Method and apparatus for pulse-width modulation of a variable-frequency drive

1. A method for operating a hydraulic pump system with pulse-width modulation PWM of a variable-frequency drive VFD, comprising:

for each sector of a space vector graph for the PWM of the VFD, identifying at least two possible clamping phases during displacement switching between a flow control mode and a pressure control mode in the hydraulic pump system comprising an electric motor and a hydraulic pump;

comparing currents in multiple clamping phases in at least one PWM cycle by receiving current measurements from current sensors in the hydraulic pump system installed at respective clamping phases and comparing the current measurements of the respective clamping phases;

in the sector of the space vector graph corresponding to the PWM cycle, determining the possible clamping phase with the maximum current in the at least two possible clamping phases;

clamping the determined possible clamping phase with the maximum current, wherein a switch state of the possible clamping phase with the maximum current remains unchanged and only switch states of the other clamping phases change;

obtaining a real-time current magnitude to detect the displacement switching, wherein the steps of comparison, determination and clamping are performed only in large current conditions in which the real-time current magnitude is larger than a threshold during the displacement switching, the threshold designated to ensure that the method is performed only when the current is larger than the threshold; and

operating the hydraulic pump system by the PWM of the VFD by automatically eliminating switching actions in phases with current values larger than the threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two possible clamping phases are two possible clamping phases, the multiple phases are three phases, and in the sector of the space vector graph corresponding to the PWM cycle, determining the possible clamping phase with the maximum current in the at least two possible clamping phases comprises: determining the phase with the largest current and the phase with the second largest current in the three phases; determining whether the phase with the largest current is a possible clamping phase in the sector of space vector graph corresponding to the PWM cycle; upon determining that the phase with the largest current is a possible clamping phase, determining that the phase with the largest current is the possible clamping phase with the maximum current to be clamped; and upon determining that the phase with the largest current is not a possible clamping phase, determining that the phase with the second largest current is the possible clamping phase with the maximum current to be clamped.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the VFD is used in an electro-hydraulic pump system.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the space vector graph is a space voltage vector graph, and the vectors are voltage vectors.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: in the PWM cycle, switching between the vectors while the possible clamping phase with the maximum current in the sector of the space vector graph corresponding to the PWM cycle is clamped.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the VFD is a three-phase VFD, the space vector graph has six sectors, and there are two possible clamping phases in vector switching in each sector.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein currents in the three phases in the PWM cycle are compared to determine the relative magnitude of the current in each phase.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising repeating the steps of comparison, determination and clamping in each PWM cycle performed in the hydraulic pump system.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold is designated by a user.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the threshold is automatically designated.