Monitoring Systems Patents (Class 318/565)
  • Patent number: 9862094
    Abstract: A numerical controller and a robot controller share interpolation level move data obtained by recording position information for each interpolation period of a robot in association with an index. Based on the interpolation level move data, a preceding position of the robot after the passage of a time (lead time) for calculating a next preceding position since a reference time for interference check is calculated. And, based on the robot preceding position and a preceding position (machine preceding-position) of an axis of the machine after the passage of the lead time, interference between a machine and the robot is checked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masatoshi Nakajima, Masakazu Ichinose
  • Patent number: 9815158
    Abstract: A tool changer for a machine tool is provided with a command unit for outputting a change command for a tool storage position to a control unit, which turns a tool magazine with a tool mounted on a spindle and controls an index unit to index a predetermined tool grip portion to a tool change position on receiving the change command for the tool storage position from the command unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gaku Isobe, Masahiro Murota, Naoki Sato
  • Patent number: 9722515
    Abstract: A system, in one embodiment, includes a drive having a housing, a stator disposed in the housing, a rotor disposed in the stator, and a programmable logic controller disposed inside, mounted on, or in general proximity to the housing. In another embodiment, a system includes a network, a first motor having a first integral programmable logic controller coupled to the network, and a second motor having a second integral programmable logic controller coupled to the network. In a further embodiment, a system includes a rotary machine having a rotor and a stator disposed concentric with one another, a microprocessor, memory coupled to the microprocessor, a power supply coupled to the microprocessor and the memory, and a machine sensor coupled to the microprocessor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Yehia M. El-Ibiary
  • Patent number: 9645217
    Abstract: A method of determining a positioning error of a CNC machine is provided and an system thereof. A calibration element is placed within the CNC machine. A first sensor reading is taken of the calibration element. A second sensor reading is taken and the sensor is moved in a manner that the difference between the first and second sensor data decreases until the difference becomes less or equal to a pre-determined threshold value. A positioning error of the tool head is determined based on the movement of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Fidia S.p.A.
    Inventors: Giuseppe Morfino, Augusto Mignani
  • Patent number: 9623900
    Abstract: A vehicle steering device includes: a steering mechanism that steers steered wheels by driving of a steering motor according to operation of an operation unit; a motor angle sensor that detects a rotation angle of the steering motor as an electrical angle; a steered angle sensor that detects a steered angle of the steered wheels; a storage unit in which correspondence between the electrical angle and the steered angle that are detected is stored in advance; and a failure determination unit that determines whether there is a failure or not by comparing the relation between the detected electrical angle and the detected steered angle with the correspondence between the electrical angle and the steered angle that is stored in the storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Yukitake
  • Patent number: 9599978
    Abstract: In a canned cycle, a straight path is set from a cutting completion position in a cycle to a cutting start position in a next cycle. Furthermore, when there is a possibility that the set straight path interferes with a workpiece, a region for which the workpiece has been already cut is determined, and a path not interfering with the workpiece is set with as short length as possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: FANUC Corporation
    Inventor: Makoto Haga
  • Patent number: 9530256
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating wear-based indicators are provided herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Hyung-il Ahn, Matthew Denesuk, Axel Hochstein, Ying Tat Leung
  • Patent number: 9527210
    Abstract: A robot apparatus includes a manipulator including a hand and an arm, a teaching apparatus that teaches operation of the manipulator, and a control apparatus that controls the manipulator that operates in a regular operation status or an erroneous manipulation avoiding status based on a control signal from the teaching apparatus. After determining whether a status of the manipulator is the regular operation status or the erroneous manipulation avoiding status, the control apparatus transmits a control signal for performing operation at a set regular speed to the manipulator in a case of the regular operation status, and the control apparatus transmits a control signal for performing operation at a speed lower than or equal to a safety speed that is set based on the regular speed to the manipulator in a case of the erroneous manipulation avoiding status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masatoshi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 9520734
    Abstract: A control apparatus is used for a power-supply apparatus with power-supply systems connected in parallel between a pair of power wires connected to a load. Each power-supply system has a series circuit of a battery and a contact of a relay. When the control apparatus determines that at least one relay suffers from a contact welding, the control apparatus performs a battery charge/discharge process to charge/discharge the batteries through the pair of power wires by turning ON one of possible relays while turning OFF the others of the possible relays. The possible relay is defined as having a possibility of suffering from the contact welding. After the battery charge/discharge process, the control apparatus identifies which possible relay actually suffers from the contact welding based on a change in a state of the battery connected in series with the contact of each possible relay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hirotsugu Katou
  • Patent number: 9515585
    Abstract: A method for diagnosing an electric water pump of an internal combustion engine includes determining whether a present condition is a coil-open diagnosis condition that enables diagnosis of whether any coil of a sensorless 3-phase motor used in the electric water pump is open. When the coil-open diagnosis condition is satisfied, whether a coil of one phase is open is determined by using a change in phase currents. When the coil-open diagnosis condition is satisfied, whether coils of two phases are open is determined by using a magnitude of a motor torque or a magnitude of an average phase current. When the coil-open diagnosis condition is satisfied, whether any coil of the motor is open during driving of the motor is determined by using a variation in the motor torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION, MYUNG HWA IND. CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jung Hoon Park, Kyoung Hee Kim, Jae Man Cho, Tae Sung Oh, Geun Oh Dong
  • Patent number: 9494929
    Abstract: The numerical controller has a program restart function and acquires program restart block data for resuming and ending suspended machining of a workpiece. The numerical controller analyzes a block of a machining program, and upon determining that a moving path of a tool, which is determined by the block, passes a boundary of a predetermined machining area of each controlled axis of a machine tool, the numerical controller acquires the program restart block data of that block and performs partial machining of the workpiece based on the acquired program restart block data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: FANUC Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Haga, Makoto Suzuki
  • Patent number: 9436171
    Abstract: A motor control system comprises a host controller for transmitting a command signal and receiving an information signal, a motor control device for receiving the command signal and transmitting the information signal, a signal transmission line for transmitting the command signal and the information signal, and a motor of which rotation is controlled by the motor control device. The host controller generates and transmits PWM command signal Si having a duty factor modulated by the command signal. The motor control device generates PWM information signal Fp having a duty factor modulated by the information signal, and transmits PWM information signal Fp in synchronization with PWM command signal Si. PWM command signal Si transmitted by the host controller includes a plurality of pulse periods having different pulse-period durations from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Daisuke Sato
  • Patent number: 9286735
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating wear-based indicators for vehicular components are provided herein. A method includes assigning a failure class label to each data point, from multiple data points derived from measurements associated with a vehicular component across a fleet of vehicles, that is within a pre-specified number of runtime hours of a replacement; assigning a non-failure class label to each data point not within the pre-specified number of runtime hours of a replacement and each data point associated with a component yet to be replaced; estimating a failure probability at each data point over a pre-specified future runtime of the component based on the assigned class label; determining a cumulative hazard function for the vehicular component based on the failure probability; and generating a cumulative wear-based indicator for the vehicular component by executing a regression function at a given time based on the cumulative hazard function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Hyung-il Ahn, Matthew Denesuk, Axel Hochstein, Ying Tat Leung
  • Patent number: 9201604
    Abstract: Provided is a RAID controlled storage device of a PCI-Express (PCI-e) type, which provides data storage/reading services through a PCI-Express interface. The RAID controller typically includes a disk mount coupled to a set of PCI-Express SSD memory disk units, the set of PCI-Express SSD memory disk units comprising: a set of volatile semiconductor memories; a disk monitoring unit coupled to the disk mount for monitoring the set of PCI-Express memory disk units; a disk plug and play controller coupled to the disk monitoring unit and the disk mount for controlling the disk mount; a high speed host interface coupled to the disk monitoring unit and the disk mount for providing high-speed host interface capabilities; a disk controller coupled to the high speed host interface and the disk monitoring unit; and a host interface coupled to the disk controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: Taejin Info Tech Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Byungcheol Cho
  • Patent number: 9180865
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle is provided with a differential mechanism having a first rotary element, a second rotary element serving as an input rotary member and connected to an engine, and a third rotary element serving as an output rotary member, an electric motor connected to said first rotary element, and a locking mechanism configured to fix an output shaft of said engine to a stationary member, the control apparatus comprising: an electric motor drive control portion configured to reduce an absolute value of a torque of said electric motor before said locking mechanism is changed from a locking state in which said output shaft is fixed to the stationary member while a drive force of said electric motor is transmitted to said third rotary element, to an unlocking state in which said output shaft is released from the stationary member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takeshi Kitahata, Tooru Matsubara, Atsushi Tabata, Tatsuya Imamura, Yuji Iwase, Tomohito Ono
  • Patent number: 9071113
    Abstract: A motor includes a stator having a winding wire wound thereon, a rotor, and a shaft. The motor is housed in a motor case, where the motor case has a cylinder part and a bottom part. A first terminal is disposed on the motor case, and has one end coupled to an end of the winding wire, such that the wire passes through a first opening on the bottom part. A controller case is disposed detachably on the bottom part. The controller case has a controller housed therein, and has a second terminal that has one end electrically coupled to a power module and the other end engages with the first terminal to electrically couple the motor and the controller. A terminal holder is attached on the motor case to hold and support the first terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tatsuya Abe, Hiroshi Imai
  • Patent number: 9047292
    Abstract: System and methods are provided. In one embodiment, a system includes a master data archiver configured to store a data related to a turbomachine system and a first data collector service system configured to collect the data from the master data archiver. The system also includes a second data collector service system communicatively coupled to the first data collector service system and configured to pull or to push the data from the first data collector service system and a first data archiver configured to receive at least some of the data from the second data collector service system. The system further includes an asset model database storing a plurality of turbomachine tags, wherein the turbomachine tags are configured to categorize the data and a data access system (DAS) configured to provide data access to the first data archiver, the asset model database, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Youcef Atamna, Minh Ngoc Huynh, Eric Thomas Pool, Andrew David Good
  • Patent number: 9030138
    Abstract: A circuit configuration for driving an electric motor includes a signal evaluation module, which stores a number of output patterns. An input pattern is specified, and as a function of the input pattern, one of the output patterns is output, by which the electric motor is driven.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Thomas Wagner, Dieter Thoss, Andreas Merker
  • Patent number: 9018880
    Abstract: A first inverter circuit and a second inverter circuit are provided for a first winding set and a second winding set of a motor, respectively, and switch over power supply to the winding sets. A control unit controls operations of the inverter circuits. The control unit detects abnormality in the inverter circuits. The control unit calculates a first value with respect to each drive system based on phase currents of the inverter circuit in each system, calculates a second value based on two values selected from a plurality of first values calculated for each drive system, and detects abnormality of the inverter circuits, which corresponds to the selected first value, when the second value deviates from a predetermined range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Jiro Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8994311
    Abstract: A system, method, and computer program product are provided for segmenting a content stream. In use, a content stream associated with an event is identified. Additionally, user generated content associated with the content stream is identified. Further, a timing of one or more key events within the content stream is determined, based on the user generated content. Further still, the one or more key events are identified, based on the user generated content. Also, the content stream is segmented, utilizing the one or more key events and the timing of the one or more key events. In addition, a subset of the user generated content and a subset of the one or more key events is associated with a segment of the content stream. Furthermore, a search index associated with the segment of the content stream is generated, utilizing the subset of the user generated content and the subset of the one or more key events. Further still, a search query is received from a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Amdocs Software Systems Limited
    Inventors: James Lynch, Evelyn Balfe, Barry J. Smyth, Paul Cotter
  • Publication number: 20150054444
    Abstract: A controller for a machine tool includes a converter converting AC power on the power supply side to DC power, a feed-shaft motor inverter converting DC power on a DC link side and AC power on a feed shaft motor side, first and second main-shaft-motor inverters converting DC power on the DC link side and AC power on first and second main shaft motors side, a power failure detection unit detecting a power failure on the power supply side, a voltage detection unit detecting a DC link voltage value, a feed-shaft-motor command unit outputting a deceleration command to the feed-shaft-motor inverter upon a power failure, and a main-shaft-motor command unit outputting an acceleration/deceleration command to the first main-shaft-motor inverter in accordance with the DC link voltage value and a power shutoff command to the second-main-shaft-motor inverter upon a power failure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventor: Daisuke TAJIMA
  • Patent number: 8922140
    Abstract: An actuator having two or more potentiometers for setting an address for use with a communications bus or the like. An adjustment or setting of the potentiometers may be accessible at two or more sides outside of a housing enclosing the actuator. One potentiometer may be set to a direction of control and a range of addresses. Another potentiometer may be set to one of several addresses within a range of addresses and direction of control selected on the first potentiometer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Torrey William McNallan, Daniel Waseen, Paul Wacker
  • Patent number: 8917049
    Abstract: When a failure of a feedback control operation of an electric motor is sensed, a control unit changes the feedback control operation to an open loop control operation. At the time of executing the open loop control operation, the control unit sequentially changes the exciting phase of the motor without executing feedback of information of the count value of the encoder counter and rotates a rotor of the motor until a count value of an exciting phase change counter reaches an open loop target count value, which corresponds to a target rotational position of the rotor. When the control unit changes the feedback control operation to the open loop control operation, the control unit sets the open loop target count value by correcting a feedback target count value based on an exciting phase deviation correction value for the count value of the encoder counter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Jun Yamada
  • Patent number: 8909145
    Abstract: A torque measurement system that includes a rotor device and a stator device can perform automatic tuning to improve the initial tuning performed during design and assembly. The stator device can include a variable capacitive element and a micro-controller configured to adjust a capacitance value of the variable capacitive element. Additionally or alternatively, the rotor device can include a variable capacitive element and a micro-controller configured to adjust a capacitance value of the variable capacitive element. The adjustment of the capacitive elements can be based on the quality of signal detected at either the rotor device or stator device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Vishal Malhan, Gourango Biswas, Narayan Singh Rana, Gautham Ramamurthy, Balaji Mahadev
  • Patent number: 8896256
    Abstract: Reflected light can be effectively utilized by increasing a light receiving area. Incremental light receiving element groups are separated and arranged in the circumferential direction of a rotating unit while placing a light source therebetween. First and second absolute light receiving element groups are arranged at both sides of the outside and inside of the light source in the radial direction of the rotating unit. As a result, first and second absolute light receiving elements are continuously arranged, and also the incremental light receiving element groups and the absolute light receiving element groups can be arranged to surround the periphery of the light source from four directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventors: Yasushi Yoshida, Yuji Arinaga, Shirou Yoshidomi, Yasuhiro Matsutani
  • 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
  • Patent number: 8816627
    Abstract: A control signal for controlling an operation of a motion control system suitable for positioning a load is generated using determining a cost function based on a model of energy consumption of the system and a function of a tracking time; and minimizing the cost function subject to constraints to determine a trajectory of the control signal. The control signal is generated based on the trajectory and a current state of the system, wherein the steps of the method are performed by a processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignees: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yebin Wang, Koichiro Ueda, Scott A. Bortoff
  • Patent number: 8810175
    Abstract: Provided is a motor control device including a main calculation unit (101), which takes a first operation state for controlling a brushless motor (5), and a second operation state for stopping the motor control, and a sub calculation unit (102) for monitoring the main calculation unit (101) by means of a first monitoring unit (106) in the first state, for calculating a motor rotation angle in the second state, thereby enabling continuous calculation of the motor rotation angle even when the motor control is stopped, for carrying out monitoring the sub calculation unit (102) by means of second monitoring unit (201), thereby securing reliability, and for calculating the motor rotation angle in a second calculation cycle in the second operation state, the second calculation cycle being longer than a first calculation cycle in the first operation state, thereby reducing a current consumption.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yu Kawano, Masatoshi Saito, Takayuki Kifuku
  • Publication number: 20140203751
    Abstract: A motor driver controller including a difference control section; a driver output section; a drive current detection amplifier; and a load short-circuit detection circuit. A motor and sensing resistor is coupled in series and coupled to an output terminal of the driver output section. The difference control section generates a drive voltage command signal in response to a drive current command value and a drive current detection signal. The driver output section drives the motor and sensing resistor, in response to the drive voltage command signal, and a drive current detection amplifier generates a signal fed to the difference control section, in response to a drive current of the sensing resistor. The load short-circuit detection circuit detects an abnormal oscillation waveform signal caused by a short-circuit state between the both ends of the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru KUROSAWA, Kenji YOSHIDA, Osamu YAMASHITA
  • Patent number: 8742714
    Abstract: In order to track the position of a component driven by an electric motor, wherein rotational movements of the electric motor are detected and used for a position count, deviations from an anticipated position count are determined and added to the position given by the position count as an uncertainty region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Stefan Holzmann, Roman Morawek, Alexandre Pozzer
  • Patent number: 8742706
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electronically commutated electric motor. The electric motor comprises a stator, and a rotor, in particular a permanent-magnetic rotor. The electric motor further comprises a control unit connected to the stator. The control unit is designed to actuate the stator such that the stator can generate a magnetic rotating field for rotationally moving the rotor. According to the invention, the control unit of the electric motor is provided with a power output stage having semiconductor switches. Subject to the low-resistance, or short-circuited, semiconductor switch of the power output stage, in particular as a result of defect, the control unit is designed to actuate the stator for generating the rotating field such that during a complete rotor revolution, the rotor can provide a mechanical output, or in the operational mode, a braking torque of the electric motor caused by the defect is reduced, or completely neutralized, by the low-resistance, or short-circuited, semiconductor switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Torsten Henke, Oliver Wackerl, Ulrich Vollmer, Dirk Lamprecht
  • Patent number: 8736212
    Abstract: A robotic catheter control system includes a plurality of electric motors. Diagnostic logic automatically detects motor runaway fault conditions based on the current motor position, the target motor position and a predetermined tolerance parameter. Fault conditions include overshoot, movement in the a non-prescribed direction, exceeding a prescribed maximum motor speed and exceeding a prescribed maximum motor acceleration. The diagnostic logic terminates operating power to the electric motor when a fault condition is detected for any one of the motor. An error message is generated to notify the operator of the fault.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.
    Inventors: Kulbir S. Sandhu, Atila Amiri, Otto K. Chiu, Samuel K. Gee
  • Patent number: 8716971
    Abstract: A circuit for speed monitoring of an electric motor comprises a circuit for generating a time-frame signal, a circuit for receiving a first signal from a chopper driver circuit designed to drive the electric motor, a circuit for detecting chopper pulses in the first signal, a pulse counter, and a circuit for at least one of outputting and evaluating a state of the pulse counter, after the inactive state of the time-frame has been indicated. The time-frame signal indicates when a time-frame of predefined length changes from an inactive state to an active state and indicates when the time-frame changes back from the active state to the inactive state. The pulse counter is designed to count the detected chopper pulses while the active state is indicated by the circuit for generating the time-frame signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel Lopez-Diaz, Hans Gommeringer
  • Patent number: 8659249
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide methods of controlling a motor, such as a servo motor. One method can include monitoring a current temperature of the motor and a power stage of the motor substantially continuously and substantially in real-time. This method can include determining optimum settings for a first time interval to remove power and the second time interval to provide power in order to deliver maximum output while remaining below the maximum rated temperature of the motor. One method can include pulsing power to the motor for a second time interval after a first time interval has elapsed and tailoring pulse shapes of the power provided to the motor for the second time interval. One method can include calculating a maximum phase current based on the rotor shaft torque for each real-time speed of the motor that correlates to the maximum allowable current draw from the power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: Moog Inc.
    Inventors: Ron Flanary, Martin Piedl, Charles Ford, Troy Anderson
  • Patent number: 8659254
    Abstract: A servo driver sets an instruction value for an operation of a servo motor based on an instruction signal from a controller. The servo driver sends the instruction value and a feedback value obtained based on a feedback signal to a safety unit. When at least one of the instruction value and the feedback value sent by the servo driver has an abnormal value, an STO signal is generated and sent to the servo driver. When the STO signal is input to the servo driver, the servo driver stops the supply of electricity to the servo motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: Omron Corporation
    Inventor: Junichi Ueno
  • Patent number: 8626063
    Abstract: A torque measurement system that includes a rotor device and a stator device can perform automatic tuning to improve the initial tuning performed during design and assembly. The stator device can include a variable capacitive element and a micro-controller configured to adjust a capacitance value of the variable capacitive element. Additionally or alternatively, the rotor device can include a variable capacitive element and a micro-controller configured to adjust a capacitance value of the variable capacitive element. The adjustment of the capacitive elements can be based on the quality of signal detected at either the rotor device or stator device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Inventors: Vishal Malhan, Gourango Biswas, Narayan Singh Rana, Gautham Ramamurthy, Balaji Mahadev
  • Patent number: 8604741
    Abstract: A monitoring and control device for an aircraft actuator includes a control module, delivering control signals for the actuator and position signals for the actuator determined according to control messages received from a piloting management system of the aircraft, and at least one first position sensor supplying information concerning the position of the actuator, and a monitoring module, delivering position signals for the actuator and receiving the control signals received from the piloting management system of the aircraft, and information relating to the position of the actuator supplied by at least one second position sensor. The control and monitoring modules are capable of assessing the consistency of the signals processed therein and of controlling accordingly a power supply and disabling module of the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Thales
    Inventor: Jean-Louis Lebrun
  • Patent number: 8588975
    Abstract: It is determined whether the first tool identification information that is output from a robot control device, and that indicates a present tool and the second tool identification information for detecting and identifying a tool attached to the robot are unequal to each other. The position coordinates of the taught reference point in an actual space of the robot occurring at the time when the unequalness therebetween is first detected are set as reference coordinates, and a region that contains the reference coordinates is set as a predetermined region. If the position coordinates of the taught reference point have come to exist outside the predetermined region during a period during which it is determined that the foregoing two pieces of information are unequal, an emergency stop signal for causing the robot to be in a safe state is output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuhiro Komuro, Toshio Aono
  • Patent number: 8587246
    Abstract: An error condition detection circuit coupled to the motor control circuit reports an error condition when actual motor operation deviates from predetermined desired motor operation. An overcurrent threshold comparator compares motor current with a threshold data value stored in a data storage register, and sets an overcurrent flag when the motor current exceeds the threshold. A current interrogation processor monitors the reported error condition and is programmed to respond to the error condition by iteratively reading the overcurrent flag and decrementing the overcurrent threshold data value by a predetermined decrement amount until the overcurrent flag becomes set. The current interrogation processor is further programmed to report the overcurrent threshold data value extant at the time the flag becomes set as an estimate of electric current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Inventors: Joseph E Ploucha, Paul A. Bauerle
  • Publication number: 20130271057
    Abstract: An error condition detection circuit coupled to the motor control circuit reports an error condition when actual motor operation deviates from predetermined desired motor operation. An overcurrent threshold comparator compares motor current with a threshold data value stored in a data storage register, and sets an overcurrent flag when the motor current exceeds the threshold. A current interrogation processor monitors the reported error condition and is programmed to respond to the error condition by iteratively reading the overcurrent flag and decrementing the overcurrent threshold data value by a predetermined decrement amount until the overcurrent flag becomes set. The current interrogation processor is further programmed to report the overcurrent threshold data value extant at the time the flag becomes set as an estimate of electric current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Joseph E. Ploucha, Paul A. Bauerle
  • Publication number: 20130241460
    Abstract: The operation state of a servo motor is monitored and output to a user before automatic termination of power to the motor. A servo system includes a servo motor and a safety unit. The safety unit cuts off electric power to the servo motor when at least one of a speed, a position, acceleration, an amount of movement, a movement direction, and torque of the servo motor is outside a first operation range. Furthermore, the safety unit outputs a warning when at least one of the speed, the position, the acceleration, the amount of movement, the movement direction, the torque is within the first operation range, but is outside a second operation range that is narrower than the first operation range. User controls allow reduced operation when outside the second operation range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2013
    Publication date: September 19, 2013
    Applicant: OMRON Corporation
    Inventors: Takao Ushiyama, Akihiko Morikawa, Toshinori Sato, Junichi Ueno
  • Patent number: 8525463
    Abstract: A malfunction determination device for a motor control system, outputs a position signal that indicates a moved position of a movable member of a motor and a direction signal that indicates a movement direction of the movable member. The malfunction determination device determines a malfunction has occurred if a relationship between the position signal and the direction signal differs from that when the motor control system is operating normally. The malfunction determination device outputs a pulse signal that varies periodically along with variations in the moved position of the movable member as the position signal; outputs a periodic pulse signal in the same phase with the position signal as the direction signal if the movable member is moving in one direction; and outputs a periodic pulse signal in an opposite phase to the position signal as the direction signal if the movable member is moving in the other direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Eiichi Hioka, Takashi Nakagawa, Masahiro Ito
  • Patent number: 8513909
    Abstract: A method processes a motor variable of a DC motor of an actuating device for a motor vehicle. The DC motor is supplied by an on-board system DC voltage, in which the armature current and the motor voltage of the DC motor are detected and the actuating position of an actuating element is determined from a time profile of the armature current by counting the current ripple contained therein. During an initial phase, the armature current which rises over time is replicated by a function which is determined from pairs of values for the motor voltage and the armature current which are detected in a time interval. A current value of the armature current expected at a later point in time is extrapolated. In the event of a discrepancy between the armature current detected at this later point in time and the extrapolated armature current, a ripple count is started.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, Hallstadt
    Inventor: Jovan Knezevic
  • Patent number: 8478487
    Abstract: In the control device for vehicles which executes a control of the vehicle by one calculation control device based upon a target control amount generated by another calculation control device connected to the one calculation control device by way of a communication means, the other calculation control device calculates an estimated target control amount by itself to compare it with the target control amount generated by the one calculation control device and input thereto by way of the communication means, or a third calculation control device compares the target control amounts generated by the one and the other calculation control devices and input thereto by way of the communication means, thereby to judge if an abnormality has occurred in the communication means, and to rapidly modify the control to make a counter-measure against the abnormality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takahiro Kojo, Yoshiaki Tsuchiya, Masato Suzumura, Jun Sakugawa, Kenji Asano
  • Publication number: 20130154538
    Abstract: Each of a host controller and a motor control apparatus included in a motor control system that drives a motor includes a step of determining, with respect to motor rotation state estimation information estimated based on an electric current and a voltage to the motor, whether an operation state of the motor is normal according to what kind of a relation an operation command output by the host controller and a detected motor position or motor speed have.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2010
    Publication date: June 20, 2013
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kenji Ogawa
  • Patent number: 8436570
    Abstract: The motor driving system includes a driving state amount detector configured to detect a driving state amount, a motor control part configured to perform a power supply control, a higher control part capable of outputting a higher control command to the motor control part, and a safety requesting part that inputs a safety request signal to the motor control part. The motor control part includes a motor control circuit part that performs the power supply control, a mode selecting and executing part configured to select and execute either a first safety function mode or a second safety function mode, and a comparing and monitoring processing part that compares the driving state amount and a predetermined operation monitoring pattern, when the safety request signal is inputted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventors: Kunimasa Ando, Tsutomu Kubo, Keisei Inoki
  • Patent number: 8415836
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology that a microcomputer is capable of detecting the states of a large number of switches with a small number of ports. In a microcomputer system according to the present invention, any one of (2N?1) kinds of the combination patterns with respect to the combination of N input ports (IP1 to IP4) of a microcomputer (1) is allocated to each of M push-down switches (SW12, SW13, SW14, SW23, SW24, and SW34) with the different combination from each push-down switch. Each push-down switch inverts the input levels of the input ports in the combination pattern allocated thereto when pushed down. The microcomputer (1) detects the state of each push-down switch on the basis of the input levels of the N input ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Sakuragi, Hiroshi Hayaoka, Takayuki Takeuchi
  • Publication number: 20130049669
    Abstract: A method of controlling a position of a seat using a single hall sensor. A pulse is output from the hall sensor in response to the rotation of the motor when displacing the seat forward or backward. The rotation of the motor is controlled such that the pulse output from the hall sensor is put in a sensor error state. It is determined whether or not the pulse output from the hall sensor is in the sensor error state. A sensor error is generated if the pulse output from the hall sensor is not in the sensor error state in the error state check step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2011
    Publication date: February 28, 2013
    Applicants: KIA MOTORS CORPORATION, HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Seung Su HAN
  • Patent number: 8384331
    Abstract: This invention aims to achieve safety without interchanging an entire existing servo system to a servo system having the safety function. In a servo system including a servo motor, and a servo amplifier for controlling the drive of the servo motor based on the output of an encoder attached to the servo motor, a safety control device for monitoring presence of abnormality based on the output of the encoder, and shielding the supply of drive power to the servo motor if abnormality is present is arranged, and the monitoring content is set as setting information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: Omron Corporation
    Inventors: Teruyuki Nakayama, Minoru Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 8373376
    Abstract: This invention discloses a method for activating a drive system for control surfaces or working systems of an aircraft, wherein the speed of a drive unit of the drive system is regulated, and after a starting operation the maximum driving power available during the further operation for speed regulation of the drive unit is reduced. Likewise, this invention comprises a drive system for control surfaces or working systems of an aircraft, comprising a drive unit with speed regulation and a corresponding control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH
    Inventors: Stefan Hauzenberger, Bernhard Hauber