Three-phase electronic control unit for enclosure air conditioners

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11083112-B2
Application number	US-201916520180-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 23, 2019
Priority date	Jul 23, 2018
Publication date	Aug 3, 2021
Grant date	Aug 3, 2021

Abstract

A thermal management system for an enclosure containing electrical components includes a cooling unit for controlling temperature inside the enclosure and a controller for the cooling unit, the controller being configured so that it can receive a three-phase power input signal and distribute power and control connected components using the three-phase signal. The controller can protect the compressor in critical scenarios such as thermal overload and overcurrent. The controller can output various faults such as missing phase alarm, imbalance phase alarm, overcurrent alarm, thermal overload alarm, door open alarm, and temperature and pressure alarms. An auto phase sequence correction controls the phase relay, accepting 3 phase 480 VAC power input from facility power terminal, supplying 3 phase power to the compressor and motor impellers, 12V DC power to a display unit, and 24V DC power to a remote access control module.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A thermal management system for an enclosure containing electrical components, the thermal management system comprising:
a cooling unit mounted on the enclosure such that the cooling unit cools an interior space of the enclosure, the cooling unit having an impeller and a compressor; and
a control unit in electrical communication with the cooling unit and with a power supply that generates a three-phase alternating-current (AC) input power at an input voltage, the input power comprising a first phase, a second phase, and a third phase, the control unit comprising:
a rectification circuit configured to receive the AC input power and rectify the AC input power to output a direct current (DC) output power having a rectified DC voltage;
a phase detection circuit coupled to the rectification circuit and configured to output a plurality of phase sequence signals indicating an order of the first, second, and third phases, the plurality of phase sequence signals including a first phase signal representing the first phase, a second phase signal representing the second phase, and a third phase signal representing the third phase;
a phase correction circuit comprising a first relay configured to receive the second phase and the third phase of the AC input power, and a second relay configured to receive the second phase and the third phase of the AC input power, the first and second relays being selectively activated to output a corrected second phase and a corrected third phase, the control unit providing to the cooling unit a corrected input power comprising the first phase, the corrected second phase, and the corrected third phase; and
a microcontroller coupled to the phase detection circuit, the phase correction circuit, and the rectification circuit, the microcontroller configured to:
receive the first phase signal, the second phase signal, and the third phase signal; and
activate one of the first relay and the second relay based on the first phase signal, the second phase signal, and the third phase signal, wherein to activate one of the first relay and the second relay, the microcontroller sends to the phase correction circuit one or both of a forward command signal and a reverse command signal, and wherein the phase correction circuit is configured to:
activate the first relay in response to the forward command signal;
activate the second relay in response to the reverse command signal; and
not activate either the first relay or the second relay when both the forward command signal and the reverse command signal are received.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit does not include a transformer with a primary winding that receives the AC input power and a secondary winding that provides the corrected input power to at least one of the compressor and the impeller.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising a current sensing circuit coupled to the rectification circuit and to the phase correction circuit and receiving the first phase, the corrected second phase, and the corrected third phase, and configured to output a digital first phase signal corresponding to a first phase current amplitude, a digital second phase signal corresponding to a corrected second phase current amplitude, and a digital third phase signal corresponding to a corrected third phase current amplitude, and wherein the microcontroller is further configured to:
receive the first digital current signal;
receive the second digital current signal;
receive the third digital current signal;
determine at least one of the first digital current signal, the second digital current signal, and the third digital current signal are above a predetermined threshold; and
determine an overcurrent fault has occurred.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising a compressor control circuit comprising at least one switch and coupled to the phase correction circuit and to the microcontroller, the compressor control circuit receiving the corrected second phase and the corrected third phase and configured to selectively provide the corrected second phase and the corrected third phase to the compressor in response to a compressor control signal received from the microcontroller.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the current sensing circuit comprises a current sensor comprising a comparator coupled to the rectification circuit.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a heater control circuit coupled to the microcontroller and configured to activate a heater in response to a heater control signal, wherein the microcontroller is configured to provide the heater control signal to the heater control circuit.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the rectification circuit is configured to output a 3.3 VDC voltage supply, a 6 VDC voltage supply, a 12 VDC voltage supply, and a 24 VDC voltage supply.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the phase detection circuit further comprises at least one op-amp, the phase detection circuit being configured to receive the 3.3 VDC voltage supply and produce a 0.2 VDC voltage supply, the 0.2 VDC voltage supply being coupled to the at least one op-amp, the op-amp configured to compare the 0.2 VDC voltage supply to the first phase.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the input voltage is 460 VAC.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a temperature sensor circuit coupled to a temperature sensor and the microcontroller and configured to output an environmental temperature signal to the microcontroller, and wherein the microcontroller is further configured to:
receive the environmental temperature signal;
determine that the environmental temperature signal is above a predetermined threshold; and
output an alarm.

11. A thermal management system for an enclosure containing electrical components, the thermal management system comprising:
a cooling unit mounted on the enclosure such that the cooling unit cools an interior space of the enclosure, the cooling unit having an impeller and a compressor; and
a control unit in electronic communication with the cooling unit and a power supply that generates a three-phase alternating-current (AC) input power at an input voltage, the AC input power comprising a first phase, a second phase, and a third phase, wherein the control unit does not include a transformer with a primary winding that receives the AC input power and a secondary winding that provides output power to at least one of the compressor and the impeller, the control unit comprising:
a phase correction circuit comprising a first relay configured to receive the second phase and the third phase of the AC input power, and a second relay configured to receive the second phase and the third phase of the AC input power, the first and second relays being selectively activated to output a corrected second phase and a corrected third phase, the control unit providing to the cooling unit a corrected input power comprising the first phase, the corrected second phase, and the corrected third phase; and
a microcontroller coupled to the phase correction circuit,
wherein to activate one of the first relay and the second relay, the microcontroller sends to the phase correction circuit one or both of a forward command signal and a reverse command signal, and wherein the phase correction circuit is configured to:
activate the first relay in response to the forward command signal;
activate the second relay in response to the reverse command signal; and
not activate either the first relay or the second relay when both the forward command signal and the reverse command signal are received.

12. The system of claim 1

Assignees

• Hoffman Enclosures Inc

Inventors

• Thao Shawn A
• Sowada Mark J
• Rasmussen Michael
• Dickmann Jason
• Divine Victor
• Hanson William J

Classifications

• H02H11/004 Primary

  in case of incorrect phase sequence; with switching for obtaining correct phase sequence (protection of motors against wrong direction of rotation H02H7/097) · CPC title

• H02H7/097

  against wrong direction of rotation · CPC title

• H02H11/002

  in case of inverted polarity or connection; with switching for obtaining correct connection · CPC title

• F25B49/022

  Compressor control arrangements · CPC title

• F25B49/025

  Motor control arrangements · CPC title