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US 2022/0190656 A1Published application
Control system for an electric motor/generator
AssigneeLinear Labs, Inc.
InventorFred E. Hunstable
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed are various embodiments for a control system for motor/generator comprising: a controller configured to receive sensor input related to rotation of a plurality of coils relative to a throat of a partial toroidal magnetic cylinder, and energize the coils based on the sensor input.
Claims20
A control system for a generator/motor, comprising:
- a controller coupled to a power rail supply, wherein the power rail supply is configured to energize a positive power rail and a negative power rail that provide positive power and negative power, respectively, to a generator/motor;
- a plurality of sensors coupled to the controller, wherein each of the plurality of sensors is positioned to detect a rotational position of at least one of a plurality of coils of the generator/motor relative to a stator of the generator/motor, wherein the motor includes
- a rotor having a partial toroidal magnetic cylinder positioned within a housing, wherein substantially all interior surfaces of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder have a corresponding magnetic pole of a first polarity that points towards a sectional center of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder to generate flux forces within the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder, and wherein a throat is defined between an entrance and an exit of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder;
- a center shaft positioned along the longitudinal axis and coupled to the toroidal partial magnetic cylinder;
- and
- a stator having a support ring coupled to the housing, the plurality of coils coupled to the support ring and positioned radially about the longitudinal axis and sized to allow the partial toroidal magnetically closed cylinder to rotate about the plurality of coils, and a plurality of magnets fixedly coupled to the support ring and having a polarity orientated to redirect flux forces back into the partial toroidal magnetically closed cylinder;
- and
- a plurality of positive switches coupled to the positive power rail and a plurality of negative switches coupled to the negative power rail, wherein the positive switches and negative switches are further coupled to the coils,
- wherein the controller is configured to execute a switching sequence by receiving input signals from at least a portion of the sensors and controlling a state of each of the positive and negative switches based on the received sensor information in order to energize the coils based on each coil's rotational position relative to the throat.
6 more elements
A control system for a generator/motor, comprising:
- a logic circuit configured to energize a plurality of coils of a motor/generator as the coils rotate relative to a throat of a partial toroidal magnetic cylinder of the motor/generator, wherein the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder has substantially all interior surfaces with a corresponding magnetic pole pointing towards a sectional center of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder to generate flux forces within the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder, and wherein the throat is defined between an entrance and an exit of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder;
- a plurality of junctions, wherein each junction is coupled to two of the coils, and is further coupled to a positive power rail via a positive switch and to a negative power rail via a negative switch, wherein the plurality of coils are electrically connected in series via the junctions;
- and
- a plurality of sensors coupled to the controller, wherein each of the plurality of sensors is positioned to detect a rotational position of at least one of a plurality of coils of the generator/motor relative to the throat,
- wherein the controller is configured to execute a switching sequence by receiving an input signal from at least one of the sensors and controlling a state of each of the positive and negative switches based on the input signal in order to energize the coils based on each coil's rotational position relative to the throat.
2 more elements
A method for controlling a generator/motor, comprising:
- receiving, by a controller, at least one input signal from a sensor, wherein the sensor is configured to indicate a position of one of a plurality of coils of a generator/motor as the coil rotates relative to a throat of a partial toroidal magnetic cylinder of the generator/motor, wherein the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder has substantially all interior surfaces with a corresponding magnetic pole pointing towards a sectional center of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder to generate flux forces within the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder, and wherein the throat is defined between an entrance and an exit of the partial toroidal magnetic cylinder;
- executing, by the controller, a switching sequence based on the input signal by actuating at least a first positive switch of a plurality of positive switches and a first negative switch of a plurality of negative switches, wherein the plurality of positive and negative switches control a supply of positive and negative current, respectively, to the plurality of coils, wherein the actuating applies a first current to all coils within the throat and applies a second current that is opposite the first current to all coils not within the throat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.