Movement, electronic timepiece, and motor drive control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10958199-B2
Application number	US-201916520500-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2019
Priority date	Jul 25, 2018
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

Provided is a motor drive circuit capable of driving a stepper motor even if the load on the stepper motor varies. A motor drive circuit has a first drive circuit that outputs a first drive signal to the driver; a second drive circuit that outputs a second drive signal to the driver; a controller that controls the first drive circuit and second drive circuit. The first drive circuit is configured to output a first drive signal based on the current value of current flow of a coil of a stepper motor. The second drive circuit is configured to output multiple types of second drive signals that differ by the supply time of drive current supplied to the coil. Based on a result of driving by the first drive circuit, the controller selects the type of second drive signal the second drive circuit outputs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A movement comprising:
a stepper motor having a coil and a rotor;
a driver configured to supply to the coil of the stepper motor a drive current corresponding to an input drive signal to drive the rotor;
a current detection circuit configured to detect a current value of the drive current flowing in the coil;
a first drive circuit configured to output a first drive signal to the driver based on the current value detected by the current detection circuit;
a second drive circuit configured to output a plurality of second drive signals to the driver, periods of time for supplying the drive current being different among the plurality of second drive signals; and
a controller configured to select, based on a driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit, one of the plurality of second drive signals and supply the selected one of the plurality of second drive signals to the driver to drive the stepper motor,
wherein the plurality of second drive signals includes a first drive pulse and a second drive pulse, and a period of time for supplying the drive current of the first drive pulse is longer than a period of time for supplying the drive current of the second drive pulse,
the second drive circuit has a rotation detection circuit configured to detect rotation of the rotor of the stepper motor,
the controller is configured to:
select the first drive pulse as the input drive signal when the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal satisfies a first predetermined condition; and
select the second drive pulse as the input drive signal when the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal satisfies a second predetermined condition, and

the second drive circuit is configured to output a predetermined compensating drive pulse as the input drive signal when the rotation detection circuit detects that the rotor is not rotated after the input signal corresponding to the second drive signal is supplied to the stepper motor.

2. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to set a rotation detection condition of the rotation detection circuit based on the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit.

3. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein, after the second drive circuit outputs the predetermined compensating drive pulse as the input drive signal and the rotation detection circuit detects that the rotor is rotated, the controller is configured to cause the first drive circuit to output the first drive signal to drive the stepper motor.

4. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller causes the first drive circuit to output the first drive signal to the driver at a regular interval to drive the stepper motor, and
after the stepper motor is driven by one of the first drive signals, the controller causes the second drive circuit to output one of the plurality of second drive signals to drive the stepper motor until the first drive circuit outputs a next one of the first drive signals.

5. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when a period of time from starting driving of the stepper motor by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit until a current flow direction of the drive current flowing in the coil is changed is longer than a predetermined period of time, the controller determines that the driving result satisfies the first predetermined condition.

6. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when a period of time from starting driving of the stepper motor by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit until a current flow direction of the drive current flowing in the coil is changed is equal to or shorter than a predetermined period of time, the controller determines that the driving result satisfies the second predetermined condition.

7. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to detect an error state based on the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit.

8. The movement according to claim 1 ,
wherein the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit corresponds to a period of time from starting driving of the stepper motor by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit until a current flow direction of the drive current flowing in the coil is changed.

9. An electronic timepiece comprising:
a dial;
a hand disposed over the dial, the hand being movable with respect to the dial;
the movement according to claim 1 ; and
a case housing the dial, the hand, and the movement.

10. The movement according to claim 2 ,
wherein the rotation detection condition is a detection mask time, a detection pulse width, or a detection pulse count.

11. A motor drive control method of driving a stepper motor, comprising:
detecting a current value of a drive current flowing in a coil of the stepper motor;
supplying a first drive signal to drive the stepper motor based on the detected current value;
determining a driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal;
supplying a first drive pulse of a plurality of first drive signals to drive the stepper motor when the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal satisfies a first predetermined condition;
supplying a second drive pulse of the plurality of second drive signals to drive the stepper motor when the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal satisfies a second predetermined condition, a period of time for supplying the drive current of the first drive pulse being longer than a period of time for supplying the drive current of the second drive pulse; and
supplying a predetermined compensating drive pulse to drive the stepper motor when a rotor of the stepper motor is not rotated after the first drive pulse or the second drive pulse is supplied to the stepper motor.

12. A movement comprising:
a stepper motor having a coil and a rotor;
a driver configured to supply to the coil of the stepper motor a drive current corresponding to an input drive signal to drive the rotor;
a current detection circuit configured to detect a current value of the drive current flowing in the coil;
a first drive circuit configured to output a first drive signal to the driver based on the current value detected by the current detection circuit;
a second drive circuit configured to output a plurality of second drive signals to the driver, drive pulse widths being different among the plurality of second drive signals; and
a controller configured to select, based on a driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal from the first drive circuit, one of the plurality of second drive signals and to supply the selected one of the plurality of second drive signals to the driver to drive the stepper motor,
wherein the plurality of second drive signals includes a first drive pulse and a second drive pulse, and a first drive pulse width of the first drive pulse is larger than a second drive pulse width of the second drive pulse,
the controller is configured to:
select the first drive pulse as the input drive signal when the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal satisfies a first predetermined condition; and
select the second drive pulse as the input drive signal when the driving result of the stepper motor driven by the first drive signal satisfies a second predetermined condition,

when a period of time from starting d

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Nagahama Reiko
• Kawaguchi Takashi

Classifications

• G04C3/143

  Means to reduce power consumption by reducing pulse width or amplitude and related problems, e.g. detection of unwanted or missing step · CPC title

• G04C17/0066

  electromagnetically driven, e.g. intermittently (clocks incorporating a stepping motor G04C3/14) · CPC title

• H02P8/02

  specially adapted for single-phase or bi-pole stepper motors, e.g. watch-motors, clock-motors · CPC title

• G04C3/14 Primary

  incorporating a stepping motor (G04C3/02 - G04C3/12 take precedence {; generating commutating pulses in primary clocks G04C13/0463}) · CPC title

• H02P8/12 Primary

  Control or stabilisation of current · CPC title