Method and apparatus for controlling ultrasonic transducer
First Claim
1. A driver circuit for an ultrasonic transducer, comprising:
- a current sense circuit coupled to detect a transducer load current;
a controller coupled to the current sense circuit and configured to perform a frequency sweep of a driver output to locate a resonance frequency corresponding to peak current;
a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) coupled to the controller and configured to generate an output signal oscillating at the resonance frequency; and
a pulse width modulator coupled to the VCO and configured to modulate an output current of the driver circuit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for implementing ultrasonic systems that maximize efficiency by dynamically detecting and maintaining peak operational resonance frequency. In one embodiment, the invention dynamically sweeps the output frequency range to locate the peak load current. The resonance frequency corresponding to the peak load current is used as a reference frequency in a control loop. The control loop includes a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that is controlled by a loop controller and operates to lock onto the dynamically sensed reference frequency. In response to the VCO output, a pulse-width modulator (PWM) circuit drives a pair of switches that adjust transducer current to maintain the circuit locked on the resonance frequency at a substantially constant current.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A driver circuit for an ultrasonic transducer, comprising:
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a current sense circuit coupled to detect a transducer load current;
a controller coupled to the current sense circuit and configured to perform a frequency sweep of a driver output to locate a resonance frequency corresponding to peak current;
a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) coupled to the controller and configured to generate an output signal oscillating at the resonance frequency; and
a pulse width modulator coupled to the VCO and configured to modulate an output current of the driver circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for driving an ultrasonic transducer, comprising:
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(a) sweeping a transducer frequency profile to locate a peak load current;
(b) defining a reference frequency as the frequency corresponding to the peak current;
(c) adjusting an oscillation frequency of an oscillator to the reference frequency;
(d) controlling output transistor switches by pulse width modulated signals generated in response to the oscillator output to adjust transducer current; and
(e) periodically repeating steps (a) through (d) to dynamically adjust the reference frequency that controls the transducer current. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 27)
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18. An ultrasonic system comprising:
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an ultrasonic transducer; and
a driver circuit coupled to the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the driver circuit comprises a microprocessor controlled phase-locked loop that is configured to periodically sweep a frequency profile of the transducer to locate and lock onto a resonance frequency, and to control a current of the transducer by pulse width modulated current switches. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification