Current/voltage control apparatus for elevator system

• US 6,009,003 A
• Filed: 01/06/1998
• Issued: 12/28/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: LG Otis Elevator Company (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Original Assignee: LG Industrial Systems Co., Ltd (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Yeo, Hwan Je
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Peter S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Patel, Rajnikant B.
• Application Number:
  US09/003,327
• Time in Patent Office: 721 Days
• Field of Search: 363/34, 363/37, 363/41, 363/55, 363/98, 363/132, 318/800, 318/805, 318/811, 318/729
• US Class Current: 363/37
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/32 Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/53875 with analogue control of three-phase output
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 21/10 Direct field-oriented control; Rotor flux feed-back control

Abstract

A current/voltage control apparatus for an elevator system which is capable of preventing an over current from being applied to an inverter by stopping a driving operation of the inverter when a difference (hereinafter called "current deviation") between a current instruction and actual current value exceed a predetermined value during a predetermined time. The apparatus includes a voltage limiter for setting a limit voltage value which is proportional to an operational frequency of the induction motor and applying the voltage below the limit voltage value to the inverter driving unit, a zero phase component current detector for detecting a zero phase component current and outputting an inverter driving stop signal to the inverter driving unit when the thusly detected current exceeds a predetermined reference value, and a current deviation detector for detecting a current deviation value and outputting an inverter driving stop signal to the inverter driving unit when the current deviation value, which exceeds a predetermined reference value, is continuously maintained for a predetermined time.

Claims

1. A current/voltage control apparatus for an elevator system including an inverter for inverting a direct-current voltage into an alternating-current voltage of a variable voltage-and-frequency-type to be applied to an induction motor, an inverter controller for detecting a current phase flowing in the induction motor, generating a voltage instruction based on the detected phase and controlling the inverter, and an inverter driving unit for receiving an output signal from the inverter controller, generating a pulse width modulation signal corresponding thereto and driving the inverter, said control apparatus comprising:

a voltage limiter for setting a limit voltage value which is proportional to an operational frequency of the induction motor and applying the voltage below the limit voltage value to the inverter driving unit;

a zero phase component current detector for detecting a zero phase component current and outputting an inverter driving stop signal to the inverter driving unit when the thusly detected current exceeds a predetermined reference value; and

a current deviation detector for detecting a current deviation value and outputting an inverter driving stop signal to the inverter driving unit when the current deviation value exceeds a predetermined reference value continuously for a predetermined time.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said voltage limiter outputs a limit voltage value which is proportional to the operational frequency after a predetermined voltage is maintained for a predetermined time after the operation of the same, and a predetermined time is elapsed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said zero phase component current detector includes:

a summing unit for summing three-phase currents, thus obtaining a zero phase component current;

a comparator for comparing the zero phase component current value with a predetermined reference value; and

a latch unit for outputting an inverter driving stop signal to the inverter driving unit when the zero phase component current value exceeds a predetermined value as a result of the comparison.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said current deviation value is a difference value between a current instruction with respect to a torque component and a magnetic component and an actually detected current value.

5. A current voltage control apparatus for an elevator system including an inverter for inverting a direct-current voltage into a variable voltage-and-frequency-type of alternating-current voltage to be applied to an induction motor, and an inverter controller for detecting a current phase flowing in the induction motor, for generating a voltage instruction based on the detected phase and for controlling the inverter, said control apparatus comprising:

a voltage limiter to limit maximum values of control signals from said inverter controller as a function of an operation frequency of said induction motor, said voltage limiter producing upper-bounded control signals; and

an inverter driving unit for generating a pulse width modulation signal to drive said inverter based upon said upper-bounded control signals.

6. The control apparatus of claim 5, wherein, after said upper-bounded control signals reach a maximum value, respectively, said voltage limiter is operable to maintain said upper-bounded control signals at the maximum values thereof, respectively, for a predetermined time, after which said voltage limiter is operable to make said upper-bounded control signals proportional to said operation frequency of said induction motor.

7. The control apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

a zero-phase-component current detector to detect a zero phase component current and to output an inverter driving stop signal to said inverter driving unit when said current detector determines said current exceeds a predetermined reference value.

8. The control apparatus of claim 7, wherein a plurality of motor currents are applied to drive said induction motor, and said current detector is operable to add said plurality of motor currents to produce a sum against which said predetermined reference is compared.

9. The control apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

a current deviation detector to detect a current deviation value and to output an inverter driving stop signal to said inverter driving unit when said deviation value exceeds a reference value.

10. The control apparatus of claim 9, wherein said deviation detector is operable to output said stop signal after said deviation value has exceeded said reference value for a preset time.

11. A current voltage control apparatus for an elevator system including an inverter for inverting a direct-current voltage into a variable voltage-and-frequency-type of alternating-current voltage to be applied to an induction motor, said control apparatus comprising:

a voltage limiter to produce upper-bounded control signals;

an inverter driving unit for generating a pulse width modulation signal to drive said inverter based upon said upper-bounded control signals;

a zero-phase-component current detector to detect a zero phase component current flowing in the induction motor and to provide a first inverter driving stop signal to said inverter driving unit when said zero-phase-component current detector determines that said current exceeds a predetermined reference value; and

a current deviation detector to provide a second inverter driving stop signal to said inverter driving unit based upon at least one of a Q-axis current derived from motor currents flowing in said induction motor and a D-axis current derived from said motor currents.

12. The control apparatus of claim 11, wherein a plurality of motor currents are applied to drive said induction motor, and said current detector is operable to add said plurality of motor currents to produce a sum against which said predetermined reference is compared.

13. The control apparatus of claim 11, wherein said second inverter driving stop signal is based upon at least one of a first error between a Q-axis current and a corresponding Q-axis instruction and a second error between a D-axis current and a corresponding D-axis instruction.

14. The control apparatus of claim 11, wherein said second inverter driving stop signal is based upon a difference between said first error and said second error.

15. The control apparatus of claim 14, wherein said second inverter driving stop signal is generated if said difference exceeds a reference value for a minimum duration.