Motor drive system having a plurality of series connected H-bridges
First Claim
1. A circuit for use in a motor drive system for providing drive current to an electric motor having multiple phase windings, each phase winding including a plurality of discrete windings, the motor drive system further including a sensing means for generating a motor signal indicative of a motor operating parameter, a winding control means for generating a switch control signal in response to the motor signal, and a bridge control means for selectively generating excitation signals in response to an external command signal and the motor signals, said circuit comprising:
- a plurality of H-bridge circuits, each H-bridge circuit being coupled to each discrete motor winding of each phase winding, each H-bridge circuit comprising a first half bridge and a second half bridge, said first half bridge including a first upper bridge switching element coupling a first terminal of the discrete winding to a positive potential of a direct current (DC) power source and a first lower bridge switching element coupling said first terminal of the discrete winding to a negative potential of the power source, and said second half bridge including a second upper bridge switching element coupling a second terminal of the discrete winding to said positive potential of said power source and a second lower bridge switching element coupling said second terminal of the discrete winding to said negative potential of said power source;
said bridge switching elements of said half bridges for each phase winding being selectively activated for providing drive current through each discrete windings of each respective phase windings in response to the excitation signals; and
a switching means for selectively connecting each discrete winding of each respective motor phase winding in series in response to the switch control signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A motor drive system for selectively supplying a drive current to a multiple phase motor having each phase winding divided into a plurality of discrete windings includes a plurality of H-bridge drives to control the polarity and magnitude of the drive current. Each H-bridge drive include a pair of half bridge drives interconnected to the terminals of each of the discrete windings. Each of the half bridges have an upper bridge switching element and a lower bridge switching element for coupling the positive and negative potential, respectively, of a DC power source to each discrete winding. The discrete windings of each phase winding are coupled in series by a plurality relays which are selectively actuated by a controller to interconnect the discrete windings in predetermined groups dependent upon the shaft speed of the motor. The controller also controls the excitation of the bridge switching elements whereby the bridge switching elements disposed at the end terminals of each group of discrete windings are actuated and the other bridge switching elements are turned off to provide the desired current to the phase windings of the motor.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A circuit for use in a motor drive system for providing drive current to an electric motor having multiple phase windings, each phase winding including a plurality of discrete windings, the motor drive system further including a sensing means for generating a motor signal indicative of a motor operating parameter, a winding control means for generating a switch control signal in response to the motor signal, and a bridge control means for selectively generating excitation signals in response to an external command signal and the motor signals, said circuit comprising:
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a plurality of H-bridge circuits, each H-bridge circuit being coupled to each discrete motor winding of each phase winding, each H-bridge circuit comprising a first half bridge and a second half bridge, said first half bridge including a first upper bridge switching element coupling a first terminal of the discrete winding to a positive potential of a direct current (DC) power source and a first lower bridge switching element coupling said first terminal of the discrete winding to a negative potential of the power source, and said second half bridge including a second upper bridge switching element coupling a second terminal of the discrete winding to said positive potential of said power source and a second lower bridge switching element coupling said second terminal of the discrete winding to said negative potential of said power source; said bridge switching elements of said half bridges for each phase winding being selectively activated for providing drive current through each discrete windings of each respective phase windings in response to the excitation signals; and a switching means for selectively connecting each discrete winding of each respective motor phase winding in series in response to the switch control signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A motor drive system for providing drive current to an electric motor having multiple phase windings, each phase winding including a plurality of discrete windings;
- the motor drive system comprising;
a plurality of H-bridge circuits, each H-bridge circuit being coupled to each discrete motor winding of each phase winding, each H-bridge circuit comprising a first half bridge and a second half bridge, said first half bridge including a first upper bridge switching element coupling a first terminal of the discrete winding to a positive potential of a direct current (DC) power source and a first lower bridge switching element coupling said first terminal of the discrete winding to a negative potential of the power source, and said second half bridge including a second upper bridge switching element coupling a second terminal of the discrete winding to said positive potential of said power source and a second lower bridge switching element coupling said second terminal of the discrete winding to said negative potential of said power source; said bridge switching elements of said half bridges for each phase winding being selectively activated for providing drive current through each discrete winding of each respective phase windings in response to excitation signals; a winding switching means for selectively connecting each discrete winding of each respective motor phase winding in series in response to a switch control signal; a sensing means for generating a motor signal indicative of a motor operating parameter; a winding control means for generating the switch control signal in response to the motor signal; and a bridge control means for selectively generating excitation signals in response to an external command signal and the motor signal. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- the motor drive system comprising;
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20. A motor system comprising:
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an electric motor having multiple phase windings, each phase winding including a plurality of discrete windings; a plurality of H-bridge circuits, each H-bridge circuit being coupled to each discrete motor winding of each phase winding, each H-bridge circuit comprising a first half bridge and a second half bridge, said first half bridge including a first upper bridge switching element coupling a first terminal of the discrete winding to a positive potential of a direct current (DC) power source and a first lower bridge switching element coupling said first terminal of the discrete winding to a negative potential of the power source, and said second half bridge including a second upper bridge switching element coupling a second terminal of the discrete winding to said positive potential of said power source and a second lower bridge switching element coupling said second terminal of the discrete winding to said negative potential of said power source; said bridge switching elements of said half bridges for each phase winding being selectively activated for providing drive current through each discrete winding of each respective phase windings in response to excitation signals; a winding switching means for selectively connecting each discrete winding of each respective motor phase winding in series in response to a switch control signal; a sensing means for generating a motor signal indicative of a motor operating parameter; a winding control means for generating the switch control signal in response to the motor signal; and a bridge control means for selectively generating excitation signals in response to an external command signal and the motor signal.
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Specification