POWER CONVERTER FOR ELECTRIC ROTATING MACHINE
First Claim
1. A power converter for an electric rotating machine comprising:
- a switching circuit disposed between a power supply and a phase winding of an electric rotating machine, said switching circuit being equipped with switches grouped into an upper arm and a lower arm; and
a controller which controls on- and off-operations of the upper and lower arms, said controller controlling the off-operation of one of the upper and lower arms to set a current flywheel duration, in which flywheel current that is current freewheeling from the electric rotating machine is permitted to flow from the electric rotating machine and which is a time length between when phase voltage induced at the phase winding exceeds a first threshold value and when the phase voltage drops below a second threshold value, to a selected time length following the off-operation of the one of the upper and lower arms.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A power converter for an electric rotating machine is provided which is designed to ensure a desired length of a current flywheel duration in which current is permitted to freewheel from the electric rotating machine even if the power converter is in a transient state or subjected to an unexpected change. The power converter is equipped with a controller and a switching circuit which is disposed between a power supply and windings of the electric rotating machine. The switching circuit has switches grouped into an upper and a lower arm. The controller works to control an off-operation of one of the switches of one of the upper and lower arm so as to produce a desired length of the current flywheel duration following turning off of the one of the switches, thereby minimizing a loss of rectification and avoiding the backflow of current from the power supply to the windings.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A power converter for an electric rotating machine comprising:
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a switching circuit disposed between a power supply and a phase winding of an electric rotating machine, said switching circuit being equipped with switches grouped into an upper arm and a lower arm; and a controller which controls on- and off-operations of the upper and lower arms, said controller controlling the off-operation of one of the upper and lower arms to set a current flywheel duration, in which flywheel current that is current freewheeling from the electric rotating machine is permitted to flow from the electric rotating machine and which is a time length between when phase voltage induced at the phase winding exceeds a first threshold value and when the phase voltage drops below a second threshold value, to a selected time length following the off-operation of the one of the upper and lower arms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A power converter for a multi-phase electric rotating machine comprising:
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a switching circuit disposed between a power supply and phase windings of an electric rotating machine, said switching circuit being equipped with switches grouped into an upper arm and a lower arm for each of the phase windings; and a controller which controls on- and off-operations of each of the switches of the upper and lower arms, said controller controlling the off-operation of one of the switches of one of the upper and lower arms to set a current flywheel duration, in which flywheel current that is current freewheeling from the electric rotating machine is permitted to flow from the electric rotating machine and which is a time length between when a phase voltage induced at a target one of the phase windings which is associated with the one of the switches targeted for the off-operation exceeds a first threshold value and when the phase voltage drops below a second threshold value, to a selected time length following the off-operation of the one of the switches, when the phase voltage reaches a third threshold value and then reaches a fourth threshold value, said controller turning on the one of the switches. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A power converter for a multi-phase electric rotating machine comprising:
a plurality of rectifier modules which work to convert ac current, as produced in the multi-phase electric rotating machine, into dc current, each of the rectifier modules being provided for one of phase windings of the electric rotating machine and disposed between a power supply and the one of the phase windings, each of the rectifier modules being equipped with switches functioning as an upper arm and a lower arm and a controller which controls on- and off-operations of each of the upper and lower arms, the controller controlling the off-operation of one of the upper and lower arms to set a current flywheel duration, in which flywheel current that is current freewheeling from a corresponding one of the phase windings is permitted to flow and which is a time length between when a phase voltage induced at a target one of the phase windings which is associated with the one of the upper and lower arms targeted for the off-operation exceeds a first threshold value and when the phase voltage drops below a second threshold value, to a selected time length following the off-operation of the one of the upper and lower arms.
Specification