Variable torque control of a stepper motor
First Claim
1. A stepper motor assembly comprising:
- a stepper motor having at least a stator and a motor shaft, the motor shaft to rotate relative to the stator to a control position or to maintain the control position;
an encoder to detect rotation of the motor shaft relative to the stator and output position feedback in response to the detected rotation;
a driver to cause the motor shaft to rotate relative to the stator to the control position or to maintain the control position; and
a controller configured to;
receive the position feedback;
provide a signal to the driver to cause movement of the motor shaft;
determine occurrence of intervention with movement of the motor shaft relative to the stator based at least in part on the position feedback; and
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decrease at least temporarily, a torque applied between the motor shaft and the stator during at least a portion of the occurrence of the intervention.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A stepper motor may be controlled by a controller to provide extended revolution of a motor shaft while operating in a first mode and to allow a user to manually intervene with an intended position or rotation of the motor shaft while operating in a second mode. In some embodiments, the controller may adjust a torque applied to the stepper mode during operation of the stepper motor. The controller may reduce a torque applied by the stepper motor to a lower torque while the user intervenes with the intended position or rotation of the motor and increase the torque to a holding torque after the user intervention has ended. Thus, the controller may dynamically adjust a torque of the stepper motor in response to detection of the user intervention.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A stepper motor assembly comprising:
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a stepper motor having at least a stator and a motor shaft, the motor shaft to rotate relative to the stator to a control position or to maintain the control position; an encoder to detect rotation of the motor shaft relative to the stator and output position feedback in response to the detected rotation; a driver to cause the motor shaft to rotate relative to the stator to the control position or to maintain the control position; and a controller configured to; receive the position feedback; provide a signal to the driver to cause movement of the motor shaft; determine occurrence of intervention with movement of the motor shaft relative to the stator based at least in part on the position feedback; and
;decrease at least temporarily, a torque applied between the motor shaft and the stator during at least a portion of the occurrence of the intervention. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method comprising:
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determining intervention of rotation of a motor shaft of a stepper motor relative to a stator of the stepper motor based on one or more of; a control position of the motor shaft relative to the stator being different than an actual position of the motor shaft, or a current feedback received by a controller indicating that the actual position is different than the control position; decreasing a torque applied between the motor shaft and the stator during at least a portion of the intervention; and increasing the torque to at least a holding torque to maintain a new position of the motor shaft relative to the stator. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system comprising:
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a stepper motor to rotate a motor shaft, relative to a stator, to a control position or to maintain the control position; and a controller to receive position feedback and to generate a control to cause the stepper motor to rotate relative to the stator to the control position or to maintain the control position, the controller to determine a torque between the motor shaft and the stator, the torque determined by at least; determining intervention with the stepper motor based at least in part on the position feedback; decreasing the torque during at least a portion of the intervention; and increasing the torque to maintain a new position of the motor shaft relative to the stator. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification