Speed control circuit for a DC brushless motor

Details Speed control circuit for a DC brushless motor Speed control circuit for a DC brushless motor

2002-04-22

2004-11-23

Nappi, Robert (Department: 2837)

Electricity: motive power systems

Induction motor systems

Secondary circuit control

C318S254100, C318S806000, C318S434000, C318S747000, C318S816000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06822419

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speed control circuit for a dc brushless motor and more particularly to a switch circuit and a voltage-detection circuit for changing speeds of the dc brushless motor in response to changes in voltage of the power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, fans are used for forced air cooling of electronic devices, such as a power supply, CPU of a computer, display card, and computer components etc. recently, there is a trend to adjustably operate fans at high or low speed depending upon ambient conditions. In high temperature ambiance, a fan must operate at high speed to reduce or remove heat produced by electronic components so as to ensure that these electronic components are operated normally and that the heat will not damage the electronic components. In low temperature ambiance, the fan must operate at low adequate speed for saving power and decreasing noise.
FIG. 1
illustrates a schematic view of a traditional driver circuit for a single phase dc brushless motor.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, the driver circuit for the single phase dc brushless motor includes a coil L
1
, a Hall element IC
1
, a driver element IC
2
, and a capacitor C
1
. The Hall element IC
1
is used for detecting changes of a permanent magnetic field of a rotor to thereby output weaker Hall voltage. And then the Hall voltage is magnified by the driver circuit IC
2
to further output alternative signals (square waveforms) from two terminals O
1
and O
2
to the bridging transistors Q
1
through Q
4
. The coil L
1
is actuated in turn to change current in direction so as to rotate the rotor.
FIG. 2
illustrates a schematic view of a traditional driver circuit for a double phase dc brushless motor.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, the driver circuit for the double phase dc brushless motor includes a first coil L
1
, a second coil L
2
, a capacitor C
1
, a Hall driver element IC
3
, a first resistor R
1
, a second resistor R
2
, and a transistor Q
1
. The resistors R
1
and R
2
and transistor Q
1
form a rotational speed detective circuit. The Hall driver element IC
3
is used for detecting changes of a permanent magnetic field of a rotor and then the Hall voltage is magnified to output alternative signals (square waveforms) from two terminals O
1
and O
2
to the coils L
1
and L
2
respectively. The coils L
1
and L
2
are actuated in turn to change current so as to rotate the rotor.
In a cooling fan system, there is generally two voltage levels to a driver circuit for various desired amounts of forced air. For example, a high voltage level of 12V control a fan operating at 3000 rpm, and a low voltage level of 6V controls the fan operating at 1500 rpm. Therefore, the cooling fan system operates at different speeds to provide cooling capacity depending upon the ambient condition.
FIG. 3
illustrates a voltage diagram for speed of a traditional dc brushless motor. Between two specific voltages, ranging from 12V to 6V for example, are a high and a low speed. However, the voltage-to-speed curve is nonlinear between the two voltages. When 12V is input to the cooling fan system, the motor is operated the high speed of 3000 rpm; but when the cooling fan system input is changed to 6V, the motor is operated at a low speed of 2000 rpm as a result of the nonlinearity. Accordingly, the cooling fan system fails to certainly operate at a predetermined low speed of 1500 rpm to meet the system demand.
The motor structure and the nonlinear feature limit the traditional dc brushless motor whose speed cannot be adjusted depending upon the system needs. In order to improve these limitations of the traditional motor to perform desired speeds, it is necessary to be redesigned.
The present invention intends to provide a speed control circuit comprising a switch circuit and a voltage-detection circuit used for adjusting an operating voltage depending upon speeds of the motor. The operating voltage of desired speed of the motor is determined by the rated range of input voltage in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a speed control circuit for a dc brushless motor comprising a switch circuit and a voltage-detection circuit used for adjusting operating voltage depending upon speeds of the motor.
The secondary objective of this invention is to provide a speed control circuit for a dc brushless motor using a switch circuit to determine an operating voltage of low speed.
The present invention is a speed control circuit for a dc brushless motor. The speed control circuit includes a switch circuit and a voltage-detection circuit. The voltage-detection circuit is actuated depending upon high or low voltage of power supply to thereby determine the switch circuit to output high or low operating voltage to a driver circuit of the motor in response to changes of the voltage of the power supply. The motor is adjusted and operated at desired speeds by a rated range of input voltage according to the high or low operating voltage.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
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patent: 4286198 (1981-08-01), de Valroger
patent: 4321515 (1982-03-01), Honda
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patent: 6172476 (2001-01-01), Tolbert et al.
patent: 6304046 (2001-10-01), Lee et al.

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