Method of controlling a stepping motor

• US 5,942,872 A
• Filed: 04/02/1998
• Issued: 08/24/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Moto-Meter GmbH
• Original Assignee: Moto-Meter GmbH
• Inventors: Steger, Roland, Kizler, Alfred, Herzog, Bernhard
• Primary Examiner(s): Ip, Paul
• Application Number:
  US08/981,816
• Time in Patent Office: 509 Days
• Field of Search: 318/696, 318/685, 318/138, 318/139, 324/429, 324/433, 340/636, 354/289.1, 354/289.12, 354/289.11, 354/465, 354/469, 354/470, 352/170, 352/172
• US Class Current: 318/696
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 8/22 Control of step size; Intermediate stepping, e.g. microstepping

Abstract

A method and a device for controlling a stepping motor in which the width of step and the direction of rotation of the stepping motor are determined in a controller and sent to a control arrangement for controlling the stepping motor. Upon each step clock signal from the controller, a step is carried out. The step width output by the controller is divided by the control circuit into a plurality of smaller partial steps the step width of which is smaller than the step width output by the controller, and these partial steps are sent in several time-staggered pulses by the control circuit to the stepping motor.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a stepping motor for driving a pointer for an indicating instrument, the method comprising the steps of:

determining, in a controller, a step width and a direction of rotation of the stepping motor;

transmitting the step width and the direction of rotation from the controller to a control circuit, the control circuit controlling the stepping motor and rotating the stepping motor one step upon receiving each of a plurality of step clock signals from the controller;

dividing, in the control circuit, the step width received from the controller into a plurality of partial steps, wherein a further step width of the partial steps is less than the step width received from the controller;

generating a composite binary number, the composite binary number representing an actual position of each step, wherein the composite binary number includes a lower value bit supplied by a changeover switch and at least one higher value bit supplied by a counter;

transmitting the composite binary number to the controller and to an allocating device, the allocating device transmitting a first signal for controlling the stepping motor;

converting the composite binary number to a plurality of time-staggered pulses corresponding to the plurality of partial steps; and

transmitting the time-staggered pulses from the control circuit to the stepping motor.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a first of the plurality of partial steps is carried out with a step timing.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a second and third of the plurality of partial steps are carried out, in each case, with an approximately constant delay time after the first partial step.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the delay time decreases with an increasing step clock frequency.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein a partial stop clock frequency is derived from the step clock frequency via a PLL circuit unit.