Brushless machine control
AssigneeSwitched Reluctance Drives Limited
InventorJoseph Gerald Marcinkiewicz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A switched reluctance machine uses a Hall-effect device to detect the flux in the flux path for each machine phase. The flux signal from the Hall-effect device is fed back to a controller which compares the flux feedback with a demand signal to produce an error signal. The error signal is used to control the machine flux using a control law function actuating timed switches for each phase.
Claims31
A brushless electrical machine comprising:
- an unmagnetized rotor;
- an unmagnetized stator;
- at least one phase winding arranged to establish flux in a magnetic circuit in the machine including the rotor and stator;
- and
- a transducer arranged in relation to the magnetic circuit to produce a flux signal indicative of the flux in a flux path associated with the at least one phase winding, the transducer being arranged in the flux path;
- wherein the rotor defines rotor poles and the stator defines stator poles, the rotor and the stator being arranged for relative rotation to define an air gap between the rotor poles and stator poles, the transducer being disposed to border the said air gap.
A brushless electrical machine comprising:
- an unmagnetized rotor;
- an unmagnetized stator;
- at least one phase winding arranged to establish flux in a magnetic circuit in the machine including the rotor and stator;
- and
- a transducer arranged in relation to the magnetic circuit to produce a flux signal indicative of the flux in a flux path associated with the at least one phase winding, wherein the transducer is attached to a stator pole for the at least one phase winding.
A brushless electrical machine comprising:
- an unmagnetized rotor;
- an unmagnetized stator;
- at least one phase winding arranged to establish flux in a magnetic circuit in the machine including the rotor and stator;
- and
- a transducer arranged in relation to the magnetic circuit to produce a flux signal indicative of the flux in a flux path associated with the at least one phase winding;
- wherein at least one of the rotor and the stator has an axial dimension, the transducer being disposed part way along the said axial dimension.
A brushless electrical machine drive system comprising:
- a brushless electrical machine having a rotor, a stator and at least one phase winding arranged to establish flux in a magnetic circuit in the machine;
- transducer means arranged in relation to the magnetic circuit to produce a flux signal indicative of the flux in a flux path associated with the at least one phase winding, wherein the transducer means is arranged in the flux path of at least one phase winding;
- switch means electrically connected with the at least one phase winding;
- and
- flux control means having an input signal representing the demanded output of the machine, which control means is responsive to the input signal and the flux signal to produce control signals for controlling the flux in the or each phase winding;
- wherein the rotor defines rotor poles and the stator defines stator poles, the rotor and stator being arranged for relative rotation to define an air gap between the rotor poles and stator poles, the transducer means being disposed to border the air gap.
A brushless electrical machine drive system comprising:
- a brushless electrical machine having a rotor, a stator and at least one phase winding arranged to establish flux in a magnetic circuit in the machine;
- transducer means arranged in relation to the magnetic circuit to produce a flux signal indicative of the flux in a flux path associated with the at least one phase winding, wherein the transducer means is attached to a stator pole for the at least one phase winding;
- switch means electrically connected with the at least one phase winding;
- and
- flux control means having an input signal representing the demanded output of the machine, which control means is responsive to the input signal and the flux signal to produce control signals for controlling the flux in the or each phase winding.
A method of controlling a brushless electrical machine having a rotor, a stator and at least one phase winding, the rotor defining rotor poles and the stator defining stator poles, the rotor and the stator being arranged for relative rotation to define an air gap between the rotor poles and stator poles, the method comprising:
- arranging a transducer in a magnetic circuit of the machine to produce a flux signal indicative of the flux in the at least one phase winding, the transducer being arranged in the flux path and bordering the air gap;
- producing an input signal representing a demanded output of the machine;
- and
- controlling energization of the at least one phase winding in response to the input signal and the flux signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.