# US 11,909,347 B2 · Stepping motor control device, movement, timepiece, and stepping motor control method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,909,347 B2 - Document ID: US11909347B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/541,779 - Filed: 2021-12-03 - Published: 2022-06-09 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2020-12-08 - Assignees: Seiko Watch Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Seiko Watch Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Akihito Okumura; Kosuke Yamamoto; Tetsuya Nobe; Kazumi Sakumoto - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11909347B2 ## CPC - H02K 7/116: with gears - H02P 8/12: Control or stabilisation of current - H02K 7/14: Structural association with mechanical loads, e.g. with hand-held machine tools or fans (with fan or impeller for cooling the machine H02K9/06) - H02K 37/12: with stationary armatures and rotating magnets - H02P 6/182: using back-emf in windings - H02P 8/02: specially adapted for single-phase or bi-pole stepper motors, e.g. watch-motors, clock-motors - H02K: DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES (dynamo-electric relays H01H53/00; conversion of DC or AC input power into surge output power {H03K3/53}) - H02P: CONTROL OR REGULATION OF ELECTRIC MOTORS, ELECTRIC GENERATORS OR DYNAMO-ELECTRIC CONVERTERS; CONTROLLING TRANSFORMERS, REACTORS OR CHOKE COILS ## Abstract A stepping motor control device includes a driving unit that drives a stepping motor including a rotor that rotates a hand and a coil that generates a magnetic flux for rotating the rotor, a control unit that outputs, to the driving unit, a driving pulse for rotating the rotor and a swinging pulse for swinging the rotor, a voltage detecting unit that detects an induced voltage generated in the coil when the rotor vibrates, and a determining unit that determines, based on a result of the detection of the voltage detecting unit, a mechanical load received by the rotor. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A stepping motor control device comprising: a stepping motor comprising a coil that is energized by a driving pulse to rotate a rotor that rotates a hand; a control unit configured to output the driving pulse and a swinging pulse for swinging the rotor to the stepping motor in such a manner that the swinging pulse precedes the driving pulse without a replicated swinging pulse having a voltage and a polarity of the swinging pulse applied between the swinging pulse and the driving pulse; a voltage detecting unit configured to detect an induced voltage generated in the coil by swinging of the rotor caused by application of the swinging pulse to the stepping motor; and a determining unit configured to determine a mechanical load received by the rotor, based on the induced voltage detected by the voltage detecting unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the swinging pulse precedes the driving pulse by a predetermined time period. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, further comprising a first gear that rotates according to rotation of the rotor and a second gear that engages with the first gear, the second gear having a load tooth formed mechanically different from a rest of teeth of the second gear, wherein the determining unit is configured to detect a change of the mechanical load that occurs when the first gear becomes in contact with the load tooth of the second gear. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit it configured to control, according to the change of the mechanical load detected by the determining unit, energy of the driving pulse for driving the stepping motor. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The stepping motor control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit is configured to control a pulse duration of the driving pulse to thereby control the energy of the driving pulse. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The stepping motor control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit controls exciting the coil of the stepping motor to control the energy of the driving pulse. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The stepping motor control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit is configured to control a duty ratio of the driving pulse to control the energy of the driving pulse. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The stepping motor control device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit is configured to control a voltage of the driving pulse to control the energy of the driving pulse. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to output a second swinging pulse between the swinging pulse and the driving pulse, wherein the swinging pulse has energy in a first rotation direction, and the second swinging pulse has energy in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The stepping motor control device according to claim 9, wherein the first rotation direction is a normal rotation direction, and the second rotation direction is opposite to the first rotation direction. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The stepping motor control device according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is further configured to output only the first swinging pulse when the swinging pulse is output according to a predetermined cycle at which the driving pulse is output and output both the swinging pulse and the second swinging pulse when the swinging pulse is output at a predetermined timing not corresponding to the predetermined cycle at which the driving pulse is output. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit is further configured to determine the mechanical load when the induced voltage value detected by the voltage detecting unit exceeds a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit is further configured to determine the mechanical load when the induced voltage is detected by the voltage detecting unit within a predetermined period. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to operate in either a swinging pulse output mode in which the swinging pulse is output or a swinging pulse non-output mode in which the swinging pulse is kept from being output. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit drives the stepping motor at a first voltage when the driving pulse is output from the control unit and drives the stepping motor at a second voltage lower than the first voltage when the swinging pulse is output from the control unit. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The stepping motor control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to output the driving pulse at a selected one of different ranks of energy so that the driving pulse is output at a rank of energy higher than the immediately preceding driving pulse when the induced voltage resulting from the mechanical load is determined by the determining unit to be smaller than a predetermined threshold, and the driving pulse is output at a rank of energy smaller than the immediately preceding driving pulse when the induced voltage resulting from the mechanical load is determined by the determining unit to be larger than the predetermined threshold for a predetermined consecutive times or more. ### Claim 17 (depends on 3) The stepping motor control device according to claim 3, wherein the control unit is configured to output the swinging pulse at a selected one of different ranks of energy, and the control unit is further configured to control the swinging pulse in such a manner that every time the second gear makes one turn, the control unit selects one of the different ranks of energy based on a number of times the mechanical load is determined by the determining unit to be larger than a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The stepping motor control device according to claim 17, wherein the control unit is further configured to avoid performing control of the driving pulse while controlling the swinging pulse. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) A movement comprising: the stepping motor control device according to claim 1; and the stepping motor. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) A timepiece comprising the movement according to claim 19. ### Claim 21 A method for controlling a stepping motor that comprises a rotor that rotates a hand and a coil that generates a magnetic flux for rotating the rotor, the method comprising: applying a swinging pulse to the stepping motor for swinging the rotor; applying a driving pulse to the stepping motor to rotate the rotor, the swinging pulse precedes the driving pulse without a replicated swinging pulse having a voltage and a polarity of the swinging pulse applied between the swinging pulse and the driving pulse; detecting an induced voltage generated in the coil by application of the swinging pulse to the stepping motor; and determining a mechanical load received by the rotor, based on the detected induced voltage.