Brushless direct current motor

Abstract

The stator winding of a brushless D.C. motor receives two current pulses per 360°-el. of rotor rotation, each current pulse being furnished via a respective current path. Each current path contains at least one power transistor switch having conductive and non-conductive states. These states are determined by respective driver transistor switches; when the driver transistor switch is in a high-output-impedance state the respective power transistor switch is rendered conductive, but when in the low-output-impedance state it renders the power transistor switch non-conductive. In various ways disclosed herein measures are taken to prevent the power transistor switches of both current paths from being simultaneously conductive. This may be accomplished using inherent or discrete base-emitter capacitances so connected that a power transistor switch is switched off abruptly but switches-on only after the elapse of a predetermined delay. Alternatively, the Hall voltage produced by the motor's rotor-position-sensing Hall cell may be applied to comparators such that the power transistor switches are not even commanded to conduct except during respective periods each shorter than 180°-el.

Description

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/928,976, filed Aug. 12, 1992, abandoned; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/448,760, filed Dec. 11, u₁28 and u₁37 u₁128 and u₁137 indicate the comparator reference potentials corresponding to the pulses in lines B and C, and 229 indicates the range of Hall-voltage values within which neither of the module output terminals 128, 137 produces an output pulse. As indicated in line B, each pulse commences delta-t later than the corresponding zero-crossover point of the Hall voltage; and likewise, ends delta-t before the next-following zero-crossover point occurs.

Instead of using the externally accessible, adjustable resistor 203, the two resistors 200, 201 could each be adjustable and externally accessible to produce an equivalent result, but with the additional advantage that the durations of the pulses in line B of FIG. 9 could be selected somewhat independently of those in line C, which may sometimes be helpful in correcting for any tendency of the two symmetrical halves of the module's circuit to operate non-identically. In such case the upper terminals of resistors 200 and 201 could alternatively be connected to the regulated-voltage line 111 and adjustable resistor 203 would not need to be present at all.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of commutation circuits differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in motor having improved commutation circuits, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown and described, since various modifications and structural and circuit changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A brushless direct current motor having a stator provided with at least one stator winding producing an alternating field, the stator winding comprising at least one independently energizable winding path, a permanent magnet rotor, and means for sensing rotor position and generating rotor position signals, the motor furthermore comprising

first and second power transistor means connected to the stator winding and so connected to the rotor-position-signal-generating means as to be rendered alternately conductive by the latter in order to cause the field from the stator winding to alternate between its two different field orientations,

the first and second power transistor means having like output electrodes each connected to a common line, and furthermore having like control electrodes; and

capacitor means connecting the control electrode of the first power transistor means to the control electrode of the second power transistor means in such a fashion that when either one of the power transistor means is in conductive state with the other in non-conductive state, the capacitor means develops across itself a voltage of magnitude and polarity such that when said one and said other power transistor means are thereafter to become, respectively, non-conductive and conductive, said capacitor means voltage acts to initially reverse bias said other power transistor means, thereby delaying assumption by the latter of its conductive state until after said one power transistor means has been non-conductive for a predetermined period of time, whereby to prevent the alternately conductive first and second power transistor means from becoming briefly conductive simultaneously with each other during their interchange of conduction states.

2. A motor as defined in claim 1, said first and second power transistor means respectively comprising a first and a second power transistor, the first and second power transistors being of the same conductivity type, furthermore including third and fourth power transistors of a conductivity type opposite to that of said first and second power transistors, said stator winding comprising a coil having one terminal connected to the collectors of the first and third power transistors and another terminal connected to the collectors of the second and fourth power transistors, whereby to form a four-transistor bridge circuit with said coil being connected in the diagonal of such bridge circuit.

3. A motor as defined in claim 2, furthermore including first and second constant-current sources each connected to the control electrode of a respective one of said first and second power transistors.

4. A motor as defined in claim 2, furthermore including resistor means, said like output electrodes of said first and second power transistors being connected to one terminal of said resistor means whose other terminal is connected to said common line.

5. A motor as defined in claim 1, furthermore including first and second constant-current sources each connected to the control electrode of a respective one of said first and second power transistor means.

6. A motor as defined in claim 1, furthermore including resistor means, said like output electrodes of said first and second power transistor means being connected to one terminal of said resistor means whose other terminal is connected to said common line.

7. Brushless direct current motor having one sensor which operates in accordance with rotor position to supply energizing pulses to adjacent energizing conductors connected in a circuit configured as two mirror-symmetrical halves that operate via amplifying means in a chronological successive manner and employ two lines each connected to a stator winding of the motor, thereby providing zero-power time-intervals of commutation when commutating from one energizing conductor to the next one in sequence, the output voltage of the sensor exhibiting inclined leading edges and inclined trailing edges forming a substantially trapezoidal shaped output signal from the sensor, the amplifying means for commutation purposes being controlled by comparators, the inputs of the comparators being supplied by an output-voltage of the sensor and an adjustable reference voltage, which adjustable reference voltage controls the duration of the zero-power time-intervals of commutation.

8. A motor according to claim 7, wherein the energizing conductors are in a double-line, double-pulse connection on two opposite outputs of a Hall element, and include comparators connected in pairs whose two inputs receive the changing Hall voltage, the comparators connected between a voltage supply from which the switching-on voltage thresholds of the comparators are adjustable by means of a controllable potentiometer.

9. A motor according to claim 8, wherein the adjustable output of the potentiometer is applied to respective positive entry points of the comparators via a resistor each.

10. A brushless direct current motor, comprising:

a stator including a number of radially extending pole shoes and at least one stator winding disposed on said pole shoes, a stator slot being formed between each one of said pole shoes;

a rotor mounted on said stator for rotation about an axis, said rotor having a surface upon which a continuous ring of generally radially oriented permanent magnetic material is mounted wherein a cylindrical air gap is defined between adjacent surfaces of said stator and said permanent magnetic ring, said permanent magnetic ring is magnetized to form at least two radially magnetized permanent magnets of alternating polarity, and the radial magnetization of said permanent magnets varies in a substantially trapezoidal manner in a circumferential direction;

a detector circuit mounted stationary with respect to said stator, said detector circuit operating in accordance with rotor position to generate at least one rotor position signal having a waveform which is generally representative of the magnetization distribution of said permanent magnets; and

a control circuit which receives said at least one rotor position signal and selectively energizes said at least one stator winding in a chronologically successive manner in response thereto, the operation of said control circuit providing a number of zero-power time intervals of commutation, the duration of said zero-power time intervals being controlled in accordance with a threshold voltage, the magnitude of each of said threshold voltages being generally representative of a measured quantity relating to an aspect of operation of said motor.11. The brushless direct current motor 10 wherein said threshold voltage is produced by a temperature sensor.12. The brushless direct current motor of claim 11 wherein said temperature sensor comprises a positive temperature coefficient resistor.13. The brushless direct current motor of claim 10 wherein said waveform exhibits inclined leading and trailing edges and forms a substantially trapezoidal shape.14. The brushless direct current motor of claim 10 wherein said continuous ring of generally radially oriented permanent magnetic material comprises a rubber-magnet.