Combined motor drive and battery recharge system
First Claim
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1. An integrated motor drive and power source recharging system comprising:
- a polyphase electric motor having a plurality of motor windings;
a rechargeable DC power source having a positive terminal and a negative terminal;
a plurality of bi-directional switching means for supplying electrical current to respective ones of the plurality of motor windings in a drive mode, each of the switching means having positive and negative terminals coupled in parallel to the positive and negative terminals of the DC power source, respectively, each of the switching means further having a center terminal coupled to a respective one of the motor windings in the drive mode;
an AC port having first and second terminals for connection to a source of AC electrical power;
first contactor means for selectively decoupling the center terminal of a first one of the plurality of switching means from its respective first motor winding in any mode other than the drive mode;
second contactor means for selectively coupling the first terminal of the AC port to the center terminal of the first switching means and the second terminal of the AC port to the first motor winding in a recharge mode so as to incorporate the first motor winding as an inductive circuit element in a recharging circuit;
switch control means for operating the plurality of switching means as a polyphase inverter in the drive mode and for operating at least the first switching means as a switching regulator in the recharge mode.
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Abstract
A combined battery recharge and motor drive system employs an essentially conventional polyphase pulse width modulated (PWM) inverter and a polyphase motor which may be reconnected to operate in a battery recharge mode. Single phase or three-phase AC power from an external source is applied across the reconfigured circuit, and the inverter switches are then controlled to operate as a boost switching regulator. Electrostatic (Faraday) shielding techniques and construction allow extremely small ground currents for improved safety an GFI outlet compatibility.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An integrated motor drive and power source recharging system comprising:
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a polyphase electric motor having a plurality of motor windings; a rechargeable DC power source having a positive terminal and a negative terminal; a plurality of bi-directional switching means for supplying electrical current to respective ones of the plurality of motor windings in a drive mode, each of the switching means having positive and negative terminals coupled in parallel to the positive and negative terminals of the DC power source, respectively, each of the switching means further having a center terminal coupled to a respective one of the motor windings in the drive mode; an AC port having first and second terminals for connection to a source of AC electrical power; first contactor means for selectively decoupling the center terminal of a first one of the plurality of switching means from its respective first motor winding in any mode other than the drive mode; second contactor means for selectively coupling the first terminal of the AC port to the center terminal of the first switching means and the second terminal of the AC port to the first motor winding in a recharge mode so as to incorporate the first motor winding as an inductive circuit element in a recharging circuit; switch control means for operating the plurality of switching means as a polyphase inverter in the drive mode and for operating at least the first switching means as a switching regulator in the recharge mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An integrated motor drive and power source recharging system comprising:
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a polyphase electric motor having a plurality of motor windings; a rechargeable battery having a positive terminal and a negative terminal; a plurality of paired solid state switching elements for supplying electrical current to respective ones of the plurality of motor windings in a drive mode, each of the paired switching elements having positive and negative terminals coupled in parallel to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, respectively, each of the paired switching elements further having a center terminal coupled to a respective one of the motor windings in the drive mode; an AC port having first and second terminals for connection to a source of AC electrical power; a first relay for selectively decoupling the center terminal of a first one of the plurality of paired switching elements from its respective first motor winding in any mode other than the drive mode; a second relay for selectively coupling the first terminal of the AC port to the center terminal of the first pair of switching elements and the second terminal of the AC port to the first motor winding in a recharge mode so as to incorporate the first motor winding as an inductive circuit element in a recharging circuit; a switch control electronics unit for operating the plurality of paired switching elements as a polyphase inverter in the drive mode and for operating at least the first pair of switching elements as a switching regulator in the recharge mode. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In an electric motor traction system having a polyphase induction motor coupled to a polyphase bridge inverter for generating polyphase motor current signals from a DC power source, a method for recharging the DC power source comprising the steps of:
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decoupling a first phase of the polyphase bridge inverter from a corresponding first motor winding; coupling a first terminal of an AC power source to the first phase of the polyphase bridge inverter; coupling a second terminal of the AC power source to the first motor winding so as to incorporate the first motor winding as an inductive circuit element in a recharging circuit; controlling the polyphase bridge inverter to operate as a switching regulator to apply a DC charging voltage to the DC power source.
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16. An integrated motor drive and power source recharging system comprising:
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a polyphase electric motor having at least three motor windings, each having first and second terminals; a rechargeable DC power source having a positive terminal and a negative terminal; a plurality of bi-directional switching means equal in number to the number of motor windings for supplying electrical current to respective ones of the motor windings in a drive mode, each of the switching means having positive and negative terminals coupled in parallel to the positive and negative terminals of the DC power source, respectively, each of the switching means further having a center terminal coupled to the first terminal of a respective one of the motor windings; an AC port having first, second and third terminals for connection to a source of AC electrical power; first contactor means for selectively coupling the second terminal of a first and second motor winding to the second terminal of each of the remaining motor windings in the drive mode; second contactor means for selectively coupling, in a recharge mode, the first terminal of the AC port to the second terminal of the first motor winding, the second terminal of the AC port to the second terminal of the second motor winding, and the third terminal of the AC port to the second terminal of at least one of the remaining motor windings so as to incorporate the first and second motor windings and said at least one of the remaining motor windings as inductive circuit elements in a recharging circuit; switch control means for operating the plurality of switching means as a polyphase inverter in the drive mode and for operating at least the first and second switching means as a switching regulator in the recharge mode.
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Specification