Patent · US Expired

Motor controller incorporating an electronic circuit for protection against inrush currents

US7050278B2 · kind B2 · utility

99Cited by
11References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMay 21, 2003
Grant dateMay 23, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 5, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH02H9/005
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Inrush currents in the dc intermediate circuit of a motor controller necessitate the incorporation of protection circuits. These circuits usually take the form of a resistor inserted in series with the intermediate circuit, and the resistor is short-circuited after completion of inrush by a switch positioned in parallel with the resistor. To reduce cable-transmitted electrical noise an earthed noise-decoupling capacitor is added to the intermediate circuit, but it also requires protection against inrush currents. To minimise the number of components, a protection circuit is described which combines noise filtration and inrush protection. According to the invention, the inrush resistor has the form of a resistor network and is connected to a switch which via a controller alters the resistance of the resistor network, so that when the switch is open, the resistance to a differential current is greater than the resistance to a common mode current, and when the switch is closed, there is greater resistance to a common mode current than to the differential current.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.