Reliable current sensing for inverter-controlled electronic machine
First Claim
1. An electric drive for an electric vehicle with a multi-phase electric machine, comprising:
- an inverter bridge having inverter switches arranged in a plurality of phase legs;
an inverter controller for controllably switching the inverter switches;
first and second phase conductors coupled between respective inverter phase legs and respective phase windings of the electric machine;
first and second flux cores each having a central passage and a gap, respectively, wherein the first and second phase conductors pass through the central passages of the first and second flux cores, respectively;
a first plurality of current sensors comprised of a predetermined number of first Hall-effect devices, each of the first Hall-effect devices disposed in the gap of the first flux core to generate respective first current signals;
a second plurality of current sensors comprised of the predetermined number of second Hall-effect devices, each of the second Hall-effect devices disposed in the gap of the second flux core to generate respective second current signals; and
a plurality of multi-channel op amp devices for conditioning the current signals and coupling them to an inverter controller, wherein the number of multi-channel op amp devices equals the predetermined number;
wherein each one of the first Hall-effect devices is connected to a different one of the op amp devices, and wherein each one of the second Hall-effect devices is connected to a different one of the op amp devices, whereby a valid conditioned current signal corresponding to each phase conductor is received by the inverter controller unless there are multiple failures of the Hall-effect devices and the op amp devices.
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Abstract
Phase currents of an inverter-driven electric machine are measured by mounting phase conductors of each respective phase current into a central passage of a respective flux core. A plurality of current sensors are mounted into a gap of each respective flux core to generate a respective plurality of current signals for each phase current. The Hall-effect devices are connected to a plurality of multi-channel op amp devices for conditioning the current signals such that each set of Hall-effect devices is connected to a different one of the op amp devices and such that each op amp device receives one current signal corresponding to each phase current. Thus, a valid conditioned current signal corresponding to each phase conductor is generated by the op amp devices unless there are multiple simultaneous failures of the Hall-effect devices and the op amp devices.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. An electric drive for an electric vehicle with a multi-phase electric machine, comprising:
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an inverter bridge having inverter switches arranged in a plurality of phase legs; an inverter controller for controllably switching the inverter switches; first and second phase conductors coupled between respective inverter phase legs and respective phase windings of the electric machine; first and second flux cores each having a central passage and a gap, respectively, wherein the first and second phase conductors pass through the central passages of the first and second flux cores, respectively; a first plurality of current sensors comprised of a predetermined number of first Hall-effect devices, each of the first Hall-effect devices disposed in the gap of the first flux core to generate respective first current signals; a second plurality of current sensors comprised of the predetermined number of second Hall-effect devices, each of the second Hall-effect devices disposed in the gap of the second flux core to generate respective second current signals; and a plurality of multi-channel op amp devices for conditioning the current signals and coupling them to an inverter controller, wherein the number of multi-channel op amp devices equals the predetermined number; wherein each one of the first Hall-effect devices is connected to a different one of the op amp devices, and wherein each one of the second Hall-effect devices is connected to a different one of the op amp devices, whereby a valid conditioned current signal corresponding to each phase conductor is received by the inverter controller unless there are multiple failures of the Hall-effect devices and the op amp devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of measuring phase currents of an inverter-driven electric machine, comprising:
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mounting phase conductors of each respective phase current into a central passage of a respective flux core; mounting a respective plurality of current sensors into a gap of each respective flux core to generate a respective plurality of current signals for each phase current, wherein each plurality of current sensors is comprised of a predetermined number of Hall-effect devices; and connecting the Hall-effect devices to a plurality of multi-channel op amp devices for conditioning the current signals such that each one of a respective plurality of Hall-effect devices is connected to a different one of the op amp devices and such that each op amp device receives one current signal corresponding to each phase current; whereby a valid conditioned current signal corresponding to each phase conductor is generated by the op amp devices unless there are multiple simultaneous failures of the Hall-effect devices and the op amp devices. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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Specification