Motor driving method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017366121-A1
Application number	US-201715453633-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 8, 2017
Priority date	Jun 17, 2016
Publication date	Dec 21, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

According to at least some embodiments, a method for driving a motor includes, upon a restart of the motor, determining whether the rotor is rotating based on a signal generated from outputs of at most one Hall sensor. The method further includes, if it is determined that the rotor is rotating, determining a plurality of output duty values for driving a plurality of windings of the motor. The method further includes generating a drive signal for driving the motor based on the determined plurality of output duty values.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for driving a motor including a rotor, the method comprising:
upon a restart of the motor, determining whether the rotor is rotating based on a signal generated from outputs of at most one Hall sensor; if it is determined that the rotor is rotating, determining a plurality of output duty values for driving a plurality of windings of the motor; and generating a drive signal for driving the motor based on the determined plurality of output duty values.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the restart of the motor is caused by a glitch in a power supply voltage.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the drive signal comprises a signal having a sinusoidal configuration.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the signal generated from the outputs of the Hall sensor comprises a frequency generator (FG) signal; and determining whether the rotor is rotating comprises determining whether detection of an edge of the FG signal occurs within a particular duration of time.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining whether the rotor is rotating further comprises:
counting a number of edges of the FG signal that are detected; and comparing the number of edges against a particular threshold.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein determining whether the rotor is rotating further comprises determining a lead angle upon detection of an edge of the FG signal within the particular duration of time.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the lead angle is determined based on a rotational speed of the rotor.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
bypassing the determination of whether the rotor is rotating if the determination is disabled.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
if it is determined that the rotor is not rotating, generating a drive signal for driving the motor.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
if it is determined that the rotor is rotating, beginning drive start processing, as adjusted based on a rotational speed of the rotor.

11 . A system for driving a motor including a rotor, the system comprising:
a drive circuit that: upon a restart of the motor, determines whether the rotor is rotating based on a signal generated from outputs of at most one Hall sensor; if it is determined that the rotor is rotating, determines a plurality of output duty values for driving a plurality of windings of the motor; and generates a drive signal for driving the motor based on the determined plurality of output duty values.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the restart of the motor is caused by a glitch in a power supply voltage.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the drive signal comprises a signal having a sinusoidal configuration.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the signal generated from the outputs of the Hall sensor comprises a frequency generator (FG) signal; and the drive circuit determines whether the rotor is rotating by determining whether detection of an edge of the FG signal occurs within a particular duration of time.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the drive circuit determines whether the rotor is rotating by:
counting a number of edges of the FG signal that are detected; and comparing the number of edges against a particular threshold.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the drive circuit determines a lead angle upon detection of an edge of the FG signal within the particular duration of time.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the lead angle is determined based on a rotational speed of the rotor.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the drive circuit bypasses the determination of whether the rotor is rotating if the determination is disabled.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein, if it is determined that the rotor is not rotating, the drive circuit generates a drive signal for driving the motor.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein, if it is determined that the rotor is rotating, the drive circuit begins drive start processing, as adjusted based on a rotational speed of the rotor.

Assignees

• Semiconductor Components Ind Llc

Inventors

• Kumazawa Fumio
• Ogawa Takashi

Classifications

• H02P6/14

  Electronic commutators · CPC title

• H02P6/20 Primary

  Arrangements for starting (H02P6/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02P6/00

  Arrangements for controlling synchronous motors or other dynamo-electric motors using electronic commutation dependent on the rotor position; Electronic commutators therefor (vector control H02P21/00) · CPC title

• H02P2203/00

  Indexing scheme relating to controlling arrangements characterised by the means for detecting the position of the rotor · CPC title

• H02P1/029

  Restarting, e.g. after power failure · CPC title