| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 318400060 | Comparator circuit or method | 68 |
| 20080197794 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRIVING A DC MOTOR - A circuit for determining a direction of rotation of an electric motor, the motor having asymmetry and/or eccentricity in a profile of back electromotive force as a function of angular position of a rotor with respect to a stator, the circuit receiving a signal representing the BEMF, and use the corresponding asymmetry and/or eccentricity in the signal to derive the direction of rotation. The signal representing the back emf can be generated by a control circuit. The control circuit can have a feedback loop regulator to generate a control signal (TL or TR) to control a current drive circuit ( | 08-21-2008 |
| 20080203951 | SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR SENSORLESS DRIVING AND SENSORLESS DRIVING SYSTEM - A semiconductor integrated circuit for sensorless driving of a brushless motor, has: an induced voltage detecting circuit which includes a comparator for comparing a voltage induced in an exciting coil by a rotation of a rotor of the brushless motor with a midpoint voltage of the rotor of the brushless motor and outputting a detection signal corresponding to a comparison result, and detects a zero cross point where the induced voltage crosses the midpoint voltage; a logic circuit that outputs a control signal for controlling the brushless motor, in response to a command signal for regulating an operation of the brushless motor and an output signal of the comparator; and a power transistor circuit that supplies a driving current to the exciting coil, the power transistor including a first transistor having one end connected to a power supply and the other end connected to the exciting coil and being controlled in response to the control signal, and a second transistor connected between the other end of the first transistor and a ground and being controlled in response to the control signal. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080252239 | METHOD CAPABLE OF CONTROLLING BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR - A method capable of controlling brushless DC motor detects the magnetic pole positions of the rotor with a Hall component to produce a Hall signal correspondingly, generates a PWM signal based on an external control signal with a PWM generator, controls a switch circuit based on the PWM signal and the Hall signal with a driver such that switched output is capable of being sent to the current phase of the stator coils for rotating the rotor. Further, while the Hall signal is detected to be level-switched, the external control signal level increases or decreases corresponding to change of the level of the Hall signal with respect to the duty cycle of the PWM signal being controlled to increase to the preset duty cycle from 0 or to decrease to 0 from the preset duty cycle for eliminating both sharp wave in the current during switching and noise. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080252240 | MOTOR DRIVE CIRCUIT AND METHOD - A motor drive method which supplies a drive current in a pulse form to a multiphase motor, to drive the motor. The motor drive method includes the steps of: generating a pulse signal having a duty ratio in accordance with torque, alternately repeating an ON time-period and an OFF time-period in accordance with the pulse signal, to supply a drive current in a pulse form to a phase coil currently driving, interpolating back electromotive voltage of the OFF time-period (Toff), using a back electromotive voltage (Vu) of the ON time-period (Ton), with respect to the back electromotive voltage (Vu) occurring in at least one coil of the multiphase motor, to generate an interpolated virtual back electromotive voltage (Vu′), detecting a zero-cross point, by comparing the interpolated virtual back electromotive voltage (Vu′) with a midpoint voltage (Vcom) of the coil, to generate a BEMF detection signal (BEMF_EDGE), and switching a phase to be driven, based on the BEMF signal (BEMF_EDGE). | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080297079 | Rotor position sensing system of brushless motor - A rotor position detecting circuit includes a first position detecting circuit having a low-pass filter that shapes up phase voltage induced in a phase coil and a first comparator that compares the output voltage of the low-pass filter with a threshold level to form a first rotor position signal, and a second position detecting circuit having a second comparator that compares the phase voltage with a threshold voltage and a control unit that digitally processes the output voltage of the second comparator to form a second rotor position signal. The control unit corrects the first rotor position signal by the second rotor position signal to provide a final rotor position signal when the rotation speed of the brushless DC motor is in a measurable range. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20090058336 | MOTOR DRIVING DEVICE - An object of the present invention is to provide a motor driving device capable of outputting an accurate rotation signal while preventing a false detection of B-EMF in a position detecting comparator. The motor driving device includes an output circuit, filter circuit, comparison circuit, current zero ampere detecting circuit, position detecting circuit, sensorless drive arithmetic operation circuit, noise reduction current waveform generating circuit, signal synthesizing circuit, and output transistor control circuit, the comparison circuit including a comparator, polarity switching portion connected to a +terminal and −terminal of the comparator and signal switching portion, the comparator being structured to be able to set and release an offset having a predetermined voltage value set preliminarily. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090140677 | Motor Drive Circuit, Fan Motor, Electronic Device, and Notebook Personal Computer - A motor drive circuit comprising: a first transistor and a second transistor connected in series, a voltage of a connection point between the first transistor and the second transistor being a drive voltage applied to one end of a motor coil; an operational amplifier configured to control the first transistor and the second transistor such that the drive voltage is a voltage according to a difference between a first control voltage and a second control voltage for controlling driving of the motor coil; a switch circuit configured to drive the first transistor and the second transistor such that the motor coil is in a state of not being driven regardless of control by the operational amplifier when a pulse signal for intermittently driving the motor coil is at one logic level, and drive the first transistor and the second transistor based on the control by the operational amplifier when the pulse signal is at the other logic level; and an auxiliary drive circuit configured to drive the first transistor and the second transistor to increase the drive voltage for a predetermined time period shorter than a time period during which the pulse signal is at the other logic level regardless of the control by the operational amplifier, when the pulse signal changes from the one logic level to the other logic level. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090153083 | METHOD OF OPERATING A BRUSHLESS MOTOR WHEREIN OPEN LOOP AND CLOSED LOOP CONTROLLERS UTILIZE DIFFERENT COMMUTATION METHODS - A motor control is provided with both open loop and closed loop controllers. The open loop and closed loop controllers provide commutation signals back to gate drives for an inverter, wherein the commutation signals utilize sinusoidal signals in open loop control, and utilize six step commutation in closed loop control. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090174349 | MOTOR DRIVE APPARATUS EQUIPPED WITH DYNAMIC BRAKING CIRCUIT FAULT DETECTION CAPABILITY - A motor drive apparatus | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090212727 | ACTUATING DRIVE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING AN ACTUATING DRIVE - The invention relates to a method for operating an actuating drive having an electrically commutated motor | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090322263 | DRIVE AND METHOD - A drive, including an electric motor, which is supplied by a rectifier, the rectifier including a time-discrete closed-loop control structure, which regulates the stator current of the electric motor by setting the voltage applied at the motor, the current of the motor being acquired in time-discrete fashion, the closed-loop control structure including a first closed-loop controller whose setpoint is the output value of a first non-linear transfer member, and whose actual value is the output value of a second non-linear transfer member, the input value of the first non-linear transfer member being the setpoint of a first current component of the current, the input value of the second non-linear transfer member being the actual value of a first current component of the current. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100001669 | Error recognition by evaluation of parameters of the field oriented regulation - A drive device having an electric motor with a device for field oriented control of the electric motor and a method for operation thereof is disclosed. An error monitoring of a transducer on the electric motor is achieved by a comparator device for comparing a transducer signal of the transducer on the electric motor with a calculated parameter of the field oriented control, the comparator device recognizing a transducer error and/or a coupling error. The coupling error relates to a coupling for mounting the transducer on the electric motor. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100033118 | Motor Drive Circuit - A motor drive circuit includes a first amplifier circuit to amplify a difference between first and second position detection signals with a gain becoming smaller according to drop in power supply voltage, to output a first amplification signal, the first and second position detection signals being signals indicating a rotational position of a rotor in a motor, having a frequency corresponding to a rotation speed of the motor, and being opposite in phase to each other; a second amplifier circuit to amplify the difference between the first and second position detection signals with the gain, to output a second amplification signal opposite in phase to the first amplification signal; and a drive circuit to amplify the difference between the first amplification signal and the second amplification signal with a predetermined gain to be saturated at the power supply voltage, to output a driving voltage for driving the motor. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100117571 | EXTERNAL DISTURBANCE DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TWO-PHASE MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEMS - A system includes a power control module, a period determination module, and a control module. The power control module controls current through stator coils of a motor to rotate a rotor. The period determination module determines a first length of time between a first set of induced stator coil voltages and determines a second length of time between a second set of induced stator coil voltages. The control module determines whether an external disturbance disturbs rotation of the rotor based on a difference between the first and second lengths of time. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20110001444 | METHOD FOR ASCERTAINING A CORRECTION VALUE FOR THE ANGLE OF THE ROTOR OF AN ELECTRICALLY COMMUTED REVERSIBLE SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR - A method ascertains a correction value for the angle of the rotor of an electrically commuted reversible synchronous motor relative to a sensor used for the activation thereof. In order to equalize the sensor and recognize and correct electrical incorrect angles and incorrect controls, the motor is activated in a calibration journey using an externally forced rotating field. The electrical angle of the rotating field and the mechanical angle of the rotor are measured simultaneously by the external sensor on at least one reference position during the calibration journey and stored associated with one another as a measurement series of value pairs. The electrical angle of the rotating field and the mechanical angle of the rotor, which is measured by the sensor, are also detected simultaneously after direction reversal of the rotating field. These are stored associated with one another as a second measurement series of value pairs. The angle difference between the electrical angle and the mechanical angle are calculated from value pairs of both measurement series which correspond to one another. The correction value for taking the actual incorrect angle into consideration is calculated from the two angle differences by averaging. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110043147 | MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - A motor control apparatus includes a phase sensing circuit, a current sensing circuit, a phase lock loop, a controller and a driving circuit. The phase sensing circuit detects a phase switching state of a magnetic pole of a motor circuit, and then generates and outputs a phase switching signal to the phase lock loop when the motor is operating. The current sensing circuit detects a current flowing through a coil of the motor to generate and output a current phase signal to the phase lock loop. The phase lock loop compares a phase difference between the phase switching signal and the current phase signal to generate and output a phase-switch controlling signal to the controller. The controller generates and outputs a driving signal to the driving circuit in accordance with the phase-switch controlling signal. The driving circuit controls the phase switching state of the magnetic pole of the motor to drive the motor to rotate in accordance with the driving signal. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110062906 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING MOTOR - A motor controlling device is provided that controls a brushless motor having a plurality of phases based on magnetic pole signals output by a plurality of magnetic pole signal output sections each corresponding to one of the phases. The motor controlling device includes an abnormality determining section, a signal generating section, and a motor controlling section. The abnormality determining section determines whether a magnetic pole signal output by each magnetic pole signal output section is an abnormal magnetic pole signal. When the abnormality determining section determines that at least one of the magnetic pole signals is an abnormal magnetic pole signal, the signal generating section generates a simulated signal corresponding to the abnormal magnetic pole signal based on the normal magnetic pole signals other than the abnormal magnetic pole signal and the rotational state of the brushless motor. The motor controlling section controls the brushless motor based on the simulated signal and the normal magnetic pole signals when the signal generating section generates the simulated signal. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110127937 | MOTOR ACTUATION CONTROL DEVICE - A triangle wave generator ( | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110266983 | MOTOR DRIVING CIRCUIT CAPABLE OF OUTPUTTING DUAL FREQUENCY GENERATOR (FG) SIGNAL - A motor driving circuit capable of outputting a dual FG signal includes a control unit, a first Hall unit, a second Hall unit and a logic unit. The control unit is electrically connected to the first Hall unit and configured to generate a first FG signal based on a Hall signal sent by the first Hall unit. The second Hall unit is configured to detect the change in magnetic fields to generate a second FG signal to the logic unit. The logic unit is electrically connected to the control unit and the second Hall unit. The logic unit is configured to perform a logic operation based on the received first and second FG signals to convert them into a dual FG signal for an external system. With the control unit, the first Hall unit, the second Hall unit and the logic unit being integrated in the motor driving circuit, the convenience in use can be improved greatly. Furthermore, the working hours and the production cost can be reduced. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20120013282 | Current Measuring Apparatus for Use with Electric Motors - A current measuring circuit for an electric motor provides an output indicative of the change in the current di/dt flowing in a phase of the electric motor over a measurement period of time. The circuit includes a current measurement element having a resistance; a switch which in use selectively permits transmission of a voltage dependent upon the instantaneous value of the voltage dropped across the current measurement element to a part of the circuit; and a switch controller which is adapted to operate the switch in response to timing signals supplied by the switch controller so as to define the measurement period of time. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120074880 | DRIVE CIRCUIT - A drive control signal is effectively obtained. An offset is added to a rotational state signal. A drive control signal having a period which is reduced by a predetermined period compared to the sine wave form signal is generated between a crossing of a reference value for a second time and a crossing of the reference value for a next time by an added signal obtained by sequentially offsetting the rotational state signal in a direction reaching the reference value. A pulse indicating that the polarity has been reversed when the offset is added is added to the crossing of the reference value for the first time, to reliably detect crossing of the reference value for the second time. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120086371 | ROTARY ELECTRIC MACHINE FOR VEHICLES - In a vehicular rotary electric machine, a switching section includes a bridge circuit having plurality of upper arms and plurality of lower arms. The arms include switching elements. A diode is connected in parallel to each switching element. One end of the switching element of each of the upper arms is connected to a positive terminal of a battery and one end of the switching element of each of the lower arms is connected to a negative terminal of the battery via a vehicle body. The switching section rectifies induced phase voltage of an armature winding. A section sets ON-timing of the switching elements. A section sets OFF-timing of the switching elements. When the switching element of each lower arm is OFF, a detector detects an energization period in which current flows to the diode. A calculator calculates a rotation frequency based on the detected energization period. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120112673 | MOTOR CONTROLLER - A motor controller is disclosed. The motor controller includes a current detector that is provided in a direct current side of a power converter and that detects direct current information. A determiner determines a size of an offset voltage contained in the detected current information. The determiner calculates the offset voltage by canceling a positive current component by a negative current component both pertaining to the same one phase and contained in the detected direct current information. A modifier modifies the detected direct current information based on the calculated offset voltage. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120119687 | BRUSHLESS MOTOR DRIVER AND BRUSHLESS MOTOR SYSTEM - The brushless motor driver includes a sample and hold circuit which samples and holds a first value of the first comparison signal in a first case in which a current is forced to flow from a first phase coil of the three-phase brushless motor to a second phase coil and no current is forced to flow to a third phase coil in a first period having a preset setting time and a second value of the first comparison signal in a second case in which a current is forced to flow from the second phase coil to the first phase coil and no current is forced to flow to the third phase coil in a second period having the preset setting time subsequent to the first period. The brushless motor driver includes an addition circuit which adds up the first value and the second value sampled and held by the sample and hold circuit and outputs an addition signal depending upon a result of the addition. The brushless motor driver includes a comparison output circuit which compares a value of the addition signal with a reference voltage and outputs a second comparison signal depending upon a result of the comparison. A position of a rotor in the three-phase brushless motor is discriminated on the basis of the second comparison signal. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120126729 | METHOD FOR SENSORLESS OPERATION OF AN ECM, and MOTOR FOR CARRYING OUT - An electronically commutated motor (ECM) often employs a Hall sensor for reliable operation. Even when a Hall sensor is omitted from a motor having a plurality of stator winding phases ( | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120126730 | METHOD FOR SENSORLESS OPERATION OF AN ECM, and MOTOR FOR CARRYING OUT - An electronically commutated motor (ECM) often employs a Hall sensor for reliable operation. Even when a Hall sensor is omitted from a motor having a plurality of stator winding phases ( | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120169259 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR POWER CONVERSION - A method and system for a commutation control circuit are provided. The system includes an integrating voltage counter electrically coupled to an electrical power bus, wherein the integrating voltage counter is configured to integrate over time a voltage signal received from the power bus and to generate a trigger signal when the integrated voltage signal equals a predetermined count. The system also includes a plurality of transistor pairs configured to receive a trigger signal generated by the integrating voltage counter and electrically coupled to respective windings of a motor. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120206072 | EXTERNAL DISTURBANCE DETECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TWO-PHASE MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEMS - A system includes a power control module, a period determination module, and a control module. The power control module controls current through stator coils of a motor to rotate a rotor. The period determination module determines a first length of time between a first set of induced stator coil voltages and determines a second length of time between a second set of induced stator coil voltages. The control module determines whether an external disturbance disturbs rotation of the rotor based on a difference between the first and second lengths of time. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120217914 | COMMUTATION CALIBRATION VIA MOTOR MAPPING - A DC brushless motor includes a rotary actuation shaft having multiple poles. Each of the poles has multiple commutation steps. The DC brushless motor also includes a motor controller capable of controlling rotation of the rotary actuation shaft. The motor controller stores a commutation step map. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120242264 | MOTOR DRIVING CIRCUIT AND METHOD, AND COOLING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A driving device capable of driving a motor more efficiently is provided. A zero-crossing detection comparator | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120293097 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING MOTOR THAT DRIVES IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, CONTROLLER THAT CONTROLS MOTOR, AND SENSOR - An image forming apparatus includes a longitudinally conveying motor, a main-body-side control board, and a sensor. In the longitudinally conveying motor, an encoder generates an encoder signal having a frequency corresponding to the number of rotations of the longitudinally conveying motor, and a sensor signal superimposing unit receives an input of a logical state of the sensor. The sensor signal superimposing unit superimposes the logical state of the sensor on the encoder signal by modulating a duty ratio of the encoder signal based on the logical state of the sensor, and outputs a post-superimposition encoder signal. In the main-body-side control board, a sensor signal separating unit obtains the logical state of the sensor by demodulating the input encoder signal. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20130033209 | MOTOR CONTROL DEVICE - A motor control device has a motor driving circuit for driving a motor, a current detection circuit for detecting a motor current flowing through the motor driving circuit, and a controller for calculating a detected value of the motor current based on an output of the current detection circuit, comparing the detected value with a target value of the motor current, and generating a command value for allowing a motor current of the target value to flow through the motor based on a deviation therebetween, to output the command value to a motor driving circuit. The current detection circuit is configured of a first current detection circuit having a positive first gain and a second current detection circuit having a negative second gain obtained by inverting the first gain. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130063058 | ELECTRIC MOTOR CONTROLLER AND ELECTRIC MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEM - A controller | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130106326 | MOTOR DRIVE CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130106327 | MOTOR DRIVE CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130154527 | HALL SENSOR SIGNAL GENERATING DEVICE - Disclosed is a hall sensor signal generating device which includes a rotor which has a magnetic property and rotates on the basis of a rotary axis; a hall sensor unit which is disposed to be spaced apart from a stator disposed outside the rotor; and a clock synchronization unit which receives a driving clock, performs synchronization between the driving clock and a hall sensor signal output from the hall sensor unit, and outputs the synchronized driving clock and the synchronized hall sensor signal. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130207580 | SENSORLESS COMMUTATION CIRCUIT AND SENSORLESS DRIVING APPARATUS FOR BRUSHLESS MOTOR - A sensorless commutation circuit and sensorless driving apparatus for a brushless motor includes a voltage divided unit, a control signal output unit, a switch unit and a comparison unit. The voltage divided unit outputs a voltage divided signal according to a phase voltage signal of the brushless motor. The control signal output unit outputs a filter control signal, wherein the filter control signal has a same switching cycle as a pulse width modulation control signal that drives the brushless motor. The switch unit is coupled to the control signal output unit and the voltage divided unit, and outputs a comparison signal according to the filter control signal and the voltage divided signal. The comparison unit is coupled to the switch unit, and outputs a correct commutation signal according to the comparison signal. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130234633 | METHOD OF DETERMINING THE ROTOR POSITION OF A PERMANENT-MAGNET MOTOR - A method of determining the position of a rotor of a permanent-magnet motor. The method includes sequentially exciting and freewheeling a winding of the motor. The winding is freewheeled for a freewheel period in response to current in the winding exceeding a current limit. The method also includes measuring a parameter that corresponds to either the magnitude of current in the winding at the end of the freewheel period or the interval between the start or end of the freewheel period and the time at which current in the winding exceeds the current limit. The measured parameter is then compared against a threshold and the rotor is determined to be at a predetermined position when the measured parameter is less than or greater than the threshold. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130314009 | Circuit and Method for Sensorless Control of a Permanent Magnet Brushless Motor during Start-up - The system discloses structure for synchronizing sequential phase switching in driving a set of stator windings of a multi-phase sensorless brushless permanent magnet DC motor. A drive voltage drives a plurality of the stator windings thereby producing a magnetic field. On an undriven stator winding among the stator windings, a voltage induced by the magnetic field is sampled. The induced voltage changes as a function of a magnetic rotor transitioning across a plurality of angular positions. A first value corresponding to the sampled voltage induced on the currentless winding is compared with a commutation threshold to determine a proper commutation point. The system is switched to a next drive configuration of the sequence when the first value surpasses the threshold. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130314010 | FAN ROTATION SPEED CONTROL SYSTEM - An exemplary fan rotation speed control system for adjusting rotation speed of a fan includes a switch input module, a rotation speed control module, a signal collecting module, a decoding module, and a display module. The switch input module inputs a rotation speed signal in the rotation speed control module. The rotation speed control module outputs a first direct current (DC) voltage to provide power supply for the fan according to the rotation speed signal. The rotation speed control module adjusts values and directions of the first DC voltage according to the rotation speed signal. The signal collecting module collects rotation information of the fan. The rotation speed control module receives the rotation information and decodes the rotation information to rotation speed values by the decoding module which are displayed on the display module. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130342141 | DETERMINING COMMUTATION POSITION FOR A SENSORLESS PERMANENT MAGNET BRUSHLESS MOTOR AT LOW OR ZERO SPEED USING AN ASYMMETRIC DRIVE PATTERN - A system is disclosed for controlling motor switching in a sensorless BLDC motor having a set of three stator windings. A controller unit includes a control signal generator, a memory device, a processing unit, a signal acquisition device, and an analog-to-digital converter. A power stage having a plurality of switches receives a control signal from the control signal generator and a power signal from a power source. The power stage drives two windings of the set of three stator windings with an asymmetric pulse width modulation signal and leaves one stator of the three stator windings undriven. The processing unit acquires a demodulated measured voltage on the undriven winding. The processing unit also communicates with the power stage to change which two windings of the three stator windings are driven when the demodulated measured voltage surpasses a threshold. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20140062358 | Electronic Circuit and Method for Automatically Adjusting a Phase of a Drive Signal Applied to an Electric Motor in Accordance with a Zero Current Detected in a Winding of the Electric Motor - A motor control circuit and associated techniques can adjust a phase of a motor drive to keep a rotational reference position of an electric motor at the same relative phase as a zero current in a motor winding at different motor speeds and as the motor accelerates and decelerates. In some embodiments, a particular circuit and technique can be used to detect the zero current in the motor winding. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140070740 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS AND MOTOR CONTROL METHOD - An image forming apparatus includes an engine unit to perform an image forming job; an engine control unit to control the operation of the engine unit; a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor to drive the engine unit; a sensor unit to sense electric angle information and driving velocity information of the BLDC motor; a communication interface to receive a digital control command with respect to the BLDC motor from the engine control unit; a driving signal unit to generate a driving signal to control the BLDC motor; and a digital control unit to control the operation of the driving signal unit in a digital phase locked loop (PLL) manner for feedback controls the BLDC motor, based on the received digital control command, the detected electric angle information and the driving velocity information and a digital gain value as a control factor with respect to the BLDC motor. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140097774 | BACK ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE (BEMF) SENSE SYSTEM - One embodiment includes a back-electromagnetic force (BEMF) sense system. The system includes a sense amplifier configured to measure an amplitude of a selected one of a plurality of phase voltages relative to a center tap voltage associated with a servo motor for the calculation of an associated BEMF voltage. The plurality of phase voltages can be provided to the sense amplifier via a respective plurality of control nodes. The selected one of the plurality of phase voltages on a respective one of the control nodes can be selected based on coupling the other of the plurality of control nodes associated with the other of the plurality of phase voltages to a voltage source configured to provide a predetermined voltage magnitude. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140145656 | CIRCUIT FOR DETECTING BACK-EMF, MOTOR DRIVING CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD USING THE SAME - There are provided a circuit for detecting back-electromotive force, a motor driving control apparatus and method using the same, the motor driving control apparatus including: a comparing unit outputting back-electromotive force of a motor apparatus using a plurality of comparators connected to a plurality of phases of the motor apparatus, respectively; a controlling unit controlling the driving of the motor apparatus using the back-electromotive force; and a comparator driving unit activating at least a portion of the plurality of comparators according to a preset operation scheduling. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140184115 | APPARATUS FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INTERFACE AND ASSOCIATED METHODS - An apparatus includes an integrated circuit (IC) adapted to be powered by a positive supply voltage. The IC includes a charge pump that is adapted to convert the positive supply voltage of the IC to a negative bias voltage. The IC further includes a bidirectional interface circuit. The bidirectional interface circuit includes an amplifier coupled to the negative bias voltage to accommodate a bidirectional input voltage of the IC. The bidirectional interface circuit further includes a comparator coupled to the negative bias voltage to accommodate the bidirectional input voltage of the IC. | 07-03-2014 |
| 20140246998 | TORQUE DISTURBANCE CANCELLATION FOR A MOTOR - A circuit may be configured to adjust a correction signal for each phase of an electric motor based on a rotational position of a spindle of the electric motor, generate a distorted waveform based on the correction signal, and drive the electric motor in response to the distorted waveform. In some examples, back electromotive force (BEMF) may be determined in order to adjust a motor drive waveform, which may reduce or eliminate motor vibrations. A motor drive signal may be pre-warped (i.e. distorted) such that when the correctional signal and drive signals are combined, there is a reduction in acoustic emissions or motor vibrations. Other parameters, such as cogging torque, may be measured to reduce motor vibration and acoustic emissions. | 09-04-2014 |
| 20140312816 | Circuit and Method for Detecting Missed Commutation of a Brushless DC Motor - The system contains a controller unit comprising a memory device, a processing unit, and at least one analog-to-digital converter. A power stage has a plurality of switches, wherein the power stage receives a control signal from the control circuit and a power signal from a power source. The power stage drives two windings of the set of three stator windings to rotate a rotor and maintains one stator winding of the three stator windings undriven. The memory device stores a plurality of values for the driven current and a plurality of demodulated undriven winding voltages. The processing unit compares the plurality of values and periodically calculates a rotor sextant while the rotor rotates. The processing unit compares at least two demodulated undriven winding voltage values corresponding to at least two current values within the rotor sextant to calculate the rotor sextant parity and verify the calculation of the rotor sextant. | 10-23-2014 |
| 20140354200 | APPARATUSES FOR CONTROLLING OPERATION OF A MOTOR OF A FAN ASSEMBLY BASED ON AN INDUCED VOLTAGE OR A BACK ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE - An integrated circuit for controlling operation of a motor of a fan assembly. The fan assembly includes a housing and a fan. The motor is in the housing. The housing is void of sensors. The motor is configured to rotate the fan. The integrated circuit includes a detection module and a first control module. The detection module is separate from the fan assembly. The detection module is configured to detect a voltage induced in a first coil of the motor or a back electromotive force received from the first coil of the motor. The first control module is configured to receive a control signal from a second control module and control the operation of the fan based on (a) the control signal, and (b) the voltage induced in the first coil of the motor or the back electromotive force. The second control module is separate from the integrated circuit. | 12-04-2014 |
| 20140361716 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATIC ROTATION DIRECTION DETERMINATION OF ELECTRONICALLY COMMUTATED MOTOR - A method for determining a direction of rotation for an electronically commutated motor (ECM) is described. The motor is configured to rotate a blower and the method comprises rotating the blower using the ECM and determining if the resulting blower rotation is indicative of the desired direction of rotation for the blower. | 12-11-2014 |
| 20150022129 | HYBRID CONTROLLER FOR BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR - A circuit includes a processor that analyzes a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal feedback from a brushless DC motor to determine a transition between a mutual inductance zero crossing condition and a Back Electro Motive Force (BEMF) zero crossing condition of the brushless DC motor. A mutual inductance controller is executed by the processor to commutate the brushless DC motor at startup of the motor when the mutual inductance zero crossing condition is detected by the processor. A BEMF controller is executed by the processor to commutate the brushless DC motor after startup of the motor when the BEMF zero crossing condition is detected by the processor. | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150054437 | SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND MOTOR DRIVING APPARATUS - A motor driving apparatus according to an embodiment includes a brushless motor. The motor driving apparatus includes a position sensor that outputs a position detection signal in synchronization with a phase of an induced voltage of a coil of the brushless motor. The motor driving apparatus includes a semiconductor integrated circuit that controls driving of the brushless motor by supplying a pseudo sine-wave driving voltage from an energization terminal to the coil of the brushless motor based on the position detection signal and a command signal that prescribes driving of the brushless motor. | 02-26-2015 |
| 20150061555 | MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - A motor control apparatus has an inverter circuit having a plurality of pairs of upper and lower arms provided so as to correspond to the number of phases, and switching elements provided on each of the upper arms and the lower arms of each phase that drive a motor on the basis of ON or OFF operations of the respective switching elements, a single current detector that detects a current of the motor flowing through the inverter circuit, and a duty calculator that calculates duties of a PWM signals for turning the switching elements ON or OFF on the basis of a deviation between a current value of the current detected by the current detector and a target current value. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150069940 | MULTI-PHASE MOTOR CONTROL METHOD AND DEVICE USING THE SAME - A multi-phase motor control method controls a multi-phase motor which includes multiple nodes respectively receiving a corresponding number of driving voltage signals to control a rotation of a rotor. The motor control method includes: sensing a signal phase of a current signal corresponding to at least one node, for example by sensing a zero-crossing point of the current signal; determining a reference phase for the current signal; calculating a phase difference between the signal phase and the reference phase; and controlling a phase switching frequency of the stator according to the phase difference, such that the signal phase is close to or in phase with the reference phase, to thereby obtain an optimum rotation speed of the rotor corresponding to a given driving voltage. The present invention also provides a multi-phase motor control device using the motor control method. | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150077026 | MOTOR CONTROL APPARATUS - A motor control apparatus includes: duty calculation units that calculate a duty of a PWM signal based on a deviation between a value of a physical quantity of a motor with a command value; and a duty setting unit that performs setting of the duty based on the duty calculated by the duty calculation units. The duty setting unit maintains a present duty until new duty is input from any one of the plurality of duty calculation units, and updates the duty from the present duty to the new duty when the new duty is input from any one of the plurality of duty calculation units. A PWM signal generation unit generates the PWM signal based on the duty set by the duty setting unit and a carrier signal generated by a carrier signal generation unit. | 03-19-2015 |
| 20150115851 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ECM MOTOR TO OUTPUT CONSTANT TORQUE - A method for controlling an ECM motor to output a constant torque. The method includes: 1) entering a target torque value T0 from an external device; when the motor is in a non-use state, starting the motor, and allowing the microprocessor to acquire an original output voltage value P chopped by a PWM signal; when the motor is in a running state, allowing the microprocessor to acquire a current output voltage value P chopped by the PWM signal; 2) enabling the microprocessor to calculate a target bus current value Itad using the function Itad=F(T,P) according to the target torque value T0 and the output voltage value P chopped by the PWM signal; and detecting a real-time bus current Ibus; and 3) allowing the microprocessor to compare the target bus current value Itad with the real-time bus current Ibus for conducting a closed-loop control. | 04-30-2015 |
| 20150303846 | SIGNAL AMPLIFIER, PHASE DETECTOR, AND MOTOR DRIVE CONTROLLER - A signal amplifier for a phase detector, based on plural sensor signals having amplitude levels in accordance with a rotational position of a rotor of a motor to detect the rotational position thereof includes a first phase detector; a phase counter; a signal amplification factor operation circuit; a signal amplification factor controller; and a signal amplification unit. | 10-22-2015 |
| 20150333673 | SENSORLESS DRIVE DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR - The purpose of the present invention is to reduce noise by controlling vibration due to rotation fluctuation, and to consume only current required for maintaining the rotation by bringing the current for driving a motor closer to a state of synchronization. A drive means drives a sensorless brushless DC motor by switching an energization pattern at a constant frequency to determine the rotation position of the rotor of the sensorless brushless DC motor. A detection means detects a zero-cross signal representing the switching of the phase of the rotor. A calculation means calculates a synchronization determination rate representing a percentage of the number of detected zero-cross signals. A pulse width control means controls the pulse width of a PWM drive duty in the drive means so that the calculated synchronization determination rate falls within a target range. | 11-19-2015 |
| 20150340975 | ROTARY ELECTRICAL MACHINE CONTROL DEVICE - A vehicle control device of a rotary electrical machine control device includes an application voltage generation unit that generates a voltage control signal that is used to apply a power supply voltage to a DC/DC converter at a voltage equal to or higher than the power supply voltage or at a voltage lower than the power supply voltage; and a voltage command value generation unit that generates a motor control signal that controls a drive motor. The voltage command value generation unit performs computation based on overmodulation PWM control as PWM control in the case where the application voltage that is lower than the power supply voltage is applied so as to output the motor control signal having a pulse width longer than a cycle of a PWM carrier. | 11-26-2015 |
| 20150349675 | METHOD OF ESTIMATING VOLTAGE OF INPUT TERMINAL OF INVERTER AND MOTOR CONTROL METHOD USING THE SAME - A method for estimating a voltage of an input terminal of an inverter includes checking three-phase currents flowing from an inverter to a motor. A voltage of an input terminal of the inverter is calculated based on a plurality of design parameters, the three-phase currents, and PWM duties for determining switching operations of a plurality of switching elements of the inverter. | 12-03-2015 |
| 20150349680 | BRUSHLESS MOTOR DRIVING CIRCUIT AND BRUSHLESS MOTOR DRIVING SYSTEM - The brushless motor driving circuit includes a peak hold circuit that outputs a second voltage obtained by holding a peak of a first voltage that is based on a detected voltage responsive to a voltage drop in the detecting resistor. The brushless motor driving circuit includes a filter circuit that outputs a third voltage, which is a direct-current component of the second voltage. The brushless motor driving circuit includes a differential voltage detecting circuit that outputs a first differential voltage between the second voltage and the third voltage. The brushless motor driving circuit includes a computing circuit that calculates a second differential voltage between the analog voltage and a fourth voltage responsive to the first differential voltage, and outputs a speed control signal responsive to the second differential voltage. | 12-03-2015 |
| 20160094163 | APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FIRST AND SECOND ROTARY ELECTRIC MACHINES - In an apparatus, a determiner determines whether a two-MG frequency ratio of a first electrical frequency of a first MG to a second electrical frequency of a second MG is within a specific frequency-ratio range. The specific frequency-ratio range includes 1/6n where n is an integer excluding zero. An update-cycle controller controls an update cycle of a command voltage according to the determined result such that the update cycle during a specific drive of the first MG is longer than the update cycle during a usual drive of the first MG while a cycle of a carrier signal is maintained during both the usual and specific drives. The specific drive represents drive of the first MG while the two-MG frequency ratio is within the specific frequency-ratio range. The usual drive represents drive of the first MG while the two-MG frequency ratio is out of the specific frequency-ratio range. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160094165 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPUTING MOTOR SPEED AND ROTOR POSITION USING HALL SENSOR - A method and system for computing a motor speed and a rotor position using a hall sensor are provided. The method improves precision for computing the speed of the motor rotating at a high speed and the rotor position using the hall sensor based on configurations, such as the hall sensor mounted in the motor as a position sensor, a motor controller configured to receive a signal of the hall sensor to operate the motor, and a microcomputer configured to store a time when the motor controller senses the timing of a change in the signal of the hall sensor. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160094168 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND ELECTRICALLY-POWERED EQUIPMENT - When electricity is supplied sequentially one by one to coils with a plurality of coil phases provided in a stator of a brushless DC motor, detection is made on a difference of signals corresponding to currents flowing respectively to coils with another plurality of coil phases coupled to the electrically conductive coil phases due to an effect of a magnetic flux of a stopped rotor. A stop position of the rotor with respect to the stator is determined, based on the relationship between a result of the detection operation and a coil phase in association with each other. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160094211 | VOLTAGE LEVEL DETECTOR, MOTOR DRIVE CONTROLLER, MOTOR APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF DETECTING VOLTAGE LEVEL - A voltage level detector is provided. The voltage level detector includes a comparator and a threshold level changer. The comparator compares a voltage level of an increasing or decreasing input signal with a threshold level, and generates and outputs a voltage level detection signal indicating that the input signal has reached the threshold level. The threshold level changer changes the threshold level of the comparator based on the voltage level detection signal by increasing the threshold level when the input signal is monotonically increasing and decreasing the threshold level when the input signal is monotonically decreasing. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160126872 | PHASE CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR BRUSHLESS MOTOR, BRUSHLESS MOTOR AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE PHASE OF BRUSHLESS MOTOR - A phase control circuit for a brushless motor includes a signal output unit that outputs M signals, whose phases differ from each other, in response to a change in the magnetic field resulting from the rotation of magnets placed in a rotor, and a control signal generator that generates two or more different kinds of group of phase control signals, based on at least the M signals, the group of phase control signals being used to control drive voltages, whose phases differ from each other, which are supplied to each phase of an N-phase coil (N being an integer greater than or equal to two). The control signal generator is configured such that a first phase control signal group and a second phase control signal group can be generated. | 05-05-2016 |
| 20160173020 | POWER CONVERSION DEVICE, ELECTRIC POWER STEERING SYSTEM, ELECTRIC VEHICLE, ELECTRONIC CONTROL THROTTLE, AND ELECTRIC BRAKE | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160254765 | MOTOR DRIVER AND CONTROL METHOD | 09-01-2016 |
