus, Paul Nathanael Selking, Vijay Dayaldas Gurudasani, Michael R. Koller
  • Patent number: 8749180
    Abstract: The present invention is aimed to realize a method and a system for controlling an electric cylinder by which the load detector that is attached to an electric cylinder and the rod of the cylinder can avoid being overloaded. An unexpected bump between the rod of the cylinder and the material to be pressed can cause that overload. A servo controller 17 determines whether the load for pressurizing Pm detected by the load detector 13 is larger than or equal to the load for detecting a bump Pc. If it is determined that the load for pressurizing Pm is larger than or equal to the load for detecting a bump Pc, the servo controller 17 determines whether the flag for stopping is ON. Also, the controller 17 determines whether the speed Sm of the rod 11 is greater than or equal to an allowable speed to bump Sc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Sintokogio, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiko Nagasaka, Yoichiro Shirai
  • Publication number: 20140152224
    Abstract: A motor drive circuit comprises: a DC power supply; power supply lines; an inverter which has upper arm switch elements and lower arm switch elements; and a detection unit for detecting, based on a power state on the previous stage side of the inverter, the insulation resistances of the motor drive circuit and the motor. The detection unit performs a first detection operation for detecting the insulation resistances by using the output of the DC power supply while the upper arm switch elements and the lower arm switch elements are all turned off and a second detection operation for detecting the insulation resistances by using the output of the DC power supply while the elements of one of the upper arm switch elements and the lower arm switch elements are all turned off and at least one of the elements of the other one is turned on.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2012
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Applicant: SANYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoichi Enomoto, Hiroshi Takao, Yoshihiko Maeda, Hoshihito Okada
  • Publication number: 20140152733
    Abstract: An embodiment of this invention is directed to suppressing a circuit scale and ensuring quick response in control of a DC motor. According to the embodiment, upon driving the motor to feed roll paper, the current value supplied to drive the motor is compared with a target value for PWM-control. A value representing the comparison result is counted for a PWM-control signal of one cycle. The output tendency of the comparison result is checked based on an obtained count in every cycle of the signal, and the tendency is encoded. The code values are stored for a predetermined number of cycles of the signal. The code values stored in both the first period and the second period longer than the first period are checked in regard to the past tendency of PWM-control, and the signal is adjusted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yasuhiko Sano