Cryocooler and monitoring method for cryocooler
AssigneeSumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
InventorTakaaki Morie
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The cryocooler includes an expander motor that operates an expander of the cryocooler, an inverter that is configured to control an operation frequency of the expander motor and is operable to drive the expander motor in the steady operation at an operation frequency lower than in the cool-down operation, a current sensor that measures a current supplied from the inverter to the expander motor, and outputs a motor current signal indicating the current; and a processor that monitors the expander motor on a basis of the motor current signal in at least the steady operation.
Claims7
A cryocooler comprising:
- an expander motor that operates an expander of the cryocooler;
- an inverter that is configured to control an operation frequency of the expander motor;
- and
- a processor that monitors the expander motor on a basis of a power consumption signal indicating power consumption of the inverter or the expander motor, wherein:
- the processor comprises an operation frequency/power consumption threshold table in which a plurality of power consumption thresholds are respectively associated with a plurality of values of operation frequency of the expander motor,
- the processor is configured to:
- acquire, on a basis of the operation frequency/power consumption threshold table and a value of the plurality of values of operation frequency of the expander motor, a certain power consumption threshold associated with the value of the operation frequency, and
- monitor the expander motor by comparing the power consumption of the inverter or the expander motor with the certain power consumption threshold on the basis of the power consumption signal.
A monitoring method for a cryocooler, in which the cryocooler includes an expander motor that operates an expander of the cryocooler, and an an inverter that is configured to control an operation frequency of the expander motor and a processor comprising an operation frequency/power consumption threshold table in which a plurality of power consumption thresholds are respectively associated with a plurality of values of operation frequency of the expander motor, the monitoring method comprising:
- acquiring power consumption of the inverter or the expander motor;
- acquiring on a basis of the operation frequency/power consumption threshold table and a value of the plurality of values of operation frequency of the expander motor, a certain power consumption threshold associated with the value of the operation frequency;
- and
- monitoring the expander motor by comparing the power consumption of the inverter or the expander motor with the certain power consumption threshold on a basis of the acquired power consumption.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.