Driving apparatus and method of three phase induction motor

• US 6,876,171 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2003
• Issued: 04/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Jae-Choon
• Primary Examiner(s): IP, SHIK LUEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US10/414,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20040075414A1
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 318/751, 318/767, 318/774, 318/787, 318/781, 318/729, 318/802, 318/805, 318/808, 363/37, 363/55, 363/41
• US Class Current: 318/767
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/007 Plural converter units in cascade push-pull DC/DC converters with pre-regulator H02M3/3374; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC stage including a high frequency transformer H02M7/4807; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC conversion stage generating periodically varying voltages H02M7/4826
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 5/458 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 2201/11 Buck converter, i.e. DC-DC step down converter decreasing the voltage between the supply and the inverter driving the motor
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 29/50 Reduction of harmonics

Abstract

A driving apparatus of a three-phase induction motor includes: a three-phase power supply unit for supplying three-phase power; a rectifier for rectifying the three phase voltage supplied from the three phase power supply unit; a voltage reducing unit for reducing a DC voltage generated from the rectifier and outputting a stabilized DC voltage; and an inverter unit for varying the DC voltage outputted from the voltage reducing unit to a three-phase AC voltage and driving a three-phase induction motor. A power-factor degradation generated during supplying a DC voltage to the inverter to drive the three-phase induction motor is prevented, a harmonic wave is removed, and because a high-priced inverter component is not necessary, its relevant expense is reduced.

Claims

1. A driving apparatus for a three-phase induction motor comprising:

a three-phase power supply that supplies three-phase voltage;

a rectifier that rectifies the three phase voltage supplied from the three phase power supply;

a voltage reducer that reduces a DC voltage generated by the rectifier and outputs a stabilized DC voltage; and

an inverter that varies the DC voltage output from the voltage reducer to a three-phase AC voltage and that drives the three-phase induction motor,

said voltage reducer comprising;

an integrated circuit that measures the DC voltage generated by the rectifier and that outputs a control signal to control the DC voltage output from the rectifier to the inverter;

a gate driver that generates a drive signal to drive the inverter according to the control signal output from the integrated circuit;

a DC stabilizer that reduces the DC voltage generated from the rectifier according to the drive signal of the gate driver, and that generates a stabilized DC voltage; and

a DC link that links the DC voltage generated from the DC stabilizer to a load supplier that supplies the DC voltage applied to the DC link to the inverter.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DC voltage input to the inverter is harmonic wave generation-restrained and voltage reduced.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit measures a current supplied from the rectifier to the DC stabilizer and turns off output of the control signal when the supplied current is an overcurrent.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the integrated circuit turns off output of the control signal when the voltage supplied to the DC link exceeds a reference value.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the voltage reducer further comprises a voltage measurer that measures a voltage linked to the DC link through the DC stabilizer.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the voltage reducer further comprises a switch that selectively supplies external power to the integrated circuit.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DC stabilizer comprises:

a transistor that is turned on when a drive signal is input from the gate driver; and

a condenser and a resistance connected in series to each other and connected in parallel to the transistor.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein when the transistor is turned on by the drive signal input from the gate driver as the control signal is output from the integrated circuit, the DC stabilizer reduces the DC voltage of the rectifier applied to the condenser and the resistance and links the DC voltage to the DC link.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gate driver comprises:

a photocoupler turned on/off according to the control signal output from the integrated circuit;

a first NPN transistor turned off when the photocoupler is turned on;

a first PNP transistor turned off when the photocoupler is turned on; and

a second NPN transistor turned on when the first NPN transistor is turned off.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the gate driver further comprises a second photocoupler, a third NPN transistor, a second PNP transistor, a fourth NPN transistor and a third PNP transistor, each corresponding to the first photocoupler, the first NPN transistor, the first PNP transistor and the second NPN transistor.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, in the gate driver, a voltage output from the photocoupler is divided by first and second resistances and applied to a base of the first NPN transistor, a third resistance is connected to a collector;

a connection terminal of a base of the second NPN transistor and a base of the first PNP transistor are connected to a collector of the first NPN transistor;

an emitter of the second NPN transistor is connected to a fourth resistance;

a diode is connected in parallel to the fourth resistance; and

an emitter of the second NPN transistor is connected in series to an emitter of the first PNP transistor.

12. A method for driving a three-phase induction motor comprising:

rectifying a three-phase voltage;

measuring a magnitude of the rectified voltage;

generating a control signal based on the magnitude of the rectified voltage

generating a drive signal based on the control signal;

reducing the rectified signal according to the drive signal with a DC stabilizer;

generating a stabilized DC voltage based on the rectified signal;

generating a three-phase AC voltage based on the stabilized DC voltage; and

driving a three-phase induction motor with the three-phase AC voltage.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the stabilized DC voltage is harmonic wave generation-restrained and voltage reduced.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

measuring a current supplied from to the DC stabilizer; and

turning off output of the control signal when the supplied current is an overcurrent.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

turning off output of the control signal when the stabilized DC voltage exceeds a reference value.