The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 25, 2014
Filed:
Jan. 13, 2010
Andreas Donner, Frankfurt, DE;
Christian Gunselmann, Wuppertal, DE;
Andreas Donner, Frankfurt, DE;
Christian Gunselmann, Wuppertal, DE;
Continental Automotive GmbH, , DE;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for operating a brushless electric motor whose windings are driven by an inverter with the aid of six switches, having an identification unit being provided in order to identify defective switches, a unit for voltage measurement at the outputs of the inverter, and a microcontroller for controlling the switches. Particularly in safety-relevant applications, it is important to quickly determine what characteristic the defective switch has, for example in order to continue to operate the electric motor in an emergency mode, or to switch it off immediately. The defect (F, F, F) is traced and the nature of the defect (F, F, F) in a switch determined by using a different voltage (PWM, PWM) to drive those windings (V, W) which are not associated with the defective switch, while a voltage measurement is carried out on the winding (U) associated with the defective switch.