Stator wound resolver with staggered rotor

• US 5,763,976 A
• Filed: 04/21/1997
• Issued: 06/09/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Parker Intangibles LLC (Parker-Hannifin Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Parker-Hannifin Corporation
• Inventors: Huard, Steven R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dougherty, Thomas M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TAMAI, KARL I
• Application Number:
  US08/843,789
• Time in Patent Office: 414 Days
• Field of Search: 310/168-170, 310/114, 310/254, 310/261, 310/262, 310/264, 310/265, 310/179, 310/268, 310/111, 29/598, 318/701, 318/661, 318/605, 336/156, 336/155
• US Class Current: 310/168
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 24/00 Machines adapted for the instantaneous transmission or reception of the angular displacement of rotating parts, e.g. synchro, selsyn
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49012 Rotor

Abstract

A stator wound resolver comprising: a stator and a rotor aligned on an axis; the stator having a plurality of teeth with input and output windings disposed on some or all of the teeth, the input and output windings exhibiting a mutual inductance characteristic that varies as a function of position of the rotor about the axis; the input winding being connectable to a drive signal and the output windings being disposed on the teeth such that output signals induced in the output windings correspond to position of the rotor; the rotor being attachable to a position changing means, the rotor comprising at least two axially spaced rotor pieces that are offset from each other by a stagger angle such that a portion of harmonic distortion produced by one of the rotor pieces is reduced by complementary harmonic distortion produced by another of the rotor pieces.

Claims

1. A stator wound resolver comprising:

a stator and a rotor aligned on an axis;

said stator having a plurality of teeth with input and output windings disposed on a number of said teeth, said input and output windings exhibiting a mutual inductance characteristic that varies as a function of position of the rotor about said axis;

said input winding being connectable to a drive signal and said output windings being disposed on said teeth such that output signals induced in said output windings correspond to position of the rotor;

said rotor being attachable to a position changing means, said rotor comprising at least two axially spaced rotor pieces that are offset from each other by a stagger angle;

said stagger angle being based on at least two magnitude measurements of mutual inductance harmonic distortion, each said measurement being taken using a different stagger angle, wherein said rotor pieces are offset at an optimum stagger angle at which two components of mutual inductance harmonic distortion substantially cancel each other to reduce distortion in the resolver output signals.

2. The resolver of claim 1 wherein said rotor pieces are magnetically isolated from each other.

3. The resolver of claim 2 wherein said rotor pieces are axially separated by a non-magnetic spacer and have substantially identical contours, and further wherein the stator comprises two halves that are magnetically isolated from each other.

4. The resolver of claim 3 wherein said rotor pieces are magnetically isolated from said position changing means.

5. The resolver of claim 1 wherein said stagger angle is selected so as to reduce fourth electrical harmonics in said output signals caused by third and fifth electrical harmonic components of mutual inductance between the input and output windings.

6. The resolver of claim 5 wherein said rotor comprises more than two pieces so that additional electrical harmonics are reduced in the output signals.

7. The resolver of claim 6 wherein said rotor pieces are formed with a contour having a contour radius defined by a sinusoidal function so that mutual inductance between said input and output windings varies with position of the rotor in a sinusoidal manner.

8. The resolver of claim 1 wherein said stator comprises eight pole teeth, said input winding having electrically common coil sections wound on each pole;

said stator further comprising two output windings, a first output winding having four coil sections with each coil section being wound on a respective pole,.and a second output winding having four coil sections with each coil section being wound on a respective pole such that the output signal from said first output winding is ninety degrees out of phase with respect to the output signal from said second output winding.

9. The resolver of claim 8 wherein said first and second output windings are respectively wound in quadrature on different poles of the resolver.

10. The resolver of claim 9 wherein said rotor pieces each have two lobes so that one mechanical cycle of the rotor produces two electrical cycles in the output windings.

11. The resolver of claim 10 wherein each output winding produces an output signal that varies 360 electrical degrees in a sinusoidal manner for each 180 degrees of rotor rotation.

12. The resolver of claim 11 wherein mutual inductance between said input winding and each of said output windings exhibits odd harmonic distortions, wherein said mutual inductance odd harmonics cause even electrical harmonic distortions in said output signals.

13. The resolver of claim 12 wherein fourth harmonic electrical distortion corresponding to one of said rotor pieces reduces fourth harmonic electrical distortion corresponding to another of said rotor pieces.

14. A method for reducing harmonic distortion in the output signals of a stator wound resolver comprising the steps of:

a. using a first rotor that has a radius that varies in a sinusoidal manner to vary mutual inductance between input and output windings on the stator as a function of rotor position;

b. producing output signals from the resolver output windings as a function of said mutual inductance; and

c. using a second rotor that is axially spaced from said first rotor and offset by an optimum stagger angle to produce complementary harmonic signals that reduce harmonic distortion in the resolver output signals;

said optimum stagger angle being selected based on at least two magnitude measurements of mutual inductance harmonic distortion, each said measurement being taken using a different stagger angle.

15. In a stator wound resolver of the type having a rotor concentrically disposed within a stator, said stator having a plurality of teeth with input and output windings disposed on a number of said teeth, said input and output windings exhibiting a mutual inductance characteristic that varies as a function of position of the rotor about said axis, the improvement comprising said rotor having a number of axially spaced pieces that are offset from each other by a stagger angle with a portion of harmonic distortion produced by one of said rotor pieces being reduced by harmonic distortion produced by another of said rotor pieces;

said rotor pieces being offset at an optimum stagger angle that is based on at least two magnitude measurements of mutual inductance harmonic distortion, each said measurement being taken using a different stagger angle.

16. The resolver of claim 15 wherein the stator comprises two axially spaced sections magnetically isolated from each other.