Operational/differential Amplifier Patents (Class 388/910)
  • Patent number: 8157536
    Abstract: A rotating speed adjustment circuit for a heat dissipation fan includes a first node, a second node, a reception end for receiving a first control signal, a first resistor coupled to a voltage source and the first node, a second resistor coupled to the first node and the second node, a third resistor coupled to the second node and a ground end, a capacitor coupled to the first node and the ground end, a transistor coupled to the reception end, the second node and the ground end, an oscillator for generating an oscillating signal, and a comparator for comparing a signal of the first node and the oscillating signal, so as to output a second control signal to control a rotating speed of the heat dissipation fan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: Anpec Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Tzu-Cheng Teng, Ching-Sheng Li, Ming-Jung Tsai, Shen-Min Lo
  • Patent number: 7787526
    Abstract: An interface circuit for a multi-differential embedded-clock channel for communicating data provides efficient utilization of the bandwidth of the channel. The interface circuit includes at least four first signals, at least four second signals, and a multi-differential amplifier. The multi-differential amplifier is coupled to the first and second signals. The multi-differential amplifier is adapted to generate the second signals by amplifying, for all combinations of two of the first signals, differential transitions between the two of the first signals. Each of a plurality of symbols of the data has a corresponding one of the differential transitions, and the differential transitions are serially communicated through the channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Inventor: James Ridenour McGee
  • Patent number: 7746019
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a servo control circuit comprising: a first node for receiving a control voltage; a second node for receiving a feedback voltage; an operational amplifier controlling a current on a path according to the voltages at the first and second nodes, the path including an internal voltage node thereon; an analog to digital converter (ADC) for converting the voltage at the internal voltage node to a digital signal; and a control logic circuit for generating a servo control signal according to the digital signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Chip Goal Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Hui-Yen Hsieh
  • Patent number: 7477704
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for detecting digital signals in high speed signaling systems. In at least one embodiment, at least one received input signal is combined with a plurality of predetermined reference signals according to a plurality of prior digital signal output states to generate a signal for detecting a present digital signal output state. In one aspect of the invention, a method for determining a digital signal state in a differential signaling system includes: comparing a first differential input signal to a second differential input signal; determining a prior digital signal output state; comparing the first differential input signal to one of a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage; comparing the second differential input signal to one of the first reference voltage and the second reference voltage; and determining a present digital signal output state from the prior digital signal output state and from all of the comparisons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2009
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: William Cornelius
  • Patent number: 6850023
    Abstract: A speed sensor for an electric motor detects the variation in the electric field of the armature due to commutation to produce an output signal indicative of the speed of rotation of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2005
    Assignee: Johnson Electrics S.A.
    Inventor: James Ching Sik Lau
  • Patent number: 6806669
    Abstract: A motor overload coil control is disclosed for use in a motor starter/relay contactor. The control includes an 8-bit, 8-pin microcontroller that together with an I/O reduction circuit, is capable of functioning 13 I/O's with only 5 I/O pins on the microcontroller. Three remote signals are prioritized and reduced on one input line to the microcontroller. The control includes three-phase current measurement from three Hall effect current sensors positioned one on each leg. The system includes current integration to provide a single current input to the microcontroller. A full load amperage (FLA) adjustment allows use on a wide range of motors. The microcontroller uses the FLA adjustment and the current signal to find an appropriate I2t value for real-time monitoring of the operating temperature of the motor. A status indicator is provided having an LED output to show the status of the system and indicate the motor temperature, when appropriate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2004
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Patrick J. Griesemer, Christopher J. Wieloch, Kurt von Eckroth
  • Patent number: 6188187
    Abstract: A control circuit for regulating the rotational speed of a DC brushless motor includes an electrical conduction switch having an input, an output and a control terminal for passing a motor supply signal to a DC brushless motor. A voltage averaging circuit generates an averaged signal indicative of the average voltage level being supplied to the motor. The averaging circuit informs an error amplifier to modulate the motor supply signal to compensate for changes in the voltage level of the motor supply signal in order to maintain the rotational speed of the motor at a generally constant rpm. The control circuit takes advantage of the motor windings and rotor mass as a filter circuit to smooth changes in current drawn by the motor, and to further maintain the rotational speed of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: Nidec America Corporation
    Inventor: George H. Harlan
  • Patent number: 6154001
    Abstract: A circuit to pull down a driver circuit of a motor, including a circuit to monitor the input signal to a driver amplifier to compare the input signal with the output signal from the motor and to output a difference signal when the input signal and the output signal are different, and a circuit to pull down the driver circuit in response to the difference signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Dennis Vernon Hahn
  • Patent number: 6011902
    Abstract: In an optical disc player, as signals are read from and written to an optical disc, the optical disc is rotated by a spindle motor and an optical pickup is moved by a sled motor. These motors are both direct-current motors. The motor control circuit of the invention uses a drive circuit based on the BTL method, and additionally uses a resistor that is connected in series with the direct-current motor between the output terminals of the drive circuit. The voltage drop across the resistor is fed back, as positive feedback, to the drive circuit through a feedback amplifier. Since, when the motor is started up, a high current flows through the motor and thus a large voltage drop occurs across the resistor, a high feedback voltage is obtained and thus a high drive voltage is applied to the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2000
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Seiichi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 5892347
    Abstract: A power amplifier (18) for driving a brushless DC motor (22) includes a processor (40) which receives a signal indicative of motor situational usage and generates a mode state signal indicative of which one of a plurality of amplification modes is to be implemented in response to the received signal. The amplification modes include a linear mode and a switching mode, with the switching mode including a two quadrant switching mode and a four quadrant switching mode. The amplifier (18) further includes a controller (50) which, in response to the mode state signal, generates control signals for each of coil drive circuits (26) associated with the motor. Further, in response to a signal indicative of motor situational usage, processor (40) generates a power state signal which causes controller (50) to connect coil drive circuits (26) to a suitable one of a plurality of differing voltage sources (21, 23).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1999
    Assignee: Exabyte Corporation
    Inventors: James Zweighaft, Dallas Baumann
  • Patent number: 5818179
    Abstract: In a d.c. brushless motor drive circuit, the output amplifier produces a motor winding drive current with dulled rise/fall edges from a detected sinusoidal back e.m.f. voltage induced on the winding during the steady-state operation when the motor runs at the rated speed. The output amplifier includes a set of transistors each brought to a saturated conductive state or a cutoff state in accordance with the phase conduction sequence to connect one end of each motor winding to a ground voltage source, and another transistor operated continuously to connect the neutral point, which is opposite ends of the motor windings connected together, to a power voltage source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1998
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Kokami, Satoshi Kondo
  • Patent number: 5664048
    Abstract: A speed control circuit for a DC motor includes a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter, a regulator/controller, and a control circuit which applies a compensating current to the DC motor that compensates for variations in loading applied to the motor. The regulator/controller compares a reference voltage provided by the D/A converter with a feedback signal provided by the motor to generate a signal to activate the control circuit, thus to supply a compensating current to the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1997
    Assignee: Abbott Laboratories
    Inventors: Bill H. Niemi, Stephen J. Kreinick
  • Patent number: 5640073
    Abstract: A brushless dc motor unit has 3-phase armature windings, a permanent-magnet rotor, a dc power supply having a motor drive voltage and a midpoint voltage that is one half of the motor drive voltage, and an electronic commutation circuit. Back emf voltages at armature winding terminals are individually delayed by less than 90.degree. and the delayed voltages are individually provided to the positive input terminals of voltage comparators. To the negative input terminals of the comparators is commonly provided a sawtooth-wave comparator reference voltage having a frequency proportional to a current rotor speed and an amplitude whose center voltage is the midpoint voltage. Outputs of the comparators cause a control circuit to transmit signals to control the electronic commutation circuit so as to provide 3-phase dc power to the armature windings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: Sanden Corp.
    Inventors: Hideo Ikeda, Masao Osawa, Masahiro Matsushima
  • Patent number: 5625264
    Abstract: A system for controlling a brushless DC motor which can minimize a torque ripple of a motor, thus reducing minute vibrations of the motor and loading devices and increasing efficiency. The system includes a current command generator for producing a current command signal by multiplying a wave form of the current command signal in correspondence to position information by the desired size of the current command signal; a current controller for controlling actual current in the motor to follow the current command signal produced from the current command generator, in response to a feedback error control signal having proportion, integral, and differential elements, and producing a signal for turning ON/OFF following the current command; and an inverter circuit for controlling switching elements to be turned ON/OFF by the signal produced from the current controller, and the desired amount of current to be applied to three-phase coils by a power supply unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 29, 1997
    Assignee: Samsung Aerospace Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Sung-jung Yoon
  • Patent number: 5600219
    Abstract: A first method for detecting movement of an actuator includes supplying a demand current to a voice coil motor of the actuator (A.sub.1), sampling a voice coil motor voltage (B.sub.1), performing a slope detection of a voice coil motor voltage function (C.sub.1) and extrapolating the voice coil motor function (D.sub.1) to identify a change in slope of the voice coil motor function.A second method for detecting movement of an actuator includes supplying a continuously increasing current ramp to the voice coil motor of an actuator (A.sub.2), measuring a back e.m.f. voltage of the voice coil motor (B.sub.2), performing a change in slope detection of a back e.m.f. voltage function (C.sub.2) and integrating the back e.m.f. voltage function (D.sub.2) to determine movement of the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1997
    Assignee: Seagate Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Kevin A. Gomez
  • Patent number: 5569988
    Abstract: In a d.c. brushless motor drive circuit, the output amplifier produces a motor winding drive current with dulled rise/fall edges from a detected sinusoidal back e.m.f. voltage induced on the winding during the steady-state operation when the motor runs at the rated speed. The output amplifier includes a set of transistors each brought to a saturated conductive state or a cutoff state in accordance with the phase conduction sequence to connect one end of each motor winding to a ground voltage source, and another transistor operated continuously to connect the neutral point, which is opposite ends of the motor windings connected together, to a power voltage source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1996
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Kokami, Satoshi Kondo
  • Patent number: 5473725
    Abstract: The speed of a brushless DC motor driving an electric vehicle is controlled with a speed feedback signal proportional to rotation speed of the motor by processing the back electromotive force (EMF) waves of the brushless DC motor. In this method, the back EMF waves of plural phases are taken to pass the differential amplifiers for each phase, and the back EMF signals in the rising and falling regions of the back EMF waves of each phase are obtained to synthesize, by the commutation signals of a magnetic pole sensor passing the phase detecting circuit, after full-wave rectification and low-pass filtering, a [speed feedback signal. This method differs from normal speed control of a motor, in which a speed feed-back element such as a DC tachometer or an encoder is necessary for controlling the speed. This invention permits the brushless DC motor to control the speed without a feedback element such as a DC tachometer or an encoder, thereby decreasing the cost of the brushless DC motor speed control system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1995
    Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
    Inventors: Tshaw-Chuang Chen, Hong-Shi Chang, Huan-Jen Yang, Yaw-Shih Shieh
  • Patent number: 5414792
    Abstract: A solid state, electric motor control circuit is provided in conjunction with a solid state throttle and vehicle sensor circuit that together incorporate; a Hall Effect throttle position sensor circuit, a throttle position signal amplifier circuit, a vehicle reverse condition circuit, a vehicle operation inhibit circuit, a pulse width modulation circuit, and inverting MOSFET driver circuit, a plurality of power MOSFET devices, a voltage regulator circuit, and a current delivery circuit associated with an external DC electric motor. These circuit elements combine to translate a mechanical throttle position into a voltage level signal that can be converted by pulse width modulation circuitry into a pulsed wave form signal that suitably drives a bank of MOSFET, solid state switches so as to control the flow of current through a DC electric motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 9, 1995
    Assignee: DAX Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: James L. Shorey
  • Patent number: 5404418
    Abstract: A closed-loop feedback control system is disclosed for controlling an operation of a load. An actual operation signal is subtracted from a reference operation signal to produce a resultant signal which is used to control the operation of the load. A filter unit, such as a notch filter, operates to suppress any machine resonance frequencies found in the operation signal due to load fluctuations, machine variations, operating environment changes, deterioration with age, etc. A filter coefficient of the filter unit is adjusted so that any fluctuation in the resonance frequency can be suppressed effectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 4, 1995
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki K.K.
    Inventor: Tetsuaki Nagano
  • Patent number: 5397967
    Abstract: A high side driver circuit and method for controlling the turnoff slew rate to an inductor of a motor is presented. The inductor is selectively connected between a supply voltage on a high side and a reference potential on a low side. The driver circuit has a power transistor having a current control path connected in series between the high side of the inductor and the supply voltage to connect selectively the inductor to the supply voltage. An amplifier has an output connected to a control element of the power transistor. A capacitor connected between a non-inverting input of the amplifier and the reference potential and a current source connected between the non-inverting input of the amplifier and the reference potential are switchably connected between the supply voltage and the non-inverting input of the amplifier for turning on and off the circuit. A feedback path is connected between the high side of the coil and an inverting input of the amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 14, 1995
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Francesco Carobolante, Ali J. Rastegar
  • Patent number: 5367600
    Abstract: A motor control for a treadmill has an improved, inexpensive, and simple set of power supplies, derived from the bus voltages of the DC busses with simple voltage dividers, to supply operational amplifiers connected to the positive DC voltage bus with a dual voltage supply and a common or neutral, and to provide a single voltage power supply connected to the negative bus for the driving circuitry of a motor energization switching controlling element. The dual power supply for the operational amplifiers comprises a voltage divider containing two, series connected zener diodes in series with a resistor. The one of the series connected zener diodes is connected to the positive DC voltage bus, and the resistor is connected to the negative DC voltage bus. A common connection between the two zener diodes becomes the neutral or common voltage for the operational amplifiers, and the zener diode voltages become the positive and negative supply voltages for the amplifiers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 22, 1994
    Inventor: Alan W. Wilkerson
  • Patent number: 5364026
    Abstract: The residential structure ventilating apparatus disclosed herein employs a variable speed exhaust fan. The speed is responsive to a sensor which detects air temperature at the exhaust port. The fan is energized when the sensed air temperature rises above a first preselectable temperature and the external environmental air is cooler that the air at the exhaust port. The fan speed is increased progressively from about one-half full speed at the preselected turn on temperature to full speed at a predetermined higher temperature. The fan is turned off when the exhaust port temperature falls below a second preselected temperature, lower than the first preselected temperature or when the external environmental temperature rises above the inside temperature, the fan speed being essentially constant between the first and second preselected temperatures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Assignee: Control Resources, Inc.
    Inventor: Warren R. Kundert
  • Patent number: 5351336
    Abstract: A control for energizing a DC motor to provide improved speed regulation to the motor under transient conditions. The control includes a regulating circuit having an output signal controlling the armature voltage applied to the motor. An input speed reference signal corresponding to the desired speed of said motor is provided to the regulating circuit. An input armature voltage feedback signal is also provided to the regulating circuit to produce an error signal for operating said regulating circuit to establish the armature voltage, and hence the speed of said motor. The armature current of the motor is sensed and a signal corresponding to the voltage drop resulting from the inductance of the armature circuit provided to the regulating circuit for altering the output of the regulating circuit in a manner tending to establish the speed of said motor at that established by said speed reference signal. An IR compensating circuit provides an IR compensating signal to the regulating circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1994
    Inventor: Alan W. Wilkerson
  • Patent number: 5317669
    Abstract: The present invention is a two unit electronic control system to reduce power demands imposed upon direct current power sources. The present invention comprises a contact/resistor network, a trigger generator, a pulse generator, a waveform stabilization circuit, a driver circuit, a voltage regulation circuit, a noise suppression circuit, a transient suppression circuit, a field effect transistor network and primary and secondary on/off control circuits. The input can be resistance, voltage, current or capacitance which is varied in response to an external stimulus. The chosen input is conditioned and applied to vary the duty cycle of a repeating pulse signal. That pulse signal is conditioned and applied to a switching device which controls the current from the DC power source to the load. The number of switching devices comprising the network will vary from one to many dependent upon the current carrying demand of the load and the current handling capability of the switching device utilized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 31, 1994
    Assignee: John Svoboda
    Inventors: James D. Anderson, John V. Searcy, II
  • Patent number: 5299277
    Abstract: A flexible disk drive device includes an adjusting circuit which sets termination timing of outputting of an index signal in response to the rotating speed of a motor by adjusting charge or discharge time constant of a capacitor; a reference voltage generating circuit which includes a plurality of resistors connected in series between the power source line and the ground line and generates the reference voltage at one of the nodes of the resistor chain; and a reference voltage switching circuit which switches the reference voltage to another reference voltage upon receipt of a speed selection signal which represents a different rotating speed from a predetermined rotating speed, wherein the other reference voltage is so set that the pulse width of the index signal corresponds to a predetermined rotating angle of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1994
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Norio Fujii
  • Patent number: 5267344
    Abstract: A solid state DC power control circuit to efficiently use DC battery power without the normally associated energy waste which includes an input control signal, amplifying and conditioning circuit (133), a triangular waveform generator circuit (131), a comparator circuit (135), an inverting MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) circuit (137), and a plurality of power MOSFET devices (42), which together combine to translate a typical variable resistance control input into a voltage level and condition it suitably to be compared with a known triangular waveform thereby creating a pulse width modulated signal whose pulse widths correspond in duration to the relative percent "on" or "off" of the control input signal and which regulates a plurality of parallel MOSFET devices (42) which together share the load of an external DC power drain circuit (143).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1993
    Assignee: DAX Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: James C. Nelson, III
  • Patent number: 5230035
    Abstract: A motor speed controller, for example for accurate linear control of DC motors, includes an error amplifier, such as an integrating error amplifier, for providing a variable controlled voltage to a motor in response to an input to the amplifier, the input comprising a combination of a demand signal representative of a desired speed of the motor and a feedback signal representative of an actual speed of the motor. An electronic switch, such as a transconductance amplifier, has a first input responsive to an electrical signal representative of the actual speed of the motor and a second input responsive to the polarity of the output of the amplifier so as to provide the feedback signal, the value of the feedback signal being dependent on the value of the signal representative of the actual speed of the motor and the polarity of the signal being dependent on the polarity of the output of the amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1993
    Inventor: Gregson W. M. Spring
  • Patent number: 5201023
    Abstract: A solid state electronic motor power control circuit for portable paint pumps having a MOSFET power control device and an operational amplifier connected to the MOSFET to selectively operate as a switch driver in a first state and as a linear gain amplifier in a second state. The operational amplifier has a feedback path from the motor to compensate for motor load variations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1993
    Assignee: Wagner Spray Tech Corporation
    Inventor: Andrew R. Motzko
  • Patent number: 5179621
    Abstract: A solid state DC power control circuit to efficiently use DC battery power without the normally associated energy waste which includes an input control signal filtering, amplifying, and conditioning circuit (133), a triangular waveform generator circuit (131), a comparator circuit (135), an inverting MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) circuit (137), and a plurality of power MOSFET devices (42), which together combine to translate a typical variable resistance control input into a voltage level and condition it suitably to be compared with a known triangular waveform thereby creating a pulse width modulated signal whose pulse widths correspond in duration to the relative percent "on" or "off" of the control input signal and which regulates a plurality of parallel MOSFET devices (42) which together share the load of an external DC power drain circuit (143).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1993
    Assignee: DAX Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: James C. Nelson, III
  • Patent number: 5123081
    Abstract: The present invention features a system and method for preventing overheating of a motor and/or power amplifier of a material handling vehicle by controlling the performance of the vehicle as a function of motor and/or power amplifier temperature. Temperature sensors are connected to the motor and power amplifier for determining their operating temperatures. A controller is connected to each temperature sensor and to the motor for controlling acceleration of the motor as a function of either or both temperatures, so that both the motor and the power amplifier will not overheat. In controlling acceleration of the motor, the invention provides a mechanism for changing acceleration by discrete steps or continuously according to a performance curve which may be linear or otherwise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 16, 1992
    Assignee: Raymond Corporation
    Inventors: Michael S. Bachman, David L. Kellogg, James M. Simmons, Jr., Issac Avitan
  • Patent number: 5086492
    Abstract: An improved motor control circuit is disclosed in which energy stored in the motor is transferred back to the power supply rather than being passively dissipated. The sense of a feedback signal is reversed at a summation node by combining the signal with an inverted, amplified reproduction of the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1992
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventor: David L. Kent
  • Patent number: 5046123
    Abstract: An error signal detection circuit in a servo control device comprises a reference signal generation circuit for selectively generating reference signals of different periods, each having a slope which changes from a reference value at a substantially constant gradient, an error detection timing generation circuit for generating timing of detection of an error signal of an object of control, an error signal detection circuit for generating an error signal by detecting the value of a reference signal generated by the reference signal generation circuit at a timing provided by the error detection timing generation circuit, and a slope varying circuit for varying the slope of the reference signal in accordance with the period of the reference signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1991
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Mamoru Horino
  • Patent number: 5029229
    Abstract: A solid state DC power control circuit to efficiently use DC battery power without the normally associated energy waste which includes an input control signal filtering, amplifying, and conditioning circuit, a triangular waveform generator circuit, a comparator circuit, an inverting MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) circuit, and a plurality of power MOSFET devices, which together combine to translate a typical variable resistance control input into a voltage level and condition it suitably to be compared with a known triangular waveform thereby creating a pulse width modulated signal whose pulse widths correspond in duration to the relative percent "on" or "off" of the control input signal and which regulates a plurality of parallel MdOSFET device which together share the load of an external DC motor circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1989
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1991
    Assignee: DAX Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: James C. Nelson, III
  • Patent number: 5010582
    Abstract: A pickup driving device for a disk player is provided, wherein the gain of a negative feedback circuit for driving a slider motor is made variable and the gain is changed correspondingly to the operation mode of a disk player, which made it possible to increase the moving speed of a slider motor in a search mode without sacrificing the stability against external disturbances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 1990
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1991
    Assignee: Pioneer Electronic Corporation
    Inventor: Katsumi Kawamura
  • Patent number: 5003628
    Abstract: A manually operated switch lever moves arm 105 along resistor 113 to generate a "raw" motor speed demand signal which is amplified and inverted by amplifiers 115 and 119 to form a "base line" demand signal.The "raw" demand signal and a motor load signal at the output of amplifier 154 are compared in amplifier 125 to generate an "error" signal. The "error" signal and the "base line" demand signal are summed in amplifier 129 to form a variable reference voltage which is applied to the non-inverting input of comparator 132. The second input to comparator 132 is a triangular shaped wave which is centered about V/2. When the amplitude of the oscillator output wave exceeds the reference voltage, the output of the comparator 132 is low and switch 160 is off. Thus, variations in the D.C. reference voltage at the output of amplifier 129 control the ON-off duty cycle of MOSFET switch 160 to adjust the power applied to motor 106.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 1989
    Date of Patent: March 26, 1991
    Assignee: Lucerne Products, Inc.
    Inventors: John Houser, Gary Loughner
  • Patent number: 4949393
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a motor rotation speed controlling apparatus including a comparator, a detecting circuit for detecting a feedback signal of a motor, a motor driving transistor, and a circuit for changing the level of a constant voltage fed to the comparator. The comparator compares a saw-tooth voltage with a constant voltage and outputs a signal which has a duty cycle corresponding to the result of the comparison. The motor driving transistor drives the motor in response to the output signal from the comparator. To change the duty cycle of the output signal from the comparator, a circuit is used that changes the level of the constant voltage in response to a feedback signal detected by the detecting circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1990
    Assignee: Omron Tateisi Electronics Co.
    Inventors: Koji Ohmori, Yutaka Nozaki, Hirofumi Endo, Hidetoshi Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 4901366
    Abstract: In a circuit arrangement for the timed control of semiconductor switches (1-4) to each of which a freerunning diode (D1-D4) is connected in parallel and which are arranged in branches of a bridge, an ohmic-inductive load (5) of low loss power which lies in the diagonals of the bridge is to be acted on by a controlled average current value. For this purpose two semiconductor switches (for instance 1, 4) lying diagonally opposite each other in the bridge are closed in a current-application phase while in the following freerunning phase a freerunning current flows through the load. For the reduction of the loss power, at the start of the freerunning phase only one (1) of the two diagonally opposite semiconductors (1,4) is opened and a semiconductor switch (3) which lies in the bridge alongside the conductive semiconductor switch (4) is then closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 13, 1990
    Assignee: VDO Adolf Schindling AG
    Inventor: Michael Rottger
  • Patent number: 4862048
    Abstract: In a speed control system for a carriage movable along a predetermined path, light beams originating at the ends of the path are deflected by light conductors aboard the carriage so that they are interrupted, as the carriage moves, by a slotted plate extending along the path. The light beams are then deflected by light conductors so that they are directed along the carriage path to light receivers situated at the ends of the path. Electrical pulses from the light receivers are ORed together and converted by a transducer to a signal representative of the actual carriage speed, and by a counter to a signal representative of the carriage position. The carriage position signal is converted, in accordance with a predetermined functional relationship, to a speed set signal which is compared with the actual carriage speed. A signal, representative of the difference between the actual speed and the set speed is used to control the driving motor for the carriage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 29, 1989
    Assignee: Tsubakimoto Chain Co.
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Shimodaira, Teruo Nozawa
  • Patent number: 4859918
    Abstract: A method and means for producing a control voltage for controlling a direct current motor makes use of a tachometer voltage providing two ninety degree phase shifted tachometer signals. From these are derived four coding signals comprising the tachometer signals and their inverse signals. The four signals are combined to produce a triangular signal, which is differentiated. The differentiated signal and its inverse are applied through a switching circuit to produce a control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 22, 1989
    Assignee: AEG Olympia AG
    Inventor: Ernst Kloppenburg
  • Patent number: 4851743
    Abstract: A controller for a battery-driven DC motor controls the average motor current by switching a series-connected FET on and off with a pulse-width-modulated gate signal. Motor speed is changed by changing the duty cycle of the signal, which is generated by an oscillator. An undervoltage protection circuit senses the battery voltage and compares it with a reference system that has hysteresis. An overload protection circuit senses the motor current, integrates the sensed signal, and compares the result with a Zener reference diode that is connected in an amplifier circuit for positive feedback. The oscillator's pulse-width-modulated output, the undervoltage protection circuit's output, and the overload protection circuit's output are input to a "NOR" logic gate, whose output drives the gate of the FET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: July 25, 1989
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Richard F. Schmerda, James E. Hansen
  • Patent number: 4851744
    Abstract: A circuit for controlling the speed of a DC motor provides delay and sampling means in the feedback loop to delay the triggering of the SCRs driving the DC motor and measured the motor armature voltage during the period of the delay, thereby eliminating errors in the armature motor voltage caused by the SCR motor excitation.Alternatively, the current to the motor is measured to generate a pulse output for initiating an interval during which the measured armature voltage is sampled and transmitted to a summator for generating an error signal controlling application of power to the DC motor whereupon the aforesaid interval is terminated upon receiving a pulse indicative of power application to the DC motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1987
    Date of Patent: July 25, 1989
    Assignee: Windings, Inc.
    Inventors: Frank W. Kotzur, Thomas H. Rosenkranz
  • Patent number: 4845412
    Abstract: In a motor speed controll apparatus for a DC motor, there are provided a frequency signal generating circuit for outputting a signal at a time period corresponding to a rotation speed of a motor, a sawtooth wave output circuit for outputting a sawtooth wave, the voltage of which increases in a constant time-constant at said time period, a holding circuit for holding a substantially peak voltage of said sawtooth wave as a signal voltage corresponding to the rotation speed of the motor, a differential amplifier circuit for comparing said signal voltage with a speed setting voltage and for outputting a speed control signal in accordance with a difference in this comparison, said speed control signal being supplied to a motor drive apparatus, an amplifier circuit interposed between the output of said holding circuit and input of said differential amplifier circuit, and an operation control circuit for controlling said amplifier circuit to an operative mode and a non-operative mode selectively, the motor being dri
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1987
    Date of Patent: July 4, 1989
    Assignee: Alps Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akira Ichihara
  • Patent number: 4842190
    Abstract: A control circuit for a forced-air heating system comprises a silicon diode that is positionable in thermally-conductive relationship with the interior space of a furnace plenum. A current source supplies current to the silicon diode, and the potential drop across the silicon diode is sensed. The operating speed of the blower is controlled in response to the voltage drop across the silicon diode in a manner such that when the temperature in the plenum is below a first level, the blower is not driven; when the temperature reaches the first level, the blower is driven at a first speed; and when the temperature reaches a second level, which is higher than the first level, the blower is driven at a second speed, which is higher than the first speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 27, 1989
    Assignee: Ortech Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Kenneth L. Orchard
  • Patent number: 4843288
    Abstract: A motor control system and related method are provided for phase and frequency locked operation of multiple spindle motors in a computer disk drive environment or the like, for coupling two or more disk drive units together to provide expanded data storage capability. The control system comprises a hybrid digital and analog network for producing a pulse width modulated control signal to control a disk drive spindle motor in a manner achieving frequency and phase locked relation with a reference signal. Multiple spindle motors are similarly driven in relation with the same reference signal, whereby the spindle motors are frequency and phase locked with respect to each other to permit, for example, parallel data transfer among the multiple disk drive units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 27, 1989
    Assignee: Rigidyne Corporation
    Inventors: Le Roy A. Volz, Daniel R. Vigil
  • Patent number: 4839570
    Abstract: A current limiting control circuit for a d.c. motor, wherein compensation is provided for the inherent voltage drop across the armature of the d.c. motor with a first dedicated amplifier, while a second dedicated amplifier provides current limit control. In providing a separate and dedicated amplifier for the current limiting function, the limitations inherent in the current/resistance compensation circuit, such as lag in response time, are avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1989
    Assignee: K. B. Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Abraham Saganovsky
  • Patent number: 4837486
    Abstract: The speed of a DC motor is stabilized to correspond to a reference speed by a motor driving control that is instantaneously responsive to the interval between reference pulses corresponding to the reference speed and actual observed pulses corresponding to the actual motor speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1989
    Assignee: Agfa-Gevaert N.V.
    Inventors: Maurits Geens, Jean A. Van Daele
  • Patent number: 4833375
    Abstract: A digital motor control system includes a flip-flop latch for receiving motor circuit drive data from a microprocessor, a counter for counting to a predetermined value representing the total duration of a motor drive pulse, a comparator for comparing the incrementing counter value with the motor circuit drive data stored in the latch to provide a pulse width modulated signal, delay circuitry for preventing overlapping of motor brake and motor drive signals, a drive gate controlled in part by said pulse width modulated signal for applying a drive signal for motor control, and a brake gate for applying a brake signal for motor control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: May 23, 1989
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventor: James R. Del Signore, II
  • Patent number: 4829218
    Abstract: A control circuit for adjusting current to a direct current motor that has a free wheeling diode connected in parallel with the armature winding includes a controllable switching element connected in series with the armature winding, a comparator that has a control voltage corresponding to a desired rotational speed of the motor applied to one input of the comparator and an integrating circuit connected to the other input of the comparator. An electronic switch is connected across the integrating circuit, and the output of the comparator controls the controllable switching element and the electronic switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1987
    Date of Patent: May 9, 1989
    Assignee: Braun Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Alfred Bauer
  • Patent number: 4827202
    Abstract: In a control loop for automatically adjusting variable-gain amplification, a sinusoidal signal with a frequency f.sub.o that is critical for the control loop is superimposed over a positioning parameter W. Two synchronous rectifiers S1 and S2 filter out the oscillation components of a control parameter x and of a control difference x.sub.d that contain frequency f.sub.o, and the components are compared in a comparator VL. A control and regulating circuit C continues to vary the variable-gain amplification at controls RG until the amplitudes of the oscillation components being compared in the comparator are equal. The variable-gain amplification is correct at that point. The variable-gain amplification can even be adjusted in a compact-disk player while the player is in operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 1987
    Date of Patent: May 2, 1989
    Assignee: Deutsche Thomson-Brandt GmbH
    Inventors: Arthur Kurz, Engelbert Laufer, Wilfried Rohde