System and method for fault protection of a motor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9742345-B2
Application number	US-201615227439-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2016
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

An exemplary motor driving system includes a power source, a driving circuit, a controller, a motor, and a protection circuit. The driving circuit including at least one switching device coupled with the power source. The motor includes a plurality of windings. The motor is coupled with the driving circuit and driven by the driving circuit. The controller is configured to provide first switch signals to the at least one switching device of the driving circuit in a normal mode. The protection circuit is coupled with the controller, and configured to generate second switch signals based at least in part on a fault signal in a fault mode and provide the second switch signals to the at least one switching device of the driving circuit so as to reconstruct circuit loops between the driving circuit and the plurality of windings. A method for operating the motor driving system is also described.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A motor driving system, comprising:
a power source;
a contactor coupled with the power source;
a motor comprising a plurality of windings;
a plurality of DC/DC converters coupled between the power source and the motor, wherein each DC/DC converter comprises:
an upper switch coupled with corresponding windings of the motor,
a lower switch coupled with a low-voltage terminal of the power source, and
an inductor coupled between the power source and a junction between the upper switch and the lower switch;

a controller configured to provide first switch signals to the plurality of DC/DC converters in a normal mode; and
a protection circuit coupled with the controller, configured to generate second switch signals based on a fault signal in a fault mode, wherein the second switch signals comprise:
an open signal provided to the contactor to cut off the power source from the motor;
a turn-on signal provided to the upper switch of each DC/DC converter; and
a turn-off signal provided to the lower switch of each DC/DC converter.

2. The motor drive system of claim 1 , wherein the motor comprises a permanent magnet (PM) motor.

3. The motor drive system of claim 1 , wherein the fault signal is valid when a motor speed is higher than a predetermined speed.

4. The motor drive system of claim 1 , wherein the fault mode comprises an uncontrollable generation (UCG) mode.

5. The motor drive system of claim 1 , wherein the first switch signals provided by the controller are blocked in a fault mode.

6. The motor drive system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of capacitors, wherein each capacitor is coupled between the upper switch of each DC/DC converter and the low-voltage terminal of the power source.

7. The motor driving system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to implement a proportional-resonant (PR) control algorithm in a voltage control loop.

8. The motor driving system of claim 1 , wherein the switches are one of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).

9. A method for operating a motor driving system, comprising:
providing first switch signals to a plurality of DC/DC converters in a normal mode, wherein each DC/DC converter comprises:
an upper switch coupled with corresponding windings of a motor;
a lower switch coupled with a low-voltage terminal of a power source; and
an inductor coupled between the power source and a junction between the upper switch and the lower switch; and

providing second switch signals to the plurality of DC/DC converters and a contactor based on a fault signal in a fault mode, wherein providing the second switch signals comprise:
blocking the first switch signals;
providing an open signal to the contactor to cut off the power source from the motor;
providing a turn-on signal to the upper switch of each DC/DC converter; and
providing a turn-off signal to the lower switch of each DC/DC converter.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the motor comprises a permanent magnet (PM) motor.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fault signal is valid when a motor speed is higher than a predetermined speed.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fault mode comprises an uncontrollable generation (UCG) mode.

13. A vehicle, comprising:
a power source;
a contactor coupled with the power source;
a motor comprising a plurality of windings;
a plurality of DC/DC converters coupled between the power source and the motor, wherein each DC/DC converter comprises:
an upper switch coupled with corresponding windings of the motor,
a lower switch coupled with a low-voltage terminal of the power source, and
an inductor coupled between the power source and a junction between the upper switch and the lower switch;

a controller configured to provide first switch signals to the plurality of DC/DC converters in a normal mode; and
a protection circuit coupled with the controller, configured to generate second switch signals based on a fault signal in a fault mode, wherein the second switch signals comprise:
an open signal provided to the contactor to cut off the power source from the motor;
a turn-on signal provided to the upper switch of each DC/DC converter; and
a turn-off signal provided to the lower switch of each DC/DC converter.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the motor comprises a permanent magnet (PM) motor.

15. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the fault signal is valid when a motor speed is higher than a predetermined speed.

16. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the fault mode comprises an uncontrollable generation (UCG) mode.

17. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the first switch signals provided by the controller are blocked in a fault mode.

18. The vehicle of claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of capacitors, wherein each capacitor is coupled between the upper switch of each DC/DC converter and the low-voltage terminal of the power source.

19. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to implement a proportional-resonant (PR) control algorithm in a voltage control loop.

20. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the switches are one of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Xu Fei
• Chu Xu
• Kang Pengju
• Wu Heng
• Huang Baoming

Classifications

• H02P23/0077

  Characterised by the use of a particular software algorithm · CPC title

• H02P6/34

  Modelling or simulation for control purposes · CPC title

• H02P27/06

  using DC to AC converters or inverters (H02P27/05 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60L50/52

  characterised by DC-motors · CPC title

• B60L2220/20

  DC electrical machines · CPC title