Power supply for vibrating compressors

• US 5,658,132 A
• Filed: 10/06/1994
• Issued: 08/19/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sawafuji Electric Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Sawafuji Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Akazawa, Naoki, Ogiwara, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Thorpe, Timothy S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): THAI, XUAN MARIAN
• Application Number:
  US08/319,421
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• Field of Search: 417/45, 417/24, 417/44.11, 62/126, 62/132, 363/17, 363/98, 318/116, 318/801, 318/802, 318/803, 318/807
• US Class Current: 417/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/3222 characterised by the compressor driving arrangements, e.g. clutches, transmissions or multiple drives B60H1/3208, B60H1/3226 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2400/073 Linear compressors
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2600/021 Inverters therefor
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 49/025 Motor control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/538 in a push-pull configuration H02M7/5375 takes precedence ; with oscillating arrangements H02M7/53832, H02M7/53846
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 25/032 Reciprocating, oscillating or vibrating motors

Abstract

A power supply for vibrating compressors having an inverter for converting direct current (d-c) into alternating current (a-c). The power supply includes a d-c power source section for applying d-c voltage to the inverter, a current detecting apparatures for detecting a current flowing in the vibrating compressor, a control section having a frequency following circuit for generating a frequency following the resonance frequency of the vibrating compressor on the basis of a current detected by the current detecting apparatures, and an inverter control circuit for controlling the inverter with the frequency generated by the frequency following circuit. The vibrating compressor is driven by an a-c voltage of the frequency agreeing with the resonance frequency of the vibrating compressor.

Claims

1. A power supply for vibrating compressors having an inverter for converting d-c into a-c comprising:

a d-c power source section for applying d-c voltage to said inverter;

current detecting means for detecting a current flowing in a vibrating compressor; and

a control section having a frequency following circuit for generating a frequency following a resonance frequency of said vibrating compressor based on a comparison of the detected current detected by said current detecting means in preceding and succeeding periods and an inverter control circuit for controlling said inverter at said frequency generated by said frequency following circuit to cause the vibrating compressor to be driven by an a-c voltage of a frequency agreeing with the resonance frequency of said vibrating compressor.

2. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said d-c power source section comprises

a polarity reversing circuit for reversing the polarity of d-c voltage.

3. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 2 wherein said polarity reversing circuit comprises

a pulse generating circuit for generating pulses,

a switching circuit for performing switching operation based on pulses generated by said pulse generating circuit,

a choke coil for accumulating electromagnetic energy by the switching operation of said switching circuit, and

a series circuit of a diode and a capacitor connected in parallel with said choke coil;

a voltage of a reversed polarity being obtained at a connecting point of said diode and said capacitor.

4. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 3 wherein said switching circuit comprises

an N-channel MOS-FET, and

a charge pump circuit for charging a capacitor via a diode and discharging charged voltage in said capacitor via a resistor;

said charge pump circuit being connected between the gate and source of said N-channel MOS-FET.

5. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said d-c power source section comprises

an a-c/d-c automatic converter.

6. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1, wherein an a-c/d-c automatic converter comprises:

a cigarette-lighter plug connected to a cigarette-lighter receptacle of an automobile;

an output terminal for outputting a voltage of an automobile battery connected to said cigarette-lighter plug via normally-closed relay contact;

an a-c receptacle connected to a commercial power source;

a switching power source for converting a commercial power connected to said a-c receptacle into a d-c voltage of the same potential as that of said battery voltage, and outputting said d-c voltage to said output terminal; and

a relay drive circuit for rectifying a secondary voltage of a transformer of said switching power source when a commercial power source is connected to said a-c receptacle, and opening said normally-closed relay contact to supply the d-c voltage of said switching power source in preference to the d-c voltage of said battery.

7. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control section comprises:

a battery monitor circuit that is used, when a battery is connected to said d-c power source section, for monitoring a voltage drop in said battery, and when the voltage of said battery falls below a predetermined voltage, stopping the application of d-c voltage from said d-c power source section to said inverter and the operation of said frequency following circuit of said control section.

8. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises

two switching elements;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a variable oscillator for oscillating pulses whose frequency can be changed,

a changeover circuit that is used, based on an oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator, for changing over a current flowing in said current detecting means at every half-period of one period of said oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator,

two peak holding circuits for detecting and holding the peak value of a current flowing in said current detecting means during a changeover period of said changeover circuit, and

an arithmetic circuit for comparing both peak values held by said two peak holding circuits, and controlling so as to change an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator so that a difference between both peak values becomes a predetermined value;

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a frequency divider for halving an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, and

a switching element control circuit for alternately switching said two switching elements by a frequency divided by said frequency divider.

9. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises two switching elements;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a variable oscillator for oscillating pulses whose frequency can be changed,

a period dividing circuit that is used, based on an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, for dividing one period of an oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator into a predetermined ratio where preceding time is longer than a succeeding time,

electronic switches for acquiring current waveforms flowing in said current detecting means at every said preceding and succeeding time outputted by said period dividing circuit,

a peak detecting circuit for detecting the maximum peaks of said current waveforms acquired by said electronic switches, and

an error amplifying circuit for comparing two peaks detected by said peak detecting circuits, and changing said oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator in accordance with a difference between said two peaks; and

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a frequency divider for halving an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, and

a switching element control circuit for alternately switching said two switching elements by a frequency divided by said frequency divider.

10. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises two switching elements;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a variable oscillator for oscillating pulses whose frequency can be changed,

electronic switches that are used, based on an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, for acquiring current waveforms flowing in said current detecting means at every half-period of one period of said oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator,

two mean value circuits for averaging the current values of current waveforms acquired by said electronic switches, and

an arithmetic circuit for comparing both mean values averaged in said two mean value circuits, and controlling so as to change an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator so that a difference between both mean values becomes a predetermined value;

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a frequency divider for halving an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, and

a switching element control circuit for alternately switching said two switching elements by a frequency divided by said frequency divider.

11. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises two switching elements;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a variable oscillator for oscillating pulses whose frequency can be changed,

electronic switches that are used, based on an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, for acquiring current waveforms flowing in said current detecting means at every half-period of one period of said oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator,

two integration circuits for integrating current waveforms acquired by said electronic switches, and

an arithmetic circuit for comparing both integrated values integrated in said two integration circuits, and controlling so as to change an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator so that a difference between both integrated values becomes a predetermined value; and

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a frequency divider for halving an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, and

a switching element control circuit for alternately switching said two switching elements by a frequency divided by said frequency divider.

12. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises two switching elements;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a variable oscillator for oscillating pulses whose frequency can be changed,

a mean value circuit for averaging currents flowing in said vibrating compressor detected by said current detecting means,

electronic switches that are used, based on an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator, for acquiring current waveforms flowing in said current detecting means at every half-period of one period of said oscillation frequency generated by said variable oscillator, and

a minimum current control circuit for obtaining the minimum mean current by gradually changing an oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator at intervals of a predetermined time and comparing two mean values acquired by said electronic switches, and controlling to change said oscillation frequency of said variable oscillator so that a mean current become minimum; and

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a switching element control circuit for alternately switching said two switching elements.

13. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 8, wherein said two switching elements of said inverter comprises two N-channel MOS-FETs each driven by positive and negative power sources;

said switching element control circuit for alternately switching said two switching elements connects a charge pump circuit for charging a capacitor via a diode and discharging the voltage charged in said capacitor via a resistor between the gate and source of said N-channel MOS-FET driven by said positive power source; and

the anode of a diode of said charge pump circuit is connected to the ground.

14. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 8, wherein said control section comprises:

a high-voltage protection circuit for monitoring d-c voltage of said d-c power source section and changing the width of pulses generated by said variable oscillator when said d-c voltage rises above a predetermined voltage.

15. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 8, wherein said control section comprises:

a high-voltage protection circuit for monitoring d-c voltage of said d-c power source section and changing the width of pulses generated by said variable oscillator in accordance with said d-c voltage.

16. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises a switching element;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a pulse generating section for generating pulses for switching said switching element, and

a pulse forced reversing circuit for forcibly reversing output of said pulse generating section at a timing at which a counter electromotive force generated by said vibrating compressor during OFF time of said switching element is recovered in the vicinity of 0 V, and the output of said pulse generating section is forcibly reversed at that timing; and

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a driver for driving said switching element based on output of said pulse generating section.

17. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1 wherein said inverter comprises two switching elements;

said frequency following circuit of said control section comprises

a pulse generating section for generating pulses for switching said switching elements,

a peak holding circuit for holding peaks of current waveforms flowing in said current detecting means at every half-period of said current waveforms,

an integration circuit for integrating current waveforms for said half-periods, and

a pulse forced reversing circuit for selecting in advance each time constant for said peak holding circuit and said integration circuit so that preceding and succeeding peaks in a half-period of said current waveforms agree with each other at a point at which a holding curve of said peak holding circuit intersects an integration curve of said integration circuit, and forcibly reversing pulses outputted by said pulse generating section when said holding curve of said peak holding circuit agrees with said integration curve of said integration circuit; and

said inverter control circuit of said control section comprises

a drive circuit for driving said switching elements based on pulses generated by said pulse generating section.

18. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said control section includes a thermal control circuit that is used for controlling a temperature inside a refrigerator, and when the temperature inside said refrigerator rises above a preset temperature, stopping an application of d-c voltage from said d-c power source to said inverter and for stopping operation of said frequency following circuit of said control section.

19. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 8, wherein:

said control section includes a low ambient temperature protection circuit for monitoring an ambient temperature of a refrigerator and for changing the width of pulses generated by said variable oscillator when the ambient temperature falls below a predetermined temperature and to prevent a valve hitting phenomenon in the vibrating compressor.

20. A power supply for vibrating compressors as claimed in claim 15, wherein:

said control section includes a low ambient temperature protection circuit for monitoring an ambient temperature of a refrigerator and for changing the width of pulses generated by said variable oscillator when the ambient temperature falls below a predetermined temperature and to prevent a valve hitting phenomenon in the vibrating compressor.

21. A power supply for a vibrating compressor, the power supply comprising:

inverter means for creating a variable a-c voltage and supplying said a-c voltage to the compressor;

current detecting means for detecting a current flowing through the compressor;

control means connected to said current detecting means and for determining a resonance frequency of the compressor based on a comparison of said current detected by said detecting means in preceding and succeeding periods, said control means being connected to said inverter means and controlling said inverter means to create said a-c voltage at a frequency substantially similar to said resonance frequency.

22. A power supply in accordance with claim 21, wherein:

said control means repetitively determines said resonance frequency during operation of the compressor.

23. A power supply in accordance with claim 22, wherein:

said control means varies said frequency of said a-c voltage to follow said resonance frequency.

24. A power supply in accordance with claim 21, wherein:

said control means analyzes said current and compares peaks in said current to determine said resonance frequency.

25. A power supply in accordance with claim 24, wherein:

said peaks are sequential.

26. A power supply in accordance with claim 24, wherein:

said peaks are first and second peaks occurring during a half of a cycle of said a-c voltage.

27. A power supply in accordance with claim 26, wherein:

said half of said cycle is one of a positive and negative portion.