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US 10,833,611 B2Granted
Dual-inverter for a brushless motor
AssigneeBlack & Decker Inc.
InventorJohn D. Cox
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power tool is provided including: an electric brushless direct current (BLDC) motor having rotor and a stator defining phases; a power unit including a first switch circuit connected electrically between a first power supply and the motor, and a second switch circuit connected electrically between a second power supply and the motor; and a controller configured to control a switching operation of the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit to regulate a supply of power from at least one of the first power supply and/or the second power supply to the motor.
Claims17
A power tool comprising:
- an electric brushless direct current (BLDC) motor having a rotor and a stator defining a plurality of phases, the stator including a first set of stator windings and a second set of stator windings;
- a first set of battery terminals that couples to a first battery pack to receive direct current (DC) power from the first battery pack;
- a second set of battery terminals that couples to a second battery pack to receive direct current (DC) power from the second battery pack;
- a power unit including:
- a first switch circuit having output nodes connected electrically to the first set of stator windings, and a second switch circuit having output nodes connected electrically to the second set of stator windings;
- a selector switch configured to selectively couple the first set of battery terminals to input nodes of the second switch circuit in a single-battery pack mode of operation where the only first battery pack is provided so both the first set of stator windings and the second set of stator windings are powered from the first battery pack, and to selectively couple the second set of battery terminals to the input nodes of the second switch circuit in a dual-battery pack mode of operation where both the first battery pack and the second battery pack are provided so that the first set of stator windings is powered from the first battery pack and the second set of stator windings is powered from the second battery pack in parallel;
- and
- a controller configured to control switching operations of the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit to regulate a supply of power to the motor.
5 more elements
A power tool comprising:
- an electric brushless direct current (BLDC) motor having a rotor and a stator defining a plurality of phases associated with a plurality of windings;
- a power unit including a first switch circuit connected electrically between a first set of battery terminals and a first set of stator windings of the plurality of windings and a second switch circuit connected electrically between a second set of battery terminals and a second set of windings of the plurality of windings, wherein the first set of battery terminals receives direct current (DC) power from a first battery pack when coupled to the first battery pack, and the second set of battery terminals receives DC power from a second battery pack when coupled to the second battery pack;
- a selector switch that couples the first set of battery terminals to the second switch circuit in a first mode of operation where the first battery pack is coupled to the first set of battery terminals but the second battery pack is not coupled to the second set of battery terminals, but couples the second set of battery terminals to the second switch circuit in a second mode of operation where both the first battery pack and the second battery pack are respectively coupled to the first set of battery terminals and the second set of battery terminals;
- and
- a controller configured to control switching operations of the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit to regulate a supply of power to the motor such that, in the first mode of operation, the first switch circuit energizes the first set of stator windings from the first battery pack and the second switch circuit energizes the second set of stator windings from the second battery pack, the first and second switch circuits being electrically isolated so as to draw current in a parallel configuration from the first and second battery packs while electrically isolating the first and second battery packs to prevent flow of current between the first and second battery packs, and in the second mode of operation, both the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit respectively energize the first set of stator windings and the second set of stator windings from the first battery pack.
2 more elements
A power tool comprising:
- an electric brushless direct current (BLDC) motor having a rotor and a stator defining a plurality of phases, the stator including a first set of stator windings and a second set of stator windings;
- a first power supply interface that receives direct current (DC) power from a first battery pack;
- a second power supply interface that receives direct current (DC) power from a second battery pack;
- a power unit including a first switch circuit and a second switch circuit arranged to respectively switchably energize the first set of stator windings and the second set of stator windings from one or both of the first battery pack and the second battery pack;
- a selector switch that couples the first battery pack to both the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit in a first switch position wherein only the first battery pack is coupled to the power tool, and couples the first battery pack to the first switch circuit and the second battery pack to the second switch circuit in a second switch position where both the first and the second battery packs are coupled to the power tool;
- and
- a controller configured to control switching operations of the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit to regulate a supply of power to the first set of stator windings and the second set of stator windings,
- wherein, in the second switch position, the power unit energizes the first set of stator windings from the first battery pack but not from the second battery pack, and energizes the second set of stator windings from the second battery pack but not from the first battery pack, such that the first and second battery packs supply power to the motor in a parallel configuration while electrically isolating the first and second battery packs, and
- wherein, in the first switch position, the power unit energizes both the first set of stator windings and the second stator windings from the first battery pack.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.