Having Electronic Power Conversion Circuit Patents (Class 318/722)
  • Patent number: 11926229
    Abstract: If sensed a connector as being connected to an inlet, an ECU performs pre-charging of a capacitor. When pre-charging of the capacitor is completed, the ECU closes a relay, and controls a U-phase boost chopper circuit to boost a voltage of the capacitor. The ECU closes relays if the voltage is boosted to a second target voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toshihiko Minamii
  • Patent number: 11926378
    Abstract: A drive controller according to an aspect controls drive of a three-phase motor, and includes an electric value calculation unit that calculates an electric value in each of coordinate axes of rotating coordinates of the three-phase motor based on an electric value that is at least one of a current value and a voltage value generated in the three-phase motor, and a fault determination unit that determines a fault phase having a fault in phases of the three-phase motor by combining positive-negative information on at least one of a difference between a calculation electric value calculated by the electric value calculation unit and a target electric value indicating a control target of an electric value in each of the coordinate axes, and a variation of the difference, with each of the coordinate axes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kaori Nabeshi
  • Patent number: 11909342
    Abstract: Two inverters (10) provided at respective both ends of open-end windings (8) are appropriately controlled. As control regions (R) of a rotating electrical machine (80), a first speed region (VR1) and a second speed region (VR2) in which the rotational speed of the rotating electrical machine (80) is higher than in the first speed region (VR1) for the same torque are set, and in the second speed region (VR2), a rotating electrical machine control device (1) controls both inverters (10), a first inverter (11) and a second inverter (12), by mixed pulse width modulation control in which control is performed such that a plurality of pulses with different patterns are outputted during a first period (T1) which is a half cycle of electrical angle, and an inactive state continues during a second period (T2) which is the other half cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignees: AISIN CORPORATION, NAGOYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Subrata Saha, Hiroki Iwai, Takashi Kosaka, Hiroaki Matsumori, Naoto Saito, Yoshinobu Ito, Isao Fujiwara
  • Patent number: 11870312
    Abstract: A field coil type rotating electric machine includes a field coil having first and second windings connected in series with each other, a rotor having main poles on which the first and second windings are wound, and a stator having a stator coil comprised of phase windings to which harmonic currents are respectively supplied to induce field current in the field coil. In the rotor, there are formed a series resonant circuit including the first winding and a capacitor and a parallel resonant circuit including the second winding and the capacitor. The first winding is radially located closer to the stator than the second winding is. Moreover, N1<N2 and 120°<?s<240°, where N1 and N2 are respectively the numbers of turns of the first and second windings and ?s is a phase offset between electric currents flowing respectively in the series and parallel resonant circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masahiro Seguchi
  • Patent number: 11811330
    Abstract: A converter device includes: a power conversion circuit including a reactor and a switching element, rectifying a voltage of alternating-current power supplied from an alternating-current power supply to a direct-current voltage, and boosting and outputting the direct-current voltage; a current detector detecting a current flowing in the reactor; a filter circuit filtering a first signal detected by the current detector; and a control unit generating a control signal on the basis of a carrier and a second signal generated by the filter circuit and controlling, on the basis of the control signal and with a first period, the switching element, the first period being a period of the carrier. The filter circuit cuts off a repetition frequency component in the first period and passes a repetition frequency component in a second period, the second period being longer than the first period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Iwazaki, Koichi Arisawa, Takuya Shimomugi, Satoru Ichiki, Keisuke Uemura
  • Patent number: 11789081
    Abstract: A method includes receiving first and second output signals from a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) regulator circuit, wherein the first and second output signals represent three-phase currents provided into a machine. The method further includes determining a fault detection signal based on the first and second output signals. The method also includes comparing the fault detection signal to a threshold; and detecting a fault in the machine based on the fault detection signal exceeding the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Sandun Shivantha Kuruppu
  • Patent number: 11750123
    Abstract: A control circuit arranged to detect an initial rotor position of a brushless DC motor includes: a voltage integrator circuit, arranged to perform integration upon an input voltage, to generate a plurality of integrated voltages; a PWM generating circuit, arranged to generate and output a plurality of PWM signals to the brushless DC motor through a drive circuit, and stop outputting a PWM signal that is any of the plurality of PWM signals to the brushless DC motor according to an integrated voltage corresponding to the PWM signal; a current receiving circuit, arranged to receive a plurality of feedback currents from the brushless DC motor; a comparison circuit, arranged to perform comparison upon the plurality of feedback currents, to generate a comparison result; and a decision circuit, arranged to detect the initial rotor position according to the comparison result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: Elite Semiconductor Microelectronics Technology Inc.
    Inventor: Ming-Fu Tsai
  • Patent number: 11736001
    Abstract: A method for discharging a capacitor of an input or output circuit arrangement of an inverter for supplying current to a power supply grid includes determining voltage readings at connections of the input or output circuit arrangement and a DC link capacitor of the inverter; and calculating an upper limit voltage value of the DC link capacitor based on the measured values. The method also includes operating a DC/DC converter or a bridge arrangement of the inverter such that energy from the capacitor of the input or output circuit arrangement is transferred to the DC link capacitor, ending the method if the voltage across the DC link capacitor exceeds the upper voltage limit. Otherwise the method continues to transfer energy from the capacitor of the input or output circuit arrangement to the DC link capacitor until the capacitor is discharged to or below a lower limit voltage value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: SMA Solar Technology AG
    Inventors: Florian Steiper, Christian Gehrke
  • Patent number: 11731779
    Abstract: A rotorcraft includes a plurality of fan assemblies. Each fan assembly of the plurality of fan assemblies includes a drivetrain having a gearbox with an input shaft and a mast coaxially aligned with the input shaft, and a plurality of electric motors coupled to the input shaft. Each electric motor of the plurality of electric motors is coupled to the input shaft via a sprag clutch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Textron Innovations Inc.
    Inventors: Charles Hubert Speller, Cody Anderson
  • Patent number: 11705848
    Abstract: A method for actuating an electrical circuit arrangement including at least one switching element. The switching element is actuated by a driver circuit as a function of switching-signal information for switch-on and switch-off. The switching-signal information is continuously determined and a switch-on period and signal position information are specified respectively for at least one switching-signal time window with a fixed duration. The position of the switch-on signal within the switching-signal time window is specified by the signal position information for a switch-on signal that results from a switch-on period that is less than the duration of the switching-signal time window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Stefan Till, Alexander Tkatschenko
  • Patent number: 11650618
    Abstract: A referenceless frequency acquisition scheme locks to an unknown data frequency by feedback of sampled data to a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO). A received data signal is converted to deserialized outputs, then by a phase detector to symbol streams of phase updates. Each symbol stream is converted to a lower rate sum, for which absolute values are computed and periodically summed. Absolute value sums are obtained for each frequency over a range of test frequencies to obtain totals, each corresponding to a different test frequency. A critical value is determined from among the totals. The DCO is set to the test frequency corresponding to the critical value as a coarse approximation for the unknown frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: SITRUS TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mrunmay Talegaonkar, Michael Q. Le
  • Patent number: 11557998
    Abstract: A motor controller configured to drive a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) with Field Oriented Control (FOC), includes a current controller configured to generate control signals for driving the PMSM. The current controller is configured to measure current information of the PMSM, including a direct-axis motor current and a quadrature-axis motor current. The current controller includes a direct-axis current regulator configured to receive a direct-axis reference current and the direct-axis motor current to generate a direct-axis error value based on a difference between the direct-axis reference current and the direct-axis motor current. The current controller includes a voltage regulator configured to regulate a DQ voltage vector comprising a direct-axis motor voltage and a quadrature-axis motor voltage, wherein the voltage regulator generates the direct-axis motor voltage based on the direct-axis error value and a voltage vector limiting function to drive the direct-axis motor current to zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventor: Brendan Aengus Murray
  • Patent number: 11533034
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a controller that controls operation of an amplifier. The amplifier receives a sample voltage produced by a resistive path; the sample voltage from the resistive path is indicative of a magnitude of current through a motor winding. The controller selects a gain setting to apply to the amplifier based on one or more conditions. The selected gain setting is selected amongst multiple possible gain settings. Subsequent to selection, via application of the selected gain setting to the amplifier, and based on an output of the amplifier, the controller monitors a magnitude of the current through the motor winding. According to one configuration, the amplifier adjusts the magnitude of the selected gain setting depending on one or more parameters such as the magnitude of the current through the motor winding, a selected operational range of controlling current through the motor winding, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Tao Zhao, Pablo Yelamos Ruiz
  • Patent number: 11522484
    Abstract: A motor controller for controlling a drive of a motor having plural phase windings includes upper and lower arm circuits and a control unit. The control unit switchingly controls ON/OFF of switches of the upper and lower arm circuits, for sequentially switching an energized phase of the motor. Then, from among the plural switches, a switch forming an energization path to the energized phase is designated as an energized phase switch with the others of the plural switches being designated as non-energized phase switches. Further, from among the non-energized phase switches, a switch forming a path of a reflux current that accompanies the switching of the energized phase is designated as a reflux switch. Then, the control unit performs an ON control of the energized phase switch in addition to performing an ON control of the reflux switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuuichi Seo, Hironori Iwamiya, Hirokazu Toyoda
  • Patent number: 11493898
    Abstract: A servo motor controller is provided which enables an offset to be set more easily and accurately, in comparison to the conventional technique. A servo motor controller for controlling a servo motor of an industrial machine includes: a position detection unit that detects a position of the servo motor; a magnetic-pole detection unit that detects a magnetic-pole phase of the servo motor; and a phase calculation unit that determines a calculation-based phase based on position data of the servo motor and magnetic-pole gap information of the servo motor. The servo motor controller is configured to acquire an offset relationship between the magnetic-pole phase detected by the magnetic-pole detection unit and the calculation-based phase determined by the phase calculation unit, after a reference position is passed through.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takaki Shimoda, Satoshi Ikai
  • Patent number: 11456693
    Abstract: A smart motor having a permanent magnet synchronous machine and an electronic control unit, the synchronous machine including one or two permanent magnet rotor(s) and at least one six-phase stator per rotor endowed with at least two three-phase assemblies each formed of three windings electrically coupled in a star, the electronic control unit including one control inverter per stator equipped with six independent arms each configured to control one phase of a six-phase stator. The three-phase assemblies are magnetically and electrically decoupled with respect to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: SAFRAN ELETRICAL & POWER
    Inventors: Olivier Berry, José Soler, Jérémy Cuenot, Sonia Dhokkar
  • Patent number: 11451183
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor overload detection apparatus. The BLDC motor overload detection apparatus includes a measurer for measuring an electrical angle of the BLDC motor, a determiner for determining whether a difference between the electrical angle measured by the measurer and a mechanical angle of the BLDC motor, estimated through current supplied to the BLDC motor, is within a predetermined range, and a driving controller for control of driving of the BLDC motor according to whether the BLDC motor stalls, determined by the determiner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Choong Seob Park
  • Patent number: 11415351
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electric compressor control device comprising a low-voltage domain. The low-voltage domain comprises a first control unit set up to process control commands for the control of the electric compressor, and a first voltage supply set up to supply the first control unit and connected to a low-voltage source. The low-voltage domain comprises furthermore a high-voltage domain. The high-voltage domain comprises a second control unit set up to control a power output stage, wherein the power output state inverts a dc voltage from a high-voltage source into an ac voltage in order to supply a motor of the electric compressor with the ac voltage. The high-voltage domain comprises furthermore a second voltage supply set up to supply the second control unit and connected to the high-voltage source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: HANON SYSTEMS
    Inventors: Stephan Werker, Stephen Newton, Philipp Karutz
  • Patent number: 11418142
    Abstract: A motor-driving apparatus for driving a motor having a plurality of windings respectively corresponding to a plurality of phases is provided. The motor-driving apparatus includes a first inverter having a plurality of first switching devices and connected to first ends of the plurality of windings and a second inverter having a plurality of second switching devices and connected to second ends of the plurality of windings. A third switching device is configured to selectively connect and disconnect points at which a number of turns of each of the windings is divided in a preset ratio. A controller is configured to adjust an on/off state of the first to third switching devices based on required output of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Kang Ho Jeong, Jong Kyong Lim, Suk Hyun Lim, Ji Woong Jang, Beom Sik Kim, Sang Cheol Shin
  • Patent number: 11404968
    Abstract: A thyristor bridge of an electrical converter is connected to at least one DC link and including at least one phase leg for each output phase and each phase leg being composed of two series-connected thyristor arms. The thyristor arms of a thyristor bridge are cyclically switched by: determining an upper bound for a firing angle of a thyristor arm, wherein the upper bound is determined from voltage and current measurements; and determining a firing angle for the thyristor bridge, which firing angle determines a switching time of the thyristor arm, wherein the firing angle is determined, such that it is less or equal to the upper bound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Thomas Besselmann, Pieder Jörg
  • Patent number: 11323057
    Abstract: The present invention reduces electric power consumption of a network inverter. The inverter (1a, 1b, 1c) includes: an MPU (20a, 20b, 20c); and a power supply (10) configured to carry out electric power delivery to the MPU (20a, 20b, 20c) and to a power source circuit (40). In a case where the inverter (1a, 1b, 1c) is to enter a standby state, an electric power delivery control circuit (22) of the MPU (20a, 20b, 20c) blocks electric power delivery to the power source circuit (40).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: OMRON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masanori Fukushima, Ryoichi Watanabe, Hiroyuki Tateyama
  • Patent number: 11316451
    Abstract: A method for determining current-dependent and/or rotational angle position-dependent characteristic variables of an electrical machine by setting a rotational angle position of blocking a rotor, forming a series current desired value using a series current desired value alternating signal which changes periodically and/or forming a parallel current desired value using a parallel current desired value alternating signal which changes periodically, regulating a series current using the series current desired value and/or a parallel current using the parallel current desired value, measuring phase currents of the electrical machine and determining an established series current and/or an established parallel current, producing series setting voltage coefficients and series current coefficients and/or parallel setting voltage coefficients and parallel current coefficients using a discrete Fourier transform algorithm, and calculating characteristic variables on the basis of series setting voltage coefficients and
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Lenze Automation GmbH
    Inventors: Heiko Stichweh, Gennadi Boehm
  • Patent number: 11239211
    Abstract: An electronic device package structure including a substrate, a first circuit layer, a second circuit layer, an electronic device and an input/output device is provided. The first circuit layer includes a first conductive portion, a second conductive portion and a first curve portion located between the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion. At least a partial thickness of the first curve portion is greater than a thickness of the first conductive portion. The electronic device disposed on the second circuit layer is electrically connected to the second conductive portion of the first circuit layer. The input/output device disposed corresponding to the first conductive portion is electrically connected to the first conductive portion of the first circuit layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
    Inventors: Wei-Kuo Han, Jing-Yao Chang, Tao-Chih Chang
  • Patent number: 11197398
    Abstract: An installation structure and an installation method of a plug-in switch tube is disclosed in the present invention, the installation structure comprises, a PCB board, a plug-in switch tube fixed on said PCB board, and a housing matching said PCB board and said plug-in switch tube, wherein the lower end surface of said housing is provided with a cooling liquid flow channel, and said plug-in switch tube is pressed against the side wall of the cooling liquid flow channel by an elastic pressing-piece. The installation structure according to the present invention has the advantages of small volume, excellent heat dissipation effect, simple assembly, low cost and light weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: SHENZHEN VMAX NEW ENERGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Liu, Yingying Feng, Shun Yao
  • Patent number: 11156220
    Abstract: A compressor for producing compressed air, in particular for a compressed air supply system of a vehicle, includes an electric motor in the form of a brushed direct current electric motor. The compressor has at least one first and one second compressor step, which can be driven by the electric motor. The motor can be controlled by means of an electronic control module of a control device by limiting an operational flow of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: ZF CV SYSTEMS EUROPE BV
    Inventors: Ralf Bremeier, Pierre Celestin Koumenda, Jorg Meier, Robert Sohn, Uwe Stabenow
  • Patent number: 11114949
    Abstract: An inverter control board that is configured to be connected to an inverter for performing conversion between direct current power and multiple-phase alternating current power, wherein the inverter has arms, each arm provided for one alternating current phase and comprising a series circuit of a high-side switching element to be connected to a direct-current positive electrode and a low-side switching element to be connected to a direct-current negative electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: AISIN AW CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Keita Mutsuura, Maiko Nitta
  • Patent number: 11091193
    Abstract: A system includes a first module that: receives the output current from the electric motor as a feedback, the output current including a direct axis component and a quadrature axis component; and generates a first voltage command based on a virtual resistance value, the feedback, and a targeted frequency characteristic of the motor control system. The system includes: a second module that: receives a difference between the feedback and a commanded current; and generates a second voltage command based on an estimated inductance value, an estimated resistance value of an electric motor, the virtual resistance value, a targeted frequency response characteristic of the motor control system, and the response of the d-axis component of the output current being decoupled from the response of the q-axis component. The system includes an addition module that generates an input voltage command for the electric motor by adding the first and second voltage commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation
    Inventors: Prerit Pramod, Julie A. Kleinau
  • Patent number: 11050315
    Abstract: The invention concerns a rotor for a synchronous generator having a plurality of salient poles regularly disposed on the outer periphery of a rim, each pole comprising a coil with two external terminals said, respectively, first terminal and second terminal, the poles being arranged so that two adjacent poles have either their respective first terminals or their respective second terminals facing each other, the rotor further comprising at least a first connection between first terminals and/or at least a second connection between second terminals, the rotor being characterized in that the first connection and the second connection comprises a plurality of elongated conductive plates whose each ends (A, B) are secured via a single securing mean on facing terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: GE Renewable Technologies
    Inventors: Jean-Marie Fermaut, Wenli Liu, Hugo Borgna
  • Patent number: 10992241
    Abstract: A control device of a motor includes difference calculation circuitry that calculates a difference between a current rotation speed and a target rotation speed of the motor, coefficient correction circuitry that outputs corrected proportion coefficient and integration coefficient by multiplying each of an initially set proportion coefficient and integration coefficient by a correction coefficient, output voltage determination circuitry that calculates at least one of a proportional term in which the difference is multiplied by the corrected proportion coefficient and an integral term in which the difference is multiplied by the corrected integration coefficient and the result is integrated and determines one of the proportional term and the integral term or the sum of the two terms as a control value of the output voltage, and signal generation circuitry that generates a control signal on the basis of the control value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: NIDEC TOSOK CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kei Sato
  • Patent number: 10879829
    Abstract: A machine drive includes a suspension force inverter, a torque inverter, and a capacitor. The suspension force inverter provides suspension force electrical signals to suspension force electrical terminals. Each suspension force electrical terminal connects to a suspension coil of a stator winding. Each suspension force electrical signal provides a phase to a single suspension force electrical terminal. A single stator winding is associated with each phase. The torque inverter provides torque electrical signals to torque electrical terminals. Each torque electrical signal provides the phase to a single torque electrical terminal. Each torque electrical terminal connects to both the suspension coil and a torque coil of the single stator winding of the associated phase. The capacitor connected in parallel across the suspension force inverter. The torque inverter is connected to a voltage source. The capacitor is connected to the voltage source through the torque invertor and the suspension force inverter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
    Inventor: Eric Loren Severson
  • Patent number: 10725440
    Abstract: Embodiments include techniques for estimating unknown or missing values for parameters of a motor based on high-level motor information and using the estimated parametric values in generating an executable model for modeling the behavior of the motor. An aspect of the techniques involves assumptions used to establish the predetermined parametric values that are applied to the algorithm for deriving estimates of the unknown parametric values for the motor. The estimated parametric values may then be used in the executable model of the motor to enable development and simulation of a plant (e.g., a closed loop system) including a plant model having a dynamic controller model and a lumped parameter model of a modeling environment of a technical computing environment executing on a data processing system. The simulation of the plant loop can be sufficient to test the dynamic (e.g., feedback-based) controller within a closed loop system, e.g., test motion control of a motorized vehicle seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: The MathWorks, Inc.
    Inventors: Kerry E. Grand, Yang Xu, Ebrahim M. Mestchian
  • Patent number: 10696175
    Abstract: A vehicle includes an electric machine. The vehicle includes a controller configured to repeatedly adjust power outputs for the two inverters so that they differ to drive the difference toward zero and such that power provided to the electric machine satisfies demand until the difference falls below a second predetermined threshold. The controller may be configured to adjust responsive to a temperature difference between two inverters associated with the electric machine exceeding a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jiyao Wang, Wei Xu
  • Patent number: 10700622
    Abstract: A brushless motor control apparatus includes an inverter circuit that applies a drive voltage to a winding of each phase of a brushless motor, a rotor magnetic pole detector that outputs a magnetic pole detection signal corresponding to a rotor position of the brushless motor based on a change of a magnetic pole detected by a Hall sensor, a rotor position estimator that outputs, each time a level of the magnetic pole detection signal is switched, an estimated rotor position signal that indicates an estimated rotor position with an electrical angle and indicates a predetermined electrical angle corresponding to the level after switching, a current detector that detects a current supplied to the inverter circuit as a power source current value, and an electrical angle correction unit that corrects the estimated rotor position signal by determining an electrical angle offset based on fluctuation in the power source current value and adding the electrical angle offset to the electrical angle indicated by the esti
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Daisuke Sato
  • Patent number: 10630221
    Abstract: A motor control device including a PWM generator generating a PWM generator generating a PWM signal to be outputted to a drive circuit that energizes a winding of a switched reluctance motor; a rectangular wave generator outputting a rectangular wave signal of 1 pulse or more to the drive circuit in 1 drive period of each phase based on a rotational position of the motor; and a drive signal switcher executing switching so that a PWM drive by the PWM signal is performed when a rotational speed of the motor is equal to or less than a threshold value and a rectangular wave drive by the rectangular wave signal is performed when the rotational speed of the motor is greater than the threshold value. The PWM generator synchronizes a timing to start generation of a carrier of the PWM signal with rising of the rectangular wave signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Aizawa, Makoto Shinohara, Shigeru Nakajima
  • Patent number: 10630168
    Abstract: A critical conduction mode (CRM) bridgeless PFC system includes a PFC converter connected to an Alternating Current (AC) source, a zero-current detection (ZCD) circuit for detecting a zero-current state of the PFC converter, a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) detection circuit, and a processor. Voltage divider circuits receive a first voltage and a supply voltage from the PFC converter and the AC source. The ZCD circuit receives divided voltages generated by the voltage divider circuits and generates a ZCD signal. The ZCD signal is used by the ZVS detection circuit to generate a ZVS flag, which is used by the processor to control switching of first through fourth transistors of the PFC converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Lingling Wang, Wanfu Ye, Kai-wen Cheng
  • Patent number: 10538169
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a traction motor having resonance frequency zones, an inverter including switches arranged to drive the traction motor, and a controller. The controller operates the switches only within specified sets of carrier frequencies such that noise side bands corresponding to the carrier frequencies fall outside the resonance frequency zones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Xuemei Sun, Jami J. Miller, Christopher Wolf, Liqun Na
  • Patent number: 10483883
    Abstract: Provided is driving control method of Brushless DC (BLDC) motor, including: a step of initial driving command input, initially inputting a driving command to the BLDC motor; a step of the first position alignment, compulsively aligning rotor of the BLDC motor at a predetermined position; a step of forced driving, compulsively driving the rotor of the BLDC motor compulsively aligned by accelerating the rotor of the BLDC motor; a step of feedback control, performing feedback control of the BLDC motor; a step of driving off, inputting a stop command to the BLDC motor; and a step of the second position alignment, compulsively aligning the rotor of the BLDC motor at the predetermined position again.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: COAVIS
    Inventors: Suk Min Yoon, Young Sub Jang
  • Patent number: 10428629
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for extracting underground objects using a beam pumping unit including a rotating motor and one or more cranks coupled to a walking beam enabling the extraction. According to certain embodiments, the method includes receiving, at a control system, one or more input signals; and providing, based on the input signals, one or more control signals to the rotating motor to enable the rotating motor to directly drive the one or more cranks for extracting the underground objects. The method also includes varying, based on the one or more control signals, a rotating speed of the rotating motor based on one or more conditions of the underground objects; and enabling the extraction in a reciprocated manner based on the varying rotating speed of the rotating motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Yueli Electric (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hangxian Liu, Rongfan Liu
  • Patent number: 10386104
    Abstract: A domestic refrigeration device and a method for operating a domestic refrigeration device. The domestic refrigeration device has a heat-insulated body with a coolable inner container which delimits a coolable interior provided for storing food. A coolant circuit is provided for cooling the coolable interior and includes a compressor and a field-oriented electric drive. The field-oriented electric drive has a field-oriented controller, a converter, and a permanently excited synchronous motor which is connected downstream of the converter and which is part of the compressor or is provided for driving the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
    Inventors: Achim Paulduro, Tommy Beckmann, Axel Walter, Moritz Klein
  • Patent number: 10389292
    Abstract: Power converters, controllers, methods and non-transitory computer readable mediums are presented, in which a processor operates a switching rectifier in a first mode to regulate a DC bus voltage signal using rectifier switching control for motoring rectifier operation when the measured DC bus voltage value is less than or equal to a first threshold value, operates the switching rectifier in a second mode to regulate the DC bus voltage signal using rectifier switching control for regenerative rectifier operation when the measured DC bus voltage value is greater than the first threshold value and less than or equal to a higher second threshold value, and operates an inverter in a third mode to regulate the DC bus voltage signal using inverter acceleration/deceleration control when the measured DC bus voltage value is greater than the second threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Jacob M. Lamb, Ahmed S. Mohamed Sayed Ahmed, Brian J. Seibel, Timothy M. Rowan
  • Patent number: 10361648
    Abstract: To avoid control failure resulting from startup of a PMSM that is windmilling, initial speed and position are determined before startup. A controller uses a FOC routine having a speed PI control loop, field-weaken control, a current PI control loop, and a speed observer. When the controller receives an instruction to start the PMSM, it delays startup and executes an “estimation” stage, in which the controller executes the FOC routine but with the speed PI control loop and the field-weaken control disabled. The estimation stage is repeated multiple times, with estimates converging to actual speed and position through successive iterations. When estimated speed and position values have stabilized, the motor is started using the estimates as initial speed and position for driving the PMSM. The FOC routine, with the speed PI control loop and the field-weaken control enabled, is used to drive the PMSM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Weizi Wang
  • Patent number: 10177695
    Abstract: A position estimation unit of a motor control apparatus includes a counter electromotive voltage estimation unit configured to estimate a counter electromotive voltage generated in a motor based on generated voltage and current of the motor, and an arc tangent calculation unit configured to perform an arc tangent calculation using coordinate data on a two-dimensional plane based on the estimated counter electromotive voltage to calculate an angle of deviation. The arc tangent calculation unit includes a rotation calculation unit configured to repeatedly perform a rotation calculation of coordinate data on a fundamental wave and a harmonic; a rotation direction judgment unit configured to judge a rotation direction of a subsequent rotation calculation based on a result of the rotation calculation of the rotation calculation unit; and a deviation angle calculation unit configured to calculate a total of rotation angles obtained as a result of the rotation calculation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru Miyazawa, Masahiko Mizoguchi, Kota Kiyama
  • Patent number: 10132535
    Abstract: An inverter-integrated electric compressor includes an inverter housing portion, an inverter device including a substrate having an inverter circuit mounted thereon, the inverter device being integrally incorporated in the inverter housing portion, and a busbar assembly formed by a UVW busbar covered by a resin case, the UVW busbar conducting AC power converted by the inverter circuit from the substrate side to a motor terminal. In such a compressor, the busbar assembly includes an adhering partition adhered to an end surface of the substrate using an adhesive, the adhering partition being provided in an upright manner on a lower surface of the resin case of the busbar assembly; a height (H) and a gap (S) of the adhering partition relative to the end surface of the substrate are set as appropriate; and the adhering partition and the end surface of the substrate are adhered to each other using the adhesive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES THERMAL SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Makoto Hattori, Takeo Hayashi
  • Patent number: 10090738
    Abstract: A motor assembly broadly includes a motor, a motor controller, and an interface controller having an integrated power supply. The integrated power supply includes an AC to DC power conversion and voltage reduction component. The motor controller and the interface controller receive line voltage electrical power without the need for an external transformer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Nidec Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher D. Schock, Randy L. Bomkamp
  • Patent number: 10003285
    Abstract: A method of controlling an electric motor that generates an output current from an input voltage command that includes a sum of a first voltage command and a second voltage command is provided. The method receives the output current from the motor as a feedback. The method determines a first set of gain factors to generate the first voltage command based on the feedback such that the input voltage command causes the motor to generate the output current with reduced influence of variations of a set of operating parameters of the motor. The method determines a difference between the feedback and a desired current. The method determines a second set of gain factors to generate the second voltage command based on the difference such that the input voltage command causes the motor to generate the output current as a first, second or higher order response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: STEERING SOLUTIONS IP HOLDING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Prerit Pramod, Shrenik P. Shah, Julie A. Kleinau, Michael K. Hales
  • Patent number: 9973136
    Abstract: A method for controlling a motor based on a variable current controller gain may include a temperature function current applying mode in which when a torque command for the motor is detected by an inverter, 3-phase current to be applied to the motor is output to the motor in consideration of a motor temperature of the motor as a function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventors: Jae-Sang Lim, Kil-Young Youn, Jin-Ho Kim, Jeong-Bin Yin
  • Patent number: 9954476
    Abstract: A TH terminal receives an analog control voltage VTH which indicates a rotational speed. With a first platform, a capacitor and a discharging resistor are connected in parallel between an OSC terminal and the ground. A charging resistor and a first switch are arranged in series between the OSC terminal and a reference voltage line via which a stabilized voltage is supplied. When an oscillator voltage VOSC that occurs at the OSC terminal reaches an upper-side threshold VH, a switching circuit turns off the first switch. When the oscillator voltage VOSC falls to a lower-side threshold value VL, the switching circuit turns on the first switch. The oscillator voltage VOSC is compared with the voltage at the TH terminal, so as to generate a pulse-modulated control pulse S3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomofumi Mishima, Masahiro Nakamura, Joji Noie
  • Patent number: 9929684
    Abstract: In various embodiments, a method of controlling a motor and motor control system may be provided. The method may include applying exciting pulse-width-modification (PWM) or continuous sinusoidal voltages to a motor. The method may further include measuring one or more the applied exciting voltages to the motor. The method may further include measuring one or more currents from the motor. The method may also include calculating one or more back electromotive force (BEMF) voltages based on the one or more currents. The method may include adjusting the exciting voltages based on the one or more back electromotive force (BEMF) voltages and the phase angle difference between the calculated back EMF voltages and the measured currents. The motor control system may include the various detecting circuits of the exciting voltages and the motor currents from the motor with low pass filters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: Marvell International Ltd.
    Inventor: Quan Jiang
  • Patent number: 9853512
    Abstract: Described is an electrical machine, including: a rotor having a magnetic flux source mounted thereto; a stator winding arrangement having a first set of electrical connections to provide a first output channel, and a second set of electrical connections to provide a second output channel, the first and second channels being electrically out of phase, wherein the stator winding arrangement is constructed from a plurality of winding portions which are connected in electrical series.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: David Reginald Trainer, Konstantinos Kampisios, Omar Fadhel Jasim, Ellis Fui Hen Chong, John James Anthony Cullen
  • Patent number: 9853544
    Abstract: A method according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, controlling a power supply system to avoid an over-voltage event across one or more switching devices of the power supply system, the controlling step based on switching overlap information that includes instructions for either advancing or retarding a switching signal associated with at least one of the switching devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Arvind Govindaraj, Jun Kikuchi