Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for controlling brushless DC motors in implantable medical devices

US7138776B1 · kind B1 · utility

110Cited by
28References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 8, 1999
Grant dateNov 21, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 8, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH02P2209/07
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for controlling a polyphase motor in implantable medical device applications are provided. In one embodiment, the polyphase motor is a brushless DC motor. The back emf of a selected phase of the motor is sampled while a drive voltage of the selected phase is substantially zero. Various embodiments utilize sinusoidal or trapezoidal drive voltages. The sampled back emf provides an error signal indicative of the positional error of the rotor. In one embodiment, the sampled back emf is normalized with respect to a commanded angular velocity of the rotor to provide an error signal proportional only to the positional error of the motor rotor. The error signal is provided as feedback to control a frequency of the drive voltage. A speed control generates a speed control signal corresponding to a difference between a commanded angular velocity and an angular velocity inferred from the frequency of the drive voltage. The speed control signal is provided as feedback to control an amplitude of the drive voltage. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a brushless DC motor and a commutation control. The commutation control provides a commutation control signal for a selec…

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