Dual motor system with flow control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12580502-B2
Application number	US-202318483393-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2023
Priority date	Oct 23, 2019
Publication date	Mar 17, 2026
Grant date	Mar 17, 2026

Abstract

A dual motor system includes a first motor providing a lower speed range and a second motor providing a higher speed range, wherein the motors are coaxially arranged and aligned on and drive a common shaft, and a motor control system controlling the speed of the first motor and engaging the second motor as needed. The first motor provides a lower two-thirds of a full speed range, and the second motor provides the upper one-third in the form of one or more discrete fixed speeds. The system may also include a flow control system for automatically controlling the speed of the motors for particular applications, such as flow control in a pool.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A dual motor system with flow control, the dual motor system comprising:
a first motor of a first type including a first stator and a first rotor providing a lower speed range under a first type of control; a second motor of a second type including a second stator and a second rotor providing a higher speed range under a second type of control; a common shaft, wherein the first and second motors are coaxially arranged and aligned on a common axis defined by the common shaft and configured to drive the common shaft; a pump coupled with and driven by the common shaft and configured to pump a volume of a fluid; and a motor control system including a flow control system configured to control the first motor and engage the second motor to control a speed of the common shaft and pumping of the volume of the fluid by the pump, wherein the motor control system engaging the second motor includes—
increasing the speed of the first motor to between two thousand seven hundred and two thousand eight hundred revolutions per minute,
raising a speed demand to between three thousand four hundred and three thousand five hundred revolutions per minute, wherein an actual speed is between two thousand seven hundred and two thousand eight hundred revolutions per minute,
limiting a torque available to a speed control loop, and
waiting for the speed loop demand to reach between three thousand four hundred and three thousand five hundred revolutions per minute and then turning on the second motor.

2 . The dual motor system of claim 1 , the flow control system providing at least four speeds, wherein—
a lowest speed is not more than one-half of a highest speed;
the dual motor system runs at a two higher speeds for no more than twelve hours in a twenty-four hour period; and
the dual motor system does not run continuously at the highest speed for more than two hours in the twenty-four hour period.

3 . The dual motor system of claim 2 , wherein the at least four speeds include—
a first speed which is between thirty and forty percent of the highest speed;
a second speed which is between forty-five and fifty-five percent of the highest speed;
a third speed which is between seventy-five and eighty-five percent of the highest speed; and
a fourth speed which is the highest speed.

4 . The dual motor system of claim 3 , wherein the pump moves a maximum volume of the fluid through a filter in the twenty-four hour period by using the second speed continuously for twelve hours and the fourth speed continuously for twelve hours.

5 . The dual motor system of claim 3 , wherein the pump moves a minimum volume of the fluid through a filter in the twenty-four hour period by using the first speed continuously for twenty-four hours.

6 . The dual motor system of claim 2 , wherein a flow rate corresponding to each speed of the at least four speeds is used by the flow control system to determine a plurality of performance options to accomplish moving the volume of the fluid through a filter in the twenty-four hour period, wherein each performance option provides a different total flow amount.

7 . The dual motor system of claim 6 , wherein each performance option is selectable using an electronic interface and the flow control system uses a real-time clock to engage a selected performance option at an indicated time.

8 . The dual motor system of claim 6 , wherein each performance option is selectable by sending a wireless signal via an electronic communications medium to the flow control system.

9 . The dual motor system of claim 6 , wherein each performance option is selectable by manually adjusting an analog potentiometer coupled with the flow control system.

10 . The dual motor system of claim 6 , wherein each performance option is selectable using a binary coded potentiometer coupled with the flow control system.

11 . The dual motor system of claim 1 , wherein the flow control system includes at least three cycles, including—
an energy saving cycle in which twice the volume of the fluid is moved by the pump through a filter in a twenty-four hour period;
a maximum filtering cycle in which the volume of the fluid is moved through the filter at a maximum filtering capacity of the filter; and
an intermediate cycle in which an average volume of the fluid between the energy saving cycle and the maximum filtering cycle is moved through the filter using a first speed which is between thirty and forty percent of a highest speed.

12 . The dual motor system of claim 1 , wherein the flow control system includes a cleaning mode in which the dual motor system runs at a highest speed for no more than thirty minutes.

13 . A dual motor system with flow control, the dual motor system comprising:
a first motor which is a variable speed synchronous motor providing a lower speed range with a variable speed drive, the first motor having a first rotor; a second motor which is an asynchronous induction motor providing a higher speed range with a non-variable speed drive, the second motor having a second rotor; a common shaft, wherein the first and second motors are coaxially arranged and aligned on a common axis defined by the common shaft and configured to drive the common shaft, with the first and second rotors being fixed to the common shaft; a pump coupled with and driven by the common shaft and configured to pump a volume of a fluid; and a motor control system including a flow control system configured to control the first motor and engage the second motor to control a speed of the common shaft and pumping of the volume of the fluid by the pump, with the flow control system providing at least four speeds, wherein the motor control system engaging the second motor includes—
increasing the speed of the first motor to between two thousand seven hundred and two thousand eight hundred revolutions per minute,
raising a speed demand to between three thousand four hundred and three thousand five hundred revolutions per minute, wherein an actual speed is between two thousand seven hundred and two thousand eight hundred revolutions per minute,
limiting a torque available to a speed control loop, and
waiting for the speed loop demand to reach between three thousand four hundred and three thousand five hundred revolutions per minute and then turning on the second motor.

14 . The dual motor system of claim 13 , wherein the at least four speeds include—
a first speed which is between thirty and forty percent of the highest speed;
a second speed which is between forty-five and fifty-five percent of the highest speed;
a third speed which is between seventy-five and eighty-five percent of the highest speed; and
a fourth speed which is the highest speed.

15 . The dual motor system of claim 13 , wherein the flow control system includes at least three cycles, including—
an energy saving cycle in which twice the volume of the fluid is moved by the pump through a filter in the twenty-four hour period;
a maximum filtering cycle in which the volume of the fluid is moved through the filter at a maximum filtering capacity of the filter; and
an intermediate cycle in which an average volume of the fluid between the energy saving cycle and the maximum filtering cycle is moved through the filter using the lowest speed.

16 . The dual motor system of claim 13 , wherein the flow control system includes a cleaning mode in which the dual motor system runs at the highest speed for no more than thirty minutes.

17 . The dual motor system of claim 13 , wherein the a f

Assignees

• Nidec Motor Corp

Inventors

• Coupart Eric
• Ellis Ii James D
• Rao Pranesh
• Schrader John G
• Clark Bret S

Classifications

• F04D15/0066

  by changing the speed, e.g. of the driving engine · CPC title

• H02P2207/01

  Asynchronous machines · CPC title

• H02P2207/05

  Synchronous machines, e.g. with permanent magnets or DC excitation · CPC title

• F04D13/06

  the pump being electrically driven · CPC title

• F05D2270/335

  Output power or torque · CPC title