Electric-motor control apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10972042-B2
Application number	US-201716320115-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2017
Priority date	Apr 20, 2017
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

An electric-motor control apparatus includes: a command generation unit; a drive detector; a drive-current detection unit; a current-control computation unit; a steady-state-load calculation unit; a first steady-state-load reference-value storage unit; and a tension-variation analysis unit. The command generation unit outputs a drive command signal of an electric motor; the drive detector outputs a drive detection signal of the electric motor; the control computation unit receives the drive detection signal and the drive command signal and outputs a current command value; the drive-current detection unit outputs a drive-current detection value; the current-control computation unit outputs the drive current to the electric motor; and the steady-state-load calculation unit outputs a steady-state-load calculation value. The first steady-state-load reference-value storage unit stores a first steady-state-load reference value; and the tension-variation analysis unit outputs a tension-variation analysis value.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electric-motor control apparatus to control an electric motor that is a driving source in a driver that transfers torque from the driving source to a load by using a belt, the apparatus comprising:
a command generator to output a drive command signal that indicates a desired value of an angle, an angular velocity, or an angular acceleration of the electric motor;
a drive detector to output a drive detection signal that indicates a value of the angle, the angular velocity, or the angular acceleration of the electric motor;
a control computer to receive the drive detection signal and the drive command signal and output a current command value that is a desired value of a drive current to be supplied to the electric motor;
a drive-current detector to output a drive-current detection value that is a value of the drive current;
a current-control computer to receive the current command value and the drive-current detection value and output the drive current to the electric motor;
a steady-state-load calculator to receive the drive-current detection value or the current command value, and the drive detection signal and output a steady-state-load calculation value that indicates a magnitude of a steady-state load applied to the electric motor;
a first steady-state-load reference-value storage to store a first steady-state-load reference value that is a reference value of the steady-state load applied to the electric motor; and
a tension-variation analyzer to output a tension-variation analysis value that indicates a state of installation tension of the belt on a basis of a comparison between the steady-state-load calculation value and the first steady-state-load reference value.

2. The electric-motor control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the steady-state-load calculator calculates the steady-state-load calculation value by calculating torque generated by the electric motor, acceleration/deceleration torque taken to accelerate/decelerate the driver, and viscous friction torque generated due to viscous friction in the driver on a basis of the drive-current detection value and the drive detection signal and subtracting the acceleration/deceleration torque and the viscous friction torque from the torque generated by the electric motor.

3. The electric-motor control apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a first tension reference-value storage to store a first tension reference value that is a reference value of the installation tension of the belt,
wherein the tension-variation analysis value is a value of the installation tension of the belt calculated by the tension-variation analyzer on a basis of a comparison between the first steady-state-load reference value that is associated with the first tension reference value, and the steady-state-load calculation value.

4. The electric-motor control apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a second steady-state-load reference-value storage to store a second steady-state-load reference value; and
a second tension reference-value storage to store a second tension reference value,
wherein the tension-variation analyzer outputs the tension-variation analysis value on a basis of a comparison between a relationship defined using the first steady-state-load reference value that is associated with the first tension reference value and the second steady-state-load reference value that is associated with the second tension reference value, and the steady-state-load calculation value.

5. The electric-motor control apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising a tension-variation analysis controller to output one of a first signal that indicates a time period when the first steady-state-load reference value is calculated, a second signal that indicates a time period when the tension-variation analysis value is calculated, and a third signal that indicates a time period when the second steady-state-load reference value is calculated on a basis of time, the drive command signal, or the drive detection signal,
wherein the first steady-state-load reference-value storage calculates the first steady-state-load reference value on a basis of the steady-state-load calculation value and stores a result in a time period when the first signal is received, and the second steady-state-load reference-value storage calculates the second steady-state-load reference value on a basis of the steady-state-load calculation value in a time period when the third signal is received, and
the tension-variation analyzer outputs the tension-variation analysis value in a time period when the second signal is received.

6. The electric-motor control apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a tension-variation analysis controller to output one of a first signal that indicates a time period when the first steady-state-load reference value is calculated and a second signal that indicates a time period when the tension-variation analysis value is calculated on a basis of time, the drive command signal, or the drive detection signal,
wherein the first steady-state-load reference-value storage calculates the first steady-state-load reference value on a basis of the steady-state-load calculation value and stores a result in a time period when the first signal is received, and
the tension-variation analyzer outputs the tension-variation analysis value in a time period when the second signal is received.

7. The electric-motor control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first steady-state-load reference value that is stored in the first steady-state-load reference-value storage is a value that indicates a magnitude of a steady-state load applied to the electric motor when the installation tension of the belt is set to a certain value, and
the tension-variation analyzer outputs the tension-variation analysis value that indicates an anomaly of the installation tension of the belt when the steady-state-load calculation value is equal to or smaller than the first steady-state-load reference value.

8. An electric-motor control apparatus to control an electric motor that is a driving source in a driver that transfers torque from the driving source to a load by using a belt, the apparatus comprising:
a command generator to output a drive command signal that indicates a desired value of an angle, an angular velocity, or an angular acceleration of the electric motor;
a drive detector to output a drive detection signal that indicates a value of the angle, the angular velocity, or the angular acceleration of the electric motor;
a control computer to receive the drive detection signal and the drive command signal and output a current command value that is a desired value of a magnitude of a drive current to be supplied to the electric motor;
a drive-current detector to output a drive-current detection value that indicates a value of the drive current;
a current-control computer to receive the current command value and the drive-current detection value and output the drive current to the electric motor;
an average-load calculator to receive the drive-current detection value or the current command value and output an average-load calculation value that indicates an average value of a load applied to the electric motor;
an average-load reference-value storage to store an average-load reference value that indicates an average reference value of the load applied to the electric motor; and
a tension-variation analyzer to output a tension-variation analysis value that indicates a state of installation tension of the belt on a basis of a comparison between the average-load calculation value and the average-load reference value.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Sekiguchi Hiroyuki
• Takano Naoto

Classifications

• H02P29/40 Primary

  Regulating or controlling the amount of current drawn or delivered by the motor for controlling the mechanical load · CPC title

• H02P6/28

  Arrangements for controlling current (H02P6/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02P23/12

  Observer control, e.g. using Luenberger observers or Kalman filters · CPC title