Circuit for speed control for a one-phase or three-phase motor

• US 5,953,490 A
• Filed: 04/01/1996
• Issued: 09/14/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Woel Elektronik Hb
• Original Assignee: Woel Elektronik Hb
• Inventors: Ohrnell, H.ang.kan, Wiklund, Gunnar
• Primary Examiner(s): Shoop, Jr., William M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOCKETT, KIMBERLY R
• Application Number:
  US08/591,631
• Time in Patent Office: 1,261 Days
• Field of Search: 388/804, 388/811, 388/819, 388/907.2, 388/918, 318/254, 318/439, 318/138, 318/799, 318/811
• US Class Current: 388/811
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 23/24 Controlling the direction, e.g. clockwise or counterclockwise

Abstract

The circuit for speed regulation of a three-phase motor incorporates a drive connected directly to a three-phase mains (R,S,T) which allows through mains voltage directly to the motor windings controlled by a pulse-width modulated signal produced by a control circuit controlled by the motor speed and fed to the drive stage via circuits for galvanic (d.c.) separation of the control circuit and the drive stage. The galvanic separation is produced with solar cell components.

Claims

1. Circuit for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor, comprising:

driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

2. Circuit according to claim 1, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, which amplifier stage obtains its supply voltage via a further optical coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned optical coupling circuit.

3. Circuit according to claim 1, wherein to enable reversal of the direction of rotation of the motor, two of the motor phase windings are connected each to be supplied from either of the same two mains phases via each of the respective two of the power modules, one for each mains phase, and the third motor phase winding is supplied from the third mains phase via a corresponding power module, the reversal being controlled by a rotation direction signal obtained via a logic circuit.

4. Circuit according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting component is a light emitting diode component, the supply voltage of which being modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and the light sensitive component is a light sensitive diode component of solar cell type.

5. Circuit according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting and light sensitive components are coupled for light transmission via a fiber optical cable.

6. Circuit according to claim 1, wherein the actual speed of the motor is detected by means of a bar code reader directed towards a bar strip applied around the motor shaft.

7. Circuit according to claim 1, wherein the actual speed of the motor is detected by means of a piezo-electric microphone measuring the pulse width of the frequency emitted by the motor.

44. Circuit according to claim 1, further comprising:

a light-proof housing surrounding said electrically activable light emitting component and said photo-voltaic light sensitive component.

8. Circuit for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor, comprising:

driving stages connected directly to mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

9. Circuit according to claim 8, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, which amplifier stage obtains its supply voltage via a further optical coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned optical coupling circuit.

10. Circuit according to claim 8, wherein the light emitting component is a light emitting diode component the supply voltage of which being modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and the light sensitive component is a light sensitive diode component of solar cell type.

11. Circuit according to claim 8, wherein the light emitting and light sensitive components are coupled for light transmission via a fibre optical cable.

12. Circuit according to claim 8, wherein the actual speed of the motor is detected by means of a bar code reader directed towards a bar strip applied around the motor shaft.

13. Circuit according to claim 8, wherein the actual speed of the motor is detected by means of piezo-electric microphone which measures the pulse width of the frequency emitted by the motor.

14. Switching circuit for a.c. voltage, comprising:

a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of the mains voltage to a load, and

an optical coupling circuit preceding each power transistor and comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to receive a voltage pulse generated by the appearance of the a.c. voltage, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving a light pulse generated when the voltage pulse is supplied to the light emitting component to generate a corresponding output signal which is applied as opening pulse between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

15. Circuit according to claim 14, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, which amplifier stage obtains its supply voltage via a further optical coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned coupling circuit.

16. Circuit according to claim 14, wherein wherein the opening pulse is obtained from a capacitor charged via the blocking diodes which capacitor is connected across the light emitting diodes.

17. Circuit according to claim 14, wherein the light emitting component is a light emitting diode component, the supply voltage of which being modulated by the voltage pulse, and the light sensitive component is a light sensitive diode component of solar cell type.

18. Circuit according to claim 14, wherein the light emitting and light sensitive components are coupled for light transmission via a fibre optical cable.

19. Circuit for speed control of a three-phase motor driving a compressor in a refrigeration machine comprising:

driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor and the temperature in the inlet and outlet compressor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

20. Circuit according to claim 19, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, which amplifier stage obtains its supply voltage via a further coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned optical coupling circuit.

21. Circuit according to claim 19, wherein the light emitting component is a light emitting diode component, the supply voltage of which being modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and the light sensitive component is a light sensitive diode component of solar cell type.

22. Circuit according to claim 19, wherein the light emitting and light sensitive components are coupled for light transmission via a fiber optical cable.

23. Circuit according to claim 19, wherein the actual speed of the motor is detected by means of a bar code reader directed towards a bar strip applied around the motor shaft.

24. Circuit according to claim 19, wherein the actual speed of the motor is detected by means of a piezo-electric microphone which measures the pulse width of the frequency emitted by the motor.

25. Circuit for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor driving resistive and inductive loads, comprising:

driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors, which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto, and

a zero passage detector between each phase and the optical coupling devices of the corresponding power transistors, the output signal of the zero passage detector being supplied together with the pulse width modulated signal to the optical coupling devices via a logic gate to obtain separate control of each optical coupling device and thereby the corresponding half-period of the phase.

26. Circuit for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor, comprising:

driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and where each power transistor stage comprises a first power transistor forming a voltage output stage, and a second power transistor connected in parallel thereto, forming a current output stage, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

27. Circuit for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor, comprising:

driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of first and second anti-parallel connected power transistor stages which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and where the first power transistor stage comprises a power transistor of N-IGBT type, and the second stage comprises a MOSFET transistor driven by a bipolar transistor, the emitter and collector of which being connected to the gate and source, respectively, of the MOSFET transistor,

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor stage, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, which

in the first transistor stage is applied across the emitter-base path of the bipolar transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

28. Circuit for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor, comprising:

driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

a control circuit that generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

a power module in each driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistor stages which are each series-connected with a first blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, and where each power transistor stage comprises a first power transistor and a second power transistor, where the second power transistor in series with a second blocking diode directly connecting to the first blocking diode, is anti-parallel connected with the first power transistor, a charging capacitor connecting to each connection point between said first and second blocking diode, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

29. Circuit for controlling the supply of current to a current consuming load supplied by a one-phase or multi-phase mains, comprising:

at least one driving stage connected directly to a mains phase for passing mains voltage directly to the load under control of an opening signal,

a control circuit that generates the opening signal according to a control parameter,

a power module in the driving stage, comprising a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistor stages are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of a mains voltage to the load and comprise one or a plurality of power transistor functions, and

an optical coupling circuit between the control circuit and each power transistor function, comprising an electrically activable light emitting component connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the opening signal, and a photo-voltaic light sensitive component connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the opening signal, said voltage being applied as a control voltage for the power transistor functions, wherein said photo-voltaic light sensitive component generates an output signal in response to received light from said electrically activable light emitting component without any external driving voltage being applied thereto.

30. Circuit according to claim 29 for controlling the speed of three-phase motor, wherein:

the at least one driving stage comprises a plurality of driving stages connected directly to three-phase mains for passing mains voltage directly to the motor windings under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

the control circuit generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor, and

the power transistor stages pass the respective half-period of a mains phase to a motor winding, the light emitting component is connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and the light sensitive component is connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being applied as said control voltage.

31. Circuit according to claim 30, wherein the power transistor functions each comprises a power transistor, the control voltage being applied between the control electrode and the emitter thereof.

32. Circuit according to claim 30, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, said amplifier stage obtaining its supply voltage via a further optical coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned optical coupling circuit.

33. Circuit according to claim 31, wherein to enable reversal of the direction of rotation of the motor, two of the motor phase windings are connected to be supplied each from either of the same two mains phases via each two of the power modules, one for each mains phase, and the third motor phase winding is supplied from the third mains phase via a corresponding power module, the reversal being controlled by a rotation direction signal obtained via a logic circuit.

34. Circuit according to claim 29 for controlling the speed of a one-phase motor, wherein:

the driving stage is connected directly to mains and connected for passing mains voltage directly to the motor winding under control of a pulse width modulated signal,

the control circuit generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the actual speed of the motor,

the power module comprises a connection of two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of the mains voltage to the motor winding,

the light emitting component is connected to the control circuit to have the emitted light modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, and the light sensitive component is connected for receiving the pulse width modulated emitted light to generate a voltage modulated by the pulse width modulated signal, said voltage being, applied as a control voltage between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor.

35. Circuit according to claim 34, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, said amplifier stage obtaining its supply voltage via a further optical coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned optical coupling circuit.

36. Circuit according to claim 29, intended as switch for a.c. voltage, further comprising:

the connection comprises two anti-parallel connected power transistors which are each series-connected with a blocking diode for directly receiving and passing the respective half-period of the mains voltage of the load,

the light emitting component is connected to receive a voltage pulse generated by the appearance of the a.c. voltage, and the light sensitive component is connected for receiving a light pulse generated when the voltage pulse is supplied to the light emitting component to generate a corresponding output which is applied as an opening pulse between the control electrode and the emitter of the respective power transistor.

37. Circuit according to claim 36, further comprising:

an amplifier stage between the optical coupling circuit and the respective power transistor, which amplifier stage obtains its supply voltage via a further optical coupling circuit of the same kind as the first mentioned optical coupling circuit.

38. Circuit according to claim 37, wherein the opening pulse is obtained from a capacitor charged via the blocking diodes, which capacitor is connected across the light emitting components.

39. Circuit according to claim 30 for controlling the speed of a three-phase motor driving a compressor in a refrigerating machine, wherein the control circuit generates the pulse width modulated signal according to the temperature in the inlet and outlet of the compressor.

40. Circuit according to claim 30, further comprising:

a zero passage detector between each phase and the optical coupling devices of the corresponding power transistors, the output signal of said zero passage detector being supplied together with the pulse width modulated signal to the optical coupling devices via a logic gate to obtain separate control of each optical coupling device and, thereby, the corresponding half-period of the phase.

41. Circuit according to claim 29, wherein each power transistor stage comprises a first power transistor forming a voltage output stage, and a second power transistor connected in parallel thereto forming a current output stage.

42. Circuit according to claim 29, wherein the first power transistor stage comprises a power transistor of N-IGBT type and the second stage comprises a MOSFET transistor driven by a bipolar transistor, the emitter and collector of which are connected to the gate and the source respectively of the MOSFET transistor, and that the control voltage of the first transistor stage is applied between the control electrode of the IGBT-transistor and the base of the bipolar transistor and of the second transistor stage across the emitter-base path of the bipolar transistor.

43. Circuit according to claim 29, wherein each power transistor stage comprises a first power transistor and a second power transistor, where the second power transistor in series with a second blocking diode directly connecting to the first blocking diode, is anti-parallel connected with the first power transistor, a charging capacitor connecting to each connection point between said first and second blocking diode.