Electric compressor
An electric compressor includes a control unit configured to control drive of a motor. The control unit executes: synchronous deceleration control that is performed on conditions that a stop command for the motor has been inputted from the outside and that the number of rotations of a rotor is equal to or less than a predetermined first number of rotations and is greater than a predetermined second number of rotations, and decreases the number of rotations under forced synchronous control based on a current having a predetermined target current value; and stop control that is performed on condition that the number of rotations has reached the second number of rotations under the synchronous deceleration control, and stops rotation of the rotor under braking control that controls drive of predetermined switching element IGBTs of a plurality of switching elements in such a manner as to apply a load to the motor.
1 . An electric compressor comprising:
a compression mechanism configured to compress and discharge a refrigerant;
a motor configured to drive the compression mechanism;
a motor drive circuit connected between the motor and a direct current power supply, the motor drive circuit including a plurality of switching elements; and
a control unit configured to control drive of the motor including sensorless control that increases or reduces the number of rotations of a rotor of the motor while estimating the position of the rotor on the basis of the current value of a current flowing from the motor drive circuit to the motor, wherein
the control unit executes:
synchronous deceleration control that decreases the number of rotations of the rotor under forced synchronous control using a predetermined target current value of the current flowing from the motor drive circuit to the motor, on condition that, at the time of or after a stop command for the motor is inputted from an outside, the number of rotations of the rotor is equal to or less than a predetermined first number of rotations and is greater than a predetermined second number of rotations, wherein the first number of rotations is greater than zero, and the second number of rotations is greater than zero and less than the first number of rotations; and
stop control that stops rotation of the rotor under braking control that controls drive of a predetermined switching element of the plurality of switching elements in such a manner as to apply a load to the motor, on condition that the number of rotations has reached the second number of rotations under the synchronous deceleration control.
2 . The electric compressor according to claim 1 , wherein upon the number of rotations at the time of the input of the stop command from the outside being greater than the first number of rotations, the control unit executes, prior to the synchronous deceleration control, sensorless deceleration control that decreases the number of rotations under the sensorless control until the number of rotations reaches the first number of rotations.
3 . The electric compressor according to claim 1 , comprising a housing that accommodates the compression mechanism, the motor, the drive circuit, and the control unit and is fixed to a vehicle, wherein the second number of rotations is set at a value greater than the number of rotations corresponding to a resonance frequency of a vehicle part including a part of the vehicle to which the housing is fixed.
4 . The electric compressor according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines the target current value of the synchronous deceleration control on the basis of the current value of the sensorless control immediately before a transition from the sensorless control to the synchronous deceleration control.
5 . The electric compressor according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines the target current value of the synchronous deceleration control on the basis of a pressure value of a suction pressure region and a pressure value of a discharge pressure region in the compression mechanism during the execution of the synchronous deceleration control, and changes the determined target current value according to changes in the pressure values.
6 . The electric compressor according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit decreases the number of rotations in a linear deceleration pattern in which deceleration is constant, or in a curved deceleration pattern in which deceleration reduces gradually, under the synchronous deceleration control.
7 . The electric compressor according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit determines a time taken to end the synchronous deceleration control, on the basis of the pressure value of the suction pressure region and the pressure value of the discharge pressure region in the compression mechanism immediately before the transition from the sensorless control to the synchronous deceleration control.
8 . The electric compressor according to claim 1 , wherein the first number of rotations is a minimum operable number of rotations for the sensorless control.