Sundstrand Corporation

Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation

Sunstrand Corporation

John J Dhyanchand

Vietson M Nguyen

Sampat S Shekhawat

Rasappa Palaniappan

Chai-Nam Ng

Alexander Cook

Jayant G Vaidya

Mahesh J Shah

Pierre S Thollot

Richard A Arbanella

P R Chetty

Donald G Fair

Dwight Schmitt

Lewis E Unnewher

John Horowy

Sampat F Shekhawat

A generator/starter system for starting an engine and for tapping power from the engine in order to generate electricity includes a squirrel cage rotor, a main stator winding, an auxiliary stator winding, and an excitation source. The main stator winding is magnetically coupled to the squirrel cage rotor so as to provide an AC output in response to rotation of the squirrel cage rotor and so as to rotate the squirrel cage rotor in response to an AC input. The auxiliary stator winding is magnetically coupled to the squirrel cage rotor so as to provide excitation current when the main stator winding is providing the AC output. The source of excitation current is coupled to the auxiliary stator winding.

Induction motor/generator system

A summing transformer includes first and second sets of primary windings and first and second sets of secondary windings. The primary windings of the first set are connected in a wye configuration whereas the windings of the second set are connected in a delta configuration and the sets of primary windings are connected to form a wye-delta configuration having terminals coupled to the outputs of an inverter bridge. Each winding of the first set of secondary windings is interconnected with a winding of the second set of secondary windings. Circuitry is provided for operating the inverter bridge such that a stepped phase output waveform is produced at each of a plurality of phase outputs.

Stepped-waveform power converter utilizing a summing transformer and a

The invention is a circuit (60) for controlling the operation of a variable reluctance machine having a plurality of phase windings. Pairs of phase windings (64, 66 or 65, 67) are controlled by a switching circuit having only three power switches which are controlled by a switch controller. Pairs of phase windings may be switched by one or more sets of switches each having the three power switches in several different modes of operation. The invention may be used to control multiple phase machines with an odd number of phases.

Unipolar converter for variable reluctance machines

An inverter (100) in accordance with the present invention for producing an AC output potential from a filter (40) containing an inductance (42) through which current flows to a load (12) in accordance with the invention includes first and second switches (Q1 and Q2) in series between a pair of DC reference potentials with each switch having a conductive and a non-conductive state controlled by control signals applied to control terminals of the switch; first and second freewheeling diodes (46) coupled in parallel respectively between first and second terminals of the first and second switches; a current sensor (38) producing a load current signal proportional to current flowing through the inductance to the load; and a controller (102), responsive to an error signal proportional to a difference between an output voltage produced by the inverter applied to the load and a signal proportional to a desired regulated output voltage of the inverter, a current reference signal varying at a frequency equal to the AC output potential and the load current signal, for producing the control signals applied to the switches which turn on the switches only when current is flowing in the freewheeling diode parallel with the switch being turned on.

Current controlled inverter

A power supply for converting a variable DC input potential (12) to a regulated DC output potential in accordance with the invention includes a plurality of DC to DC converters (300), each converter operating in response to a DC input potential having an operating range, having an input for receiving a DC input potential which is variable in magnitude, and an output for producing the DC output potential, the outputs of the converters being coupled together; a variable voltage divider (18) having an input coupled to the variable input potential, a plurality of connected stages (100) coupled to the input potential, at least one control signal applied to the variable voltage divider for controlling a number of stages across which the variable input potential is dropped; a switching circuit (200), coupled between the variable voltage divider and the plurality of DC to DC converters, responsive to at least one switching control signal, for coupling an output potential developed by at least one of the stages to at least one of the converters as a DC input potential so that each converter to which an output potential from one of the stages is coupled has an input potential within an operating range of the converter; and a controller (500), responsive to the variable input potential, for generating the at least one control signal and the at least one switching signal as a function of the DC input potential.

Power supply and method for producing high voltage high power outputs in

A circuit (40) for controlling a variable reluctance motor in accordance with the invention includes a first switch (Q1) having first and second electrodes, the first electrode being connectable to a first potential (14) of a DC power supply (12) and the second electrode being connected to a first terminal of each phase winding of the motor, and at least one additional switch (Q2-Q4), the first electrode of each additional switch being connected to a second terminal of an associated phase winding and the second electrode of each additional switch being connectable to a second potential (16) of the DC power supply; a number of freewheel diodes (20), a first electrode of each freewheel diode being connected to the second terminal of an associated phase winding and a second electrode of each freewheel diode being connectable to the first potential of the DC power supply; a first diode (24) coupled to the firt terminal of each phase winding; a controller (18) for generating control signals of each of the switches; and a circuit (42) coupled to the first electrode of the first diode, for stopping the current flow in a phase winding connected to the switches being turned off, for generating a potential applied to the phase winding which opposes a potential induced in the phase winding connected to the switches being turned off in response to turning off of the switches to accelerate stopping current flow in the winding connected to the switches being turned off.

Fast current discharging switch for a variable reluctance motor drive

A variable speed, constant frequency aircraft power system uses current sensing diodes to rectify the power generator output. The current flow through pairs of diodes is compared to generate phase currents to detect feeder faults.

Fault detector for aircraft variable speed, constant frequency power

An inverter in accordance with the present invention includes a plurality of bipolar transistors (102) with each bipolar transistor having a freewheeling diode (108) poled in parallel with outputs of the bipolar transistor, a current transformer (112) in a positive feedback circuit (110) associated with each bipolar transistor causing a positive feedback to be applied from an output of the inverter to a base of each bipolar transistor to provide a base drive proportional to current flowing in a load coupled to the bipolar transistors, a rectifier (120), disposed in each of the positive feedback circuits for permitting current to flow to the base of the bipolar transistor when the bipolar transistor is conductive and blocking flow of current from the base to the emitter when the bipolar transistor is not forward biased.

Inverter with proportional base drive controlled by a current transformer

A filter system for removing selected frequencies from AC power provided on at least two phase lines and a neutral line includes a phase-to-phase filter for removing a first selected AC component at a first frequency from the AC power wherein the frequency component has a line-to-phase displacement within first or second ranges. A phase-to-neutral filter is also provided for removing a second selected AC component at a second frequency different from the first frequency from the AC power wherein the second frequency component has a line-to-line phase displacement outside of the first and second ranges.

Inverter input/output filter system

An H-bridge converter connected to a load includes a direct current power source, first and second pairs of switches alternately switched in order to connect the power source to the load, a plurality of snubber circuits correspondingly connected to the switches for protecting the switches from high currents and voltages, a sensing circuit connected between the first and second pairs of switches for sensing when each of the first and second pairs of switches are closed, and a snubber circuit counteracting circuit connected to a first snubber circuit of the first pair of switches, a second snubber circuit of the second pair of switches and to the sensing circuit for counteracting the flow of snubber currents in the sensing circuit from the first and second snubber circuits.

Circuit for eliminating snubber current noise in the sense circuit of an

A DC to DC series-parallel resonant converter (10) having a plurality of switches (Q1-Q4) which are switched alternatively between on and off states to cause electrical current to flow alternatively in first and second directions through a series-resonant circuit (60) Including a variable frequency ramp generator (28) having a reset input (R) for casuing an output ramp signal produced at an output to drop to zero in response to each reset signal; a comparator (30) having an input coupled to the output of the ramp signal generator, a second input for controlling the output DC voltage of the series-parallel resonant circuit and an output which changes level each time the ramp signal reaches the magnitude of the second input; a bistable circuit (32) having first and second outputs (Q, Q) for respectively outputting first and second signals, the output signals changing in response to a change in the output signal of the comparator coupled to the input; a pulse generator (26), coupled to the series-parallel resonant circuit for producing an output pulse train with an output pulse occurring each time the flow of current through the series-resonant circuit changes from one of the first and second directions to another of the first and second directions, the output pulses being applied to the reset input of the variable frequency ramp generator to regulate the frequency of the output ramp signal.

Transistor conduction-angle control for a series-parallel resonant

A system for converting variable frequency multiple phase current into multiple phase current of constant frequency with a neutral having a multiple phase inverter with a neutral (N) is disclosed. A first input (34) is connected to the multiple phase inverter for receiving pulses of a positive polarity. A second input (36) is connected to the multiple phase inverter for receiving pulses of a negative polarity. A variable frequency multiple phase source (12, 14 and 16) of alternating current applies current to a multiple phase transformer (80, 142 and 180). Current from the transformer is applied to a full-wave rectifier (96) which has a first group of diodes (112) which applies the positive pulses to the input (34). A second group of diodes (116) applies the negative pulses to the input (36). The ripple frequency f.sub.r present on the inputs to the multiple phase inverter with neutral is twice the frequency present in the prior art which permits the capacitance of filter capacitors (74, 76) to be reduced to permit effective shunting of the undesired ripple frequency f.sub.r to the neutral which results in a weight savings and lessening of energy at the ripple frequency f.sub.r being coupled to the inverter (38).

System for converting variable frequency multiple phase alternating

A Darlington connected switching circuit (20) having a bipolar driver transistor (22) and at least one driven transistor (24) having a rapid and reliable turn-off characteristic with low losses suitable for use in power applications such as inverters. The collector to emitter potential of the at least one driven transistor is sensed by a comparator (26) to produce an output signal for controlling the conduction of minority carriers from the base of the driven transistor in response to sensing that the emitter to collector potential has become greater in magnitude than a reference potential (Vref) applied to the comparator. The reference potential is chosen to be at least a function of the switching characteristic of the driven transistor. Appropriate selection of the reference potential applied to the comparator insures that the driver transistor is sufficiently turned off to prevent false turn-offs under light load conditions while additionally ensuring that the at least one driven transistor is rapidly turned off after the driver transistor has been turned sufficiently off to prevent possible false turn-offs.

Darlington connected switch having base drive with active turn-off

A Darlington-type amplifier (10) having an input field effect transistor and an output bipolar transistor (T.sub.2) is disclosed with improved turn-off time. Turnoff is enhanced by short-circuiting the gate-to-source or drain capacitance of the input field effect transistor (T.sub.1) and after turnoff is complete of the input field effect transistor prior to turn off of the output bipolar transistor (T.sub.2) coupling the base of the output bipolar transistor to a reference potential to discharge minority carriers therein to complete turnoff.

Darlington amplifier with high speed turnoff

An inverter for producing a one or three phase output with neutral is disclosed. An LC resonant circuit is selectively switched by an inverter to produce one or three phases having a fundamental frequency equal to the frequency of each switching circuit within the phases of the inverter. The outputs are filtered to remove higher harmonics to pass the filtered output to the load. Energy is fed back into the resonant circuit by short circuiting the switching circuits at the time that the ouput voltage across a switching circuit is zero to minimize switching losses.

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Rockford, IL, United States of America

John J Dhyanchand