Drive apparatus for rotating electric machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11196315-B2
Application number	US-202016989641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2020
Priority date	Feb 9, 2018
Publication date	Dec 7, 2021
Grant date	Dec 7, 2021

Abstract

A drive apparatus is provided for driving a rotating electric machine having first and second multi-phase coils. The drive apparatus includes first and second inverters, first and second shift switches, and first and second energization controllers. The first energization controller is configured to turn on and off, for each of phase windings of the first and second multi-phase coils, one corresponding pair of upper-arm and lower-arm switches of the first and second inverters while keeping the first and second shift switches in an OFF state. The second energization controller is configured to turn on and off, for each corresponding pair of the phase windings of the first and second multi-phase coils, one corresponding upper-arm switch of the first inverter and one corresponding lower-arm switch of the second inverter respectively for first energization periods and second energization periods that are alternately set while keeping the shift switches in an ON state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A drive apparatus for driving a rotating electric machine,
the rotating electric machine comprising a stator core and first and second multi-phase coils wound on the stator core, the first multi-phase coil being composed of at least three phase windings that are connected together to define a first neutral point therebetween, the second multi-phase coil being composed of at least three phase windings that are connected together to define a second neutral point therebetween,
the drive apparatus comprising:
a first inverter connected with a DC power supply, the first inverter including at least three switch pairs respectively corresponding to the phase windings of the first multi-phase coil and each consisting of an upper-arm switch and a lower-arm switch that are connected in series with each other, the first inverter being configured to energize each of the phase windings of the first multi-phase coil by turning on and off the corresponding upper-arm and lower-arm switches of the first inverter;
a second inverter connected with the DC power supply, the second inverter including at least three switch pairs respectively corresponding to the phase windings of the second multi-phase coil and each consisting of an upper-arm switch and a lower-arm switch that are connected in series with each other, the second inverter being configured to energize each of the phase windings of the second multi-phase coil by turning on and off the corresponding upper-arm and lower-arm switches of the second inverter;
a first shift switch provided in an electrical path that connects the first neutral point of the first multi-phase coil to a lower potential side of the DC power supply;
a second shift switch provided in an electrical path that connects the second neutral point of the second multi-phase coil to a higher potential side of the DC power supply;
a first energization controller configured to control energization of the first and second multi-phase coils by turning on and off, for each of the phase windings of the first and second multi-phase coils, the corresponding upper-arm and lower-arm switches in a complementary manner for a same energization period while keeping both the first and second shift switches in an OFF state; and
a second energization controller configured to control energization of the first and second multi-phase coils by turning on and off, for each corresponding pair of one of the phase windings of the first multi-phase coil and one of the phase windings of the second multi-phase coil, the upper-arm switch of the first inverter corresponding to the phase winding of the first multi-phase coil and the lower-arm switch of the second inverter corresponding to the phase winding of the second multi-phase coil respectively for first energization periods and second energization periods while keeping both the first and second shift switches in an ON state, the first energization periods being set alternately with the second energization periods,
wherein
each of the upper-arm and lower-arm switches of the first and second inverters is configured with a semiconductor switching element having a flyback diode connected in antiparallel thereto,
the first inverter further includes a plurality of first cut-off switches each of which is configured to cut off, during a shift from an energization state where a corresponding one of the upper-arm switches of the first inverter is turned on and off by the second energization controller to an energization state where a corresponding one of the lower-arm switches of the second inverter is turned on and off by the second energization controller, a first return current path that includes the flyback diode of a corresponding one of the lower-arm switches of the first inverter and a corresponding one of the phase windings of the first multi-phase coil, and
the second inverter further includes a plurality of second cut-off switches each of which is configured to cut off, during a shift from an energization state where a corresponding one of the lower-arm switches of the second inverter is turned on and off by the second energization controller to an energization state where a corresponding one of the upper-arm switches of the first inverter is turned on and off by the second energization controller, a second return current path that includes the flyback diode of a corresponding one of the upper-arm switches of the second inverter and a corresponding one of the phase windings of the second multi-phase coil.

2. The drive apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein each of the first cut-off switches is provided in an AC line, which connects an intermediate point between the corresponding upper-arm and lower-arm switches of the first inverter and the corresponding phase winding of the first multi-phase coil, to selectively allow and block flow of electric current through the AC line,
each of the second cut-off switches is provided in an AC line, which connects an intermediate point between the corresponding upper-arm and lower-arm switches of the second inverter and the corresponding phase winding of the second multi-phase coil, to selectively allow and block flow of electric current through the AC line,
the first energization controller is configured to keep, when controlling energization of the first and second multi-phase coils, both the first and second shift switches in the OFF state and all of the first and second cut-off switches of the first and second inverters in an ON state, and
the second energization controller is configured to:
keep, during each of the first energization periods for which one of the upper-arm switches of the first inverter is turned on and off, both the first and second shift switches in the ON state, the first cut-off switch corresponding to the upper-arm switch of the first inverter in the ON state and the second cut-off switch corresponding to the upper-arm switch of the first inverter in an OFF state; and
keep, during each of the second energization periods for which one of the lower-arm switches of the second inverter is turned on and off, both the first and second shift switches in the ON state, the first cut-off switch corresponding to the lower-arm switch of the second inverter in an OFF state and the second cut-off switch corresponding to the lower-arm switch of the second inverter in the ON state.

3. The drive apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein each of the lower-arm switches of the first inverter is configured with a pair of semiconductor switching elements connected in series with each other and having respective flyback diodes oriented in opposite directions to each other,
each of the upper-arm switches of the second inverter is configured with a pair of semiconductor switching elements connected in series with each other and having respective flyback diodes oriented in opposite directions to each other,
each of the first cut-off switches is constituted of the pair of semiconductor switching elements of the corresponding lower-arm switch of the first inverter, and
each of the second cut-off switches is constituted of the pair of semiconductor switching elements of the corresponding upper-arm switch of the second inverter.

4. The drive apparatus as set forth in claim 3 , wherein the first energization controller is configured to:
turn on and off, for each of the phase windings of the first multi-phase coil, the corresponding upper-arm switch of the first inverter and one of the pair of semiconductor switching elements of the corresponding lower-arm switch of the first inverter in a complementary manner while keeping the other of the pair of semiconductor switching elements of the corresponding lower-arm switch in an ON state; and
turn on and off, for each of the phase windings of the second multi-phase coil, the corresponding lower-a

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Kinjo Hirofumi
• Taniguchi Makoto

Classifications

• H02P27/08 Primary

  with pulse width modulation · CPC title

• H02M7/493

  the static converters being arranged for operation in parallel · CPC title

• H02M1/0043

  Converters switched with a phase shift, i.e. interleaved (non-isolated DC/DC converters H02M3/1586) · CPC title

• H02K3/28 Primary

  Layout of windings or of connections between windings (windings for pole-changing H02K17/06, H02K17/14, H02K19/12, H02K19/32) · CPC title

• H02K11/33

  Drive circuits, e.g. power electronics (H02K11/38 takes precedence) · CPC title