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US 5,491,622 AGranted
Power converter with emergency operating mode for three phase induction motors
AssigneeDelco Electronics Corporation
InventorPaul F. Carosa
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AssigneeDelco Electronics Corporation
InventorPaul F. Carosa
Estimating the term…
A DC-to-AC power converter that is used to drive a three-phase motor while providing for fail soft and emergency operation. The power converter employs a conventional three half-bridge arrangement of power poles and adds a fourth pole to provide for an emergency operation in the event of failure of one of the three normal poles. The fourth (emergency operation) pole is coupled between a pulse width modulated controller and the neutral wire of the motor and is powered by first and second DC power busses. The controller is configured to disable a failed one of the three normal poles, and to control the fourth pole subsequent to disabling of the failed pole. Fuses or other disconnect devices are also added between the three normal poles and the respective windings of the motor. The present power converter allows continued motor operation at a reduced power level in the event of a failure of one of the power poles. The present invention has application to electric vehicle power systems and may be used in a critical process where temporary operation must be maintained.
A power converter for use with a three-phase motor having a neutral wire, and wherein the power converter comprises a pulse width modulation controller that is coupled to three switching poles by means of individual drive circuits, which switching poles are respectively coupled to the winding of each phase of the motor and are separately controlled by the individual drive circuits, and wherein the switching poles are powered by first and second DC power busses coupled thereto, wherein the improvement comprises:
Apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.