IP Library Granted Patent US 7,859,212
Granted Patent B2
US 7,859,212 · App. 12/074,118 · Granted Dec 28, 2010

Electric drive system with redundancy

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,859,212
App. No.
12/074,118
Granted
Dec 28, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

Circuit configurations for controlling an AC motor drive system wherein the control systems include redundancy features to compensate for possible failed system components.

Claims (26)

1. A high-speed drive system comprising:

an AC electrical motor with N sets of spaced-shifted m-phase windings, wherein each winding is shifted by π/(m*N) from the adjacent winding;

a modular drive system with N active converter modules with a shared dc bus, each converting module connecting to and powering one polyphase winding of said electrical motor;

a plurality of spare converter modules; and

a switching matrix that isolates a failed active module and switches a selected spare module into said modular drive system when an active module fails.

2. A high-speed drive system comprising:

an AC electrical motor with N sets of spaced-shifted m-phase windings, wherein each winding is shifted by π/(m*n) from the adjacent winding;

a modular drive system with N active modules each with an independent rectifier coupled thereto, each rectifier connecting to and powering one polyphase winding of the electrical motor;

a plurality of spare converter modules; and

a switching matrix that isolates a failed active module and switches a selected spare module into said modular drive system when an active module fails.

3. A high-speed drive system comprising;

an AC electrical motor with N sets of spaced-shifted m-phase windings, wherein each winding is shifted by π(m*N) from the adjacent winding;

a modular drive system having a plurality of single phase active converter modules, each active converter module connecting to and powering one phase winding of said electrical motor;

a plurality of spare converter modules; and

a switching matrix that isolates the failed module and/or switches the spare module into the circuit when any active module fails.

4. The drive system of claims 1 , 2 or 3 further including a controller having a centralized processor for sending time-shift controller gate signals to said active and spare converters modules.

5. The drive system of claims 1 , 2 or 3 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module.

6. The drive system of claim 1 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module, one controller serving as a master controller, the remaining controllers being synchronized with said master controller.

7. The drive system of claim 2 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module, one controller serving as master controller, the remaining controllers being synchronized with said master controller.

8. The drive system of claim 3 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module, one controller serving as master controller, the remaining controllers being synchronized with said master controller.

9. The drive system of claim 1 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module, one controller serving as a master controller, the remaining controllers being synchronized with said master controller, said master controller being capable of automatically handed over to a different controller when the master controller fails or resets in order to maintain operation.

10. The drive system of claim 2 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module, one controller serving as a master controller, the remaining controllers being synchronized with said master controller, said master controller being capable of automatically handed over to a different controller when the master controller fails or resets in order to maintain operation.

11. The drive system of claim 3 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module, one controller serving as a master controller, the remaining controllers being synchronized with said master controller, said master controller being capable of automatically handed over to a different controller when the master controller fails or resets in order to maintain operation.

12. The drive system of claim 1 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module independently and having the capability of picking up the load when another controller failed.

13. The drive system of claim 2 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module independently and having the capability of picking up the load when another controller failed.

14. The drive system of claim 3 further including a distributed controller system for controlling said modular drive systems and which comprises a plurality of controllers, each of said controllers controlling a single converter module independently and having the capability of picking up the load when another controller failed.

Assignments (6)
RELEASE OF PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT RECORDED AT R/F 064193/0810 Recorded Aug 9, 2024
From: DNB BANK ASA, NEW YORK BRANCH
To: FMC TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SCHILLING ROBOTICS, LLC
Reel/Frame 068525/0717 →
RELEASE OF PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT RECORDED AT R/F 064193/0870 Recorded Aug 9, 2024
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: FMC TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SCHILLING ROBOTICS, LLC
Reel/Frame 068527/0127 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 3, 2023
From: FMC TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SCHILLING ROBOTICS, LLC
To: DNB BANK ASA, NEW YORK BRANCH, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 064193/0810 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 3, 2023
From: FMC TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SCHILLING ROBOTICS, LLC
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 064193/0870 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 13, 2021
From: DIRECT DRIVE SYSTEMS, INC.
To: FMC TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 055899/0710 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2008
From: PAN, ZHIGUO; SABAN, DANIEL M.; AHMAD, RAED
To: DIRECT DRIVE SYSTEMS, INC.
Reel/Frame 020705/0780 →