Motor current measurement apparatus and method
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics (Shenzhen) R&D Co. Ltd
InventorsDino Costanzo, Xiyu Xu, Chengpan Cai
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Abstract
An apparatus includes a first inverter configured to drive a first motor having a plurality of phases, the first inverter comprising a plurality of inverter legs, each of which is coupled to a corresponding phase of the first motor, a second inverter configured to drive a second motor having a plurality of phases, the second inverter comprising a plurality of inverter legs, each of which is coupled to a corresponding phase of the second motor, and a first current sensor configured to sense currents flowing in the first inverter and the second inverter, wherein the first current sensor is shared by at least by two inverter legs.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a first inverter configured to drive a first motor having a plurality of phases, the first inverter comprising a plurality of inverter legs, each of which is coupled to a corresponding phase of the first motor;
- a second inverter configured to drive a second motor having a plurality of phases, the second inverter comprising a plurality of inverter legs, each of which is coupled to a corresponding phase of the second motor;
- and
- a first current sensor configured to sense currents flowing in the first inverter and the second inverter, wherein the first current sensor is shared by at least by two inverter legs.
A method comprising:
- configuring a first inverter to drive a first motor, wherein the first inverter comprises a plurality of inverter legs, each of which is coupled to a corresponding phase of the first motor;
- configuring a second inverter to drive a second motor, wherein the second inverter comprises a plurality of inverter legs, each of which is coupled to a corresponding phase of the second motor;
- and
- connecting a first current sensor in series with at least two inverter legs, wherein the at least two inverter legs are from two different inverters.
A system comprising:
- a first inverter having a plurality of inverter legs, each of which comprises two switches connected in series;
- a first motor having a plurality of phases, each of which is configured to be driven by a corresponding inverter leg of the first inverter;
- a second inverter having a plurality of inverter legs, each of which comprises two switches connected in series;
- a second motor having a plurality of phases, each of which is configured to be driven by a corresponding inverter leg of the second inverter;
- and
- a current sense apparatus configured to sense currents flowing in the first inverter and the second inverter, wherein the current sense apparatus is shared by at least by two inverter legs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.