Abstract
A system for controlling an electric motor by implementing a synchronized bidirectional rotary dual active bridge, comprising a rotary transformer having a primary side and a secondary side; a first inverter being a first full active bridge, connected between an AC power source and the primary side; a second inverter being a second full active bridge, connected to the secondary side and feeding current to the rotor of the electric motor via the secondary side; a control circuit, for continuously transmitting, via the rotary transformer, synchronization pulses at the switching frequency of the inverters, to operate the second full active bridge independent of the first full active bridge; processing the synchronization pulses to obtain an essentially square wave signal that independently operates the second full active bridge to feed the rotor with predetermined current originated from passing power from the AC power source to the second full active bridge, via the rotary transformer; At the primary side, controlling the phase and the operating duty cycle of the first full active bridge, being in synchronization with the synchronization pulses, to thereby vary the current provided by the second full active bridge to the rotor.
Claims
1-50. (canceled)
51. A method for controlling a synchronized bidirectional dual active bridge power transfer system, comprising: a) providing a transformer having a primary side and a secondary side; b) connecting a first inverter being a first full active bridge between a power source and said primary side; c) connecting a second inverter being a second full active bridge to said secondary side and feeding current to a load via said secondary side; d) continuously transmitting, by a control circuit and via said transformer, synchronization pulses at the switching frequency of said inverters, to operate said second full active bridge independent of said first full active bridge; e) processing said synchronization pulses to obtain an essentially square wave signal that independently operates said second full active bridge to feed said load with predetermined current originated from passing power from said AC power source to said second full active bridge, via said rotary transformer; and f) at the primary side, controlling the phase and the operating duty cycle of said first full active bridge, being in synchronization with said synchronization pulses, to thereby vary the current provided by said second full active bridge to said load.
52. The method according to claim 51, wherein the synchronization pulses are in the form of a square wave signal or short pulses that pass via the transformer from the primary side to the secondary side and processed at said secondary side to reconstruct the square wave signal at said secondary side.
53. The method according to claim 51, wherein the phase of the drive signals, with respect to the synchronization signal, determines the polarity and the magnitude of the voltage that is being developed at the output of the secondary side.
54. The method according to claim 51, wherein whenever the average voltage of the modulated waveform is positive and higher than the voltage across the load, dI/dt is positive and the current flowing in the secondary side will increase and whenever the average voltage of the modulated waveform is negative, dI/dt is negative and the current flowing in the secondary side will decrease.
55. The method according to claim 51, wherein a primary control circuit controls the full bridge at the primary side to modify the phase of the generated waveform with respect to the synchronization signal, so as to increase the current at a desired rate, decrease the current flowing in the secondary side at a desired rate, or reverse the current direction.
56. A method for controlling an electric motor by implementing a synchronized bidirectional rotary dual active bridge, comprising: a) providing a rotary transformer having a primary side and a secondary side; b) connecting a first inverter being a first full active bridge between an AC power source and said primary side; c) connecting a second inverter being a second full active bridge to said secondary side and feeding current to the rotor of said electric motor via said secondary side; d) continuously transmitting, by a control circuit and via said rotary transformer, synchronization pulses at the switching frequency of said inverters, to operate said second full active bridge independent of said first full active bridge; e) processing said synchronization pulses to obtain an essentially square wave signal that independently operates said second full active bridge to feed said rotor with predetermined current originated from passing power from said AC power source to said second full active bridge, via said rotary transformer; and f) at the primary side, controlling the phase and the operating duty cycle of said first full active bridge, being in synchronization with said synchronization pulses, to thereby vary the current provided by said second full active bridge to said rotor.
57. The method according to claim 56, wherein the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side are passed using one or more of the following: optical signals; magnetic coupling; and capacitive coupling.
58. The method according to claim 56, wherein an open ring electrode is mounted on each surface of the rotary transformer which implements the capacitive coupling, on top of an insulating layer.
59. The method according to claim 56, wherein a guard layer is added at each side of the rotary transformer.
60. The method according to claim 56, wherein a segmented open ring electrode is mounted on each surface of the rotary transformer, which implements the capacitive coupling, on top of an insulating layer, to thereby allow multichannel or bidirectional data transfer.
61. The method according to claim 56, wherein the primary side further comprises a serially connected resonating capacitor at the input, for obtaining resonance with serial stray inductance caused by weak magnetic coupling, at the switching frequency, thereby operating as a bidirectional resonant converter.
62. The method according to claim 56, wherein a second bridge is connected in tandem to the first bridge at the secondary side, which during forward power transfer, feeds a load or the rotor of the electric motor, such that current flows from the positive port of said synchronous rectifier into said load.
63. The method according to claim 56, wherein a second bridge at the secondary side is connected in tandem to the first bridge which during backward power transfer, feeds a load or the rotor the electric motor, such that current flows from said load into the positive port of said first bridge, said first bridge operates as an inverter that feeds an AC signal to the secondary winding of said transformer.
64. The method according to claim 56, wherein the synchronous rectifier feeds a load or the rotor of the electric motor via an additional full-bridge consisting of two pairs of opposing transistors and functioning as a polarity switch, such that: during forward power transfer, a) controlling two non-opposing transistors, one from each pair of said full-bridge, to conduct while controlling the other two non-opposing transistors not to conduct, thereby allowing current to flow from the positive port of said synchronous rectifier into said load; and during backward power transfer, b) controlling the other two non-opposing transistors, one from each pair of the full-bridge, to conduct while controlling the remaining two non-opposing transistors to conduct, thereby allowing current to flow from the load into the negative port of the first bridge which now acts as an inverter to facilitate power transfer to the primary, while maintaining its positive voltage polarity of first bridge.
65. The method according to claim 56, wherein a MOSFET transistors bridge feeds a load or the rotor of the electric motor, whereas each of the half bridges consists of an upper and a lower pair of transistors in a back-to back connection, such that said bridge is bidirectional and can accommodate bipolar voltage across it, while: during forward power transfer, c) controlling the lower transistors of each back-to-back connected pairs of said bridge at the secondary to conduct, while controlling the other two opposing transistors of said pair not to conduct, thereby applying a short-circuit on the internal diodes of the conducting transistors, and thus, forming a diode rectifier which allows the current to flow from the secondary side of said transformer via said internal diodes being arranged as a bridge, into said load; during backward power transfer, concurrently: d) controlling the upper back-to-back transistor pairs to conduct; and e) controlling the remaining transistors to operate as an inverter such that current is flowing out of the load, converted to an AC signal and fed to the secondary winding of said transformer, thereby reversing the polarity of the voltage across bidirectional and bipolar bridge which now acts as an inverter and thereby, allowing current to flow from the load to the secondary side and then, to the primary side of transformer.
66. The method according to claim 62, wherein the power transfer level of the inverter on the primary side is controlled by shifting the switching frequency, to thereby vary the current or by using a frequency range being above the resonant frequency.
67. The method according to claim 62, wherein the inverter on the primary side is controlled to produce a bipolar pulse width modulated signal, to thereby generate a duty cycle which varies the current.
68. A synchronized bidirectional dual active bridge power transfer system, comprising: a) a transformer having a primary side and a secondary side; b) a first inverter being a first full active bridge, connected between a power source and said primary side; c) a second inverter being a second full active bridge, connected to said secondary side and feeding current to a load via said secondary side; d) a control circuit for: d.1) continuously transmitting, via said transformer, synchronization pulses at the switching frequency of said inverters, to operate said second full active bridge independent of said first full active bridge; d.2) processing said synchronization pulses to obtain an essentially square wave signal that independently operates said second full active bridge to feed said load with predetermined current originated from passing power from said AC power source to said second full active bridge, via said rotary transformer; and d.3) controlling, at the primary side, the phase and the operating duty cycle of said first full active bridge, being in synchronization with said synchronization pulses, to thereby vary the current provided by said second full active bridge to said load.
69. The system according to claim 68, further comprising a PLL circuit for reconstructing the square wave signal at the secondary side.
70. A system for controlling an electric motor by implementing a synchronized bidirectional rotary dual active bridge, comprising: a) a rotary transformer having a primary side and a secondary side; b) a first inverter being a first full active bridge, connected between an AC power source and said primary side; c) a second inverter being a second full active bridge, connected to said secondary side and feeding current to the rotor of said electric motor via said secondary side; d) a control circuit, for: d.1) continuously transmitting, via said rotary transformer, synchronization pulses at the switching frequency of said inverters, to operate said second full active bridge independent of said first full active bridge; d.2) processing said synchronization pulses to obtain an essentially square wave signal that independently operates said second full active bridge to feed said rotor with predetermined current originated from passing power from said AC power source to said second full active bridge, via said rotary transformer; and d.3) at the primary side, controlling the phase and the operating duty cycle of said first full active bridge, being in synchronization with said synchronization pulses, to thereby vary the current provided by said second full active bridge to said rotor.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0107] The above and other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limitative detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:
[0108] FIG. 1 (prior art) schematically illustrates a simplified cross-sectional view of DC-excited synchronous electric motors;
[0109] FIG. 2 (prior art) shows existing solutions for replacing the combination of brushes and slip-rings is using a rotary transformer;
[0110] FIG. 3 (prior art) shows a rotary transformer used to feed DC current into the rotor by rectifying an AC current using diodes;
[0111] FIGS. 4A-4C (prior art) shows typical required variations in the rotor current;
[0112] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a circuitry for implementing a synchronized bidirectional rotary dual active bridge, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0113] FIG. 6 shows the operation of the system illustrated in FIG. 5 when for a positive output voltage;
[0114] FIG. 7 illustrates the smoothing of the pulsating signal by the leakage inductance and a filter capacitor when the output is positive;
[0115] FIG. 8 shows the operation of the system illustrated in FIG. 5 when the output parity is negative;
[0116] FIG. 9 illustrates the smoothing of the pulsating signal by the leakage inductance and a filter capacitor when the output is negative;
[0117] FIGS. 10a-10c show the effect of leakage inductance in a transformer;
[0118] FIGS. 11a-11d illustrate an embodiment of operating at resonance;
[0119] FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment of operating at the resonant frequency of FIG. 11a, while feeding a load via a synchronous rectifier at the secondary;
[0120] FIG. 13 illustrates power transfer from the secondary side back to the primary side;
[0121] FIGS. 14A-14B illustrate an implementation of the circuitries shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0122] FIGS. 15A-15C illustrate an implementation of the circuitry shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, according to another embodiment of the invention.
[0123] FIG. 16 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, according to an embodiment of the invention;
[0124] FIG. 17 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, according to another embodiment of the invention;
[0125] FIG. 18 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, using optical signals;
[0126] FIG. 19 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, using magnetic coupling;
[0127] FIG. 20 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, using capacitive coupling;
[0128] FIG. 21 shows a further improvement of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side by using open ring electrodes;
[0129] FIG. 22 illustrates another improved arrangement, which is essentially similar to the arrangement shown in FIG. 21, with the addition of a guard layer at each side of the rotary transformer;
[0130] FIGS. 23A-23B illustrate an equivalent circuit of the arrangement of FIG. 16;
[0131] FIG. 24 shows a segmented ring electrode that enables bidirectional power transfer;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0132] The present invention proposes a system and method for implementing a synchronized bidirectional rotary dual active bridge, to control synchronized electric motors as well as other rotary and non-rotary systems that require controllable bipolar and bidirectional power transfer. The proposed method is reliable and require the processing of the switching information mainly in the primary side of a rotary transformer, as will be described later on.
[0133] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a circuitry for implementing a synchronized bidirectional rotary dual active bridge, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this implementation, the electrical power is delivered from the power supply 50 (which is typically an AC power source) via an inverter 51 to the rotor via a rotary transformer 52 and a full-bridge inverter 53, where the power transfer is bidirectional. The control commands (i.e., the switching information to the full-bridge inverter 53) are also delivered via the rotary transformer 52 to a driver 54 that drives the full-bridge inverter 53. One possible implementation of the inverter 53 is by transistors (Q1-Q4) similar to the example of FIG. 4C above, and operates such that during half of the switching period Q1 and Q4 conduct and during the other half of the other switching period, Q3 and Q3 conduct. This mode of operation actually implements a bipolar and bidirectional synchronous rectifier. The operation of the full-bridge inverter 53 is continuous and follows a synchronization pulse 58 transferred from the primary side and is independent of the rectification polarity and current direction.
[0134] The magnitude and polarity of the rectified signal at the secondary side, is determined by the phase shift between the primary inverter 51 and secondary inverter 53. While the phase of the secondary inverter is locked to a fixed synchronization signal 58, the phase of the primary inverter 51 is controlled by a local controller 57, to determine the polarity and the magnitude of the voltage that is being developed across the rotor 102. If the phase of the driving signal is aligned with respect to the phase of the pulses that independently drive the full-bridge inverter 53, the voltage that is being developed across the rotor will be positive. If the phase of the control signal will be changed to be negative (opposite) with respect to the phase of the pulses that independently drive the full-bridge inverter 53, the voltage that is being developed across the rotor will be negative. Hence, by properly controlling the phase of the control signal in the primary side, it is possible to determine the polarity of the voltage, as well as the magnitude of this voltage. The pulses that independently drive the full-bridge inverter 53 and the pulses of the control signal may have different duty cycles, where this difference determines the average magnitude of the voltage that is being developed across the rotor. The operation of the power transfer according to this invention is further illustrated by FIGS. 6-9. A control circuit continuously transmits, by and via the transformer, synchronization pulses at the switching frequency of the inverters, to operate the second full active bridge, independent of the first full active bridge. The phase and the operating duty cycle of said first full active bridge (which are in synchronization with the synchronization pulses), are controlled at the primary side, to vary the current provided by the second full active bridge to the load.
[0135] FIG. 6 shows the operation when for a positive output voltage. In this case, the phase of the primary voltage 72 is aligned with the phase of the secondary voltage 73 which results in a positive voltage drive at the secondary as illustrated in FIG. 7. The pulsating signal is smoothed by the leakage inductance 58 and a filter capacitor 59 when the output is positive. At steady state
V.sub.R=V.sub.av and I=V.sub.R/R
[0136] FIG. 8 illustrates the operation when the output polarity is negative. In this case, the phase of the primary signal 72 is reversed with respect to the secondary signal 73 resulting in a negative voltage drive to the rotor. FIG. 9 illustrates the smoothing of the pulsating signal by the leakage inductance 98 and a filter capacitor 99 when the output is negative. As would be clear to a person skilled in the art, this configuration, therefore, allows all the required control of magnitude and polarity of the output to be performed in the primary side while requiring only a synchronization signal to be sent from primary to secondary.
[0137] For the sake of clarity, the above description of the embodiment of the present invention, illustrated by FIGS. 5-9, is based on Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). As would be clear to a person skilled in the art, and illustrated in the following description, other modulation methods such as methods using an LC resonant tank, an LLC resonant tank, an LCL resonant tank and the like, can be equally applied for energy transfer in a system according to the present invention.
[0138] FIGS. 10a-10c show the effect of leakage inductance in a transformer. A transformer (shown in FIG. 19a) may be illustrated as two coils L1 and L2 with magnetic coupling M between them (shown in FIG. 19b), such that M=K?{square root over (L1.Math.L2)}, where K is the coupling coefficient (which becomes smaller with smaller distance between the transformer sides), where 0<K<1.
[0139] FIG. 10c shows an equivalent circuit for a transformer with K<1 between the primary and the secondary. It can be seen that the primary comprises a primary inductance K.Math.L1 and an uncoupled inductance portion L1.Math.(1?K). The secondary comprises an uncoupled inductance portion L2.Math.(1?K). T is an ideal transformer with a turn ratio of 1:n where n=?{square root over (L2.sup.2/L1.sup.2)}. Both uncoupled inductance portions result from magnetic fluxes that are not common to the two windings. When the coupling between the primary and the secondary is strong, K?1 and the uncoupled portions are zero. The inductance portions L1.Math.(1?K) and L2.Math.(1?K) have impedances that cause voltage drop both in the primary and the secondary sides and therefore, in order to obtain a desired voltage in the secondary, a higher voltage should be applied in the primary.
[0140] In order to overcome the above (unwanted) voltage drop, a resonating capacitor C is added at the primary side. FIG. 11a illustrates an embodiment operating at the resonant frequency, or above the resonant frequency, so as to obtain Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) which results in lower switching losses and therefore higher efficiency of the system. In this embodiment, the impedance at the resonant frequency of capacitor C and the uncoupled inductance portion L1.Math.(1?K) are partially compensating each other and therefore, there is no need to increase the input voltage at the primary. In this case, a square wave is applied to the primary from a full-bridge inverter 71, and only its first harmonic component (shown in FIG. 11b) will reach the primary, since the resonant circuit of capacitor C and the uncoupled inductance portion L1.Math.(1?K) functions as a low-pass filter. This results in an increased voltage at the primary and effectively increases the magnitude the of power transfer to the secondary of the transformer. FIG. 11c shows the input current to the primary side. Operating at, or above, the resonance frequency reduces the power loss, and hence, increases the efficiency, thanks to the ZVS operation.
[0141] The synchronization pulses are processed to obtain an essentially square wave signal that independently operates the second full active bridge to feed the load with predetermined current originated from passing power from the AC power source to the second full active bridge, via the rotary transformer.
[0142] FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment of operating in a resonant converter mode. In this case, the bridge at the primary operates as an inverter, generating an excitation voltage V.sub.T, while the secondary bridge acts as a diode or a synchronous rectifier, feeding the current I.sub.L to the load (which is represented by an inductor L, followed in series with a resistor R). The control of the power level transferred to the secondary could be by a frequency shift, i.e. by increasing the excitation frequency, by a bipolar pulse modulated wave, or a combination of both.
[0143] When power transfer is required in the opposite direction (i.e., from the secondary side back to the primary side) the direction of the current flowing from the load should be reversed, as shown in FIG. 13. In this case, the secondary bridge acts as an inverter while the bridge at the primary operates as a synchronous rectifier. To accommodate the reverse current, the voltage polarity of the load needs to be flipped, which will cause the bus voltage to change from positive (FIG. 12) to negative (FIG. 13) across the inverter 81. However, since the full bridge 81 is sensitive to the voltage over it, the polarity of the voltage over the full-bridge inverter 81 must be maintained, in order to prevent short-circuit caused by the inherent diodes 82 of the MOSFET transistors that implement the full-bridge inverter 81.
[0144] Therefore, for power transfer in the backward direction, the port of the load inductor L which was connected to the positive voltage of the full-bridge inverter 81 should now be connected to its the negative voltage.
[0145] FIGS. 14A-14B illustrate an implementation of the circuitries shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, according to an embodiment of the invention that alleviate the voltage polarity problem. This implementation uses an additional full-bridge 91, which is switched according to the desired power transfer direction and functions as a polarity switch. This, bipolar-bidirectional bridge can accommodate both positive and negative bus voltages.
[0146] FIG. 14A shows power transfer in the forward direction (i.e., increasing the load current I.sub.L), where transistors Q.sub.6 and Q.sub.7 are controlled to conduct, while transistors Q.sub.5 and Q.sub.8 are controlled to be at cutoff. In this state, the current I.sub.L flows into the load (to R and then to L) via transistors Q.sub.6 and Q.sub.7. FIG. 14B shows power transfer in the reverse direction (i.e., reducing the load current I.sub.L), where transistors Q.sub.5 and Q.sub.8 are controlled to conduct, while transistors Q.sub.6 and Q.sub.7 are controlled to be at cutoff. In this state, the current I.sub.L flows out of the load (via R and out of L) via transistors Q.sub.5 and Q.sub.8.
[0147] FIGS. 15Aillustrate an implementation of the circuitry shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, according to another embodiment of the invention. This implementation uses a bridge circuit 107, which is switched according to the desired power transfer direction and functions as a polarity switch, which is not sensitive to the polarity of the voltage over it and therefore, is suitable to carry out bidirectional power transfer.
[0148] FIG. 15B illustrates the state of rectifier circuit 107 during forward power transfer. Here, the rectifier circuit 107 consists of 8 transistors Q.sub.11, . . . , Q.sub.1 in a back-to back topology. During forward power transfer, MOSFET transistors Q.sub.13, Q.sub.14, Q.sub.17, and Q.sub.18 conduct (are effectively short-circuits), while MOSFET transistors Q.sub.11, Q.sub.12, Q.sub.15, and Q.sub.16 are not conducting. At this stage, the inherent diodes of the conducting MOSFET transistors Q.sub.13, Q.sub.14, Q.sub.17, and Q.sub.18 are neutralized (bypassed), while only the inherent diodes of the nonconducting MOSFET transistors Q.sub.11, Q.sub.12, Q.sub.15, and Q.sub.16 are active, and act as a diode bridge. This diode bridge rectifies the current of the secondary side and the rectified current I.sub.L enters the load (charge mode). A second bridge may be connected in tandem to the first bridge at the secondary side, which during forward power transfer, feeds a load or the rotor of the electric motor, such that current flows from the positive port of the synchronous rectifier into the load.
[0149] A second bridge at the secondary side is connected in tandem to the first bridge which during backward power transfer, feeds a load or the rotor the electric motor, such that current flows from the load into the positive port of the first bridge, the first bridge operates as an inverter that feeds an AC signal to the secondary winding of the transformer.
[0150] An optional improvement may be achieved by controlling the nonconducting MOSFET transistors Q.sub.11, Q.sub.12, Q.sub.15, and Q.sub.16 to conduct in parallel to the active rectification diodes, so as to obtain synchronous rectification and thereby, reducing the losses.
[0151] FIG. 1C illustrates the state of rectifier circuit 107 during power transfer in the reverse direction. During reverse power transfer, MOSFET transistors Q.sub.11, Q.sub.12, Q.sub.15, and Q.sub.16 conduct (are effectively short-circuits), while MOSFET transistors Q.sub.13, Q.sub.14, Q.sub.17, and Q.sub.18 are controlled to operate as an inverter. This reversed bridge acts as an inverter at the secondary side while the polarity of the voltage over the secondary is also reversed, and now the current I leaves the load toward the positive port (discharge mode), so as to transfer energy from the secondary to the primary. The reverse polarity of the bus voltage is consistent with the polarity of MOSFETs Q.sub.13, Q.sub.14, Q.sub.17, Q.sub.18 connection.
[0152] The power transfer level of the inverter on the primary side may be controlled by shifting the switching frequency. In a resonating inverter, upon increasing the switching frequency, the phase of the current relative to the voltage is changed. This results in a lower effective power at the primary side. In this case, the inverter will generate a bipolar square pulse, which after passing the resonant circuit, is filtered and only the first harmonic (sine wave) passes to the secondary. The switching frequency may be in a range above the resonant frequency.
[0153] Another way to control the current of the inverter on the primary side, is to produce a bipolar pulse width modulated signal. In this case, the transistors that implement the inverter will be switched to generate a delay between the positive and the negative parts of the pulse, which effectively modulates the generated pulse. In this case, after passing the resonant circuit, the pulse width modulated signal is filtered and the first harmonic that passes to the secondary will have less power, depending on the level of modulation (i.e., on the delay that determines the duty cycle of the modulated signal).
[0154] It is also possible to combine between the two techniques and control the current by generating a pulse width modulated signal, along with shifting the switching frequency.
[0155] FIG. 16 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this example, a square wave synchronization (command) signal 113a is fed to the primary side via the rotary transformer 110 and received at the secondary side as signal 113b. A primary control circuit 111 controls the full bridge at the primary side to modify the phase of the primary inverter with respect to the synchronization (command) signal sent to the secondary side, so as to obtain a desired effect on the current provided to the rotor, such as increasing the current at a desired rate, decreasing the current at a desired rate, or even reversing its direction.
[0156] FIG. 17 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, according to another embodiment of the invention. In this example, the synchronization (command) signals are very short and simple pulse 122 rather than passing a rectangular pulse (113a, 113b in FIG. 10), which require a more complex circuitry to transfer from primary to secondary due to the fact that they contain a significant low frequency component as compared to the short pulses. The synchronization signals are transferred from the primary side via the rotary transformer 110 to a PLL circuit 112 at the secondary side and then, to the full bridge at the secondary side. The PLL circuit 112 at the secondary side reconstructs the full synchronization square wave (command) signals 114 required to control the current flowing in the rotor. Similarly, a primary control circuit 111 controls the full bridge at the primary side to modify the phase of the primary control signal with respect to the secondary, so as to obtain a desired effect on the current provided to the rotor, such as increasing the current at a desired rate, decreasing the current at a desired rate, or even reversing its direction.
[0157] FIG. 18 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, using optical signals. In this example, the rotary transformer 130 is round and the wire turns in the primary and secondary sides are shown in a cross-sectional view, along with the air gap between the primary and the secondary sides. A LED 131 is mounted (in a niche formed) at the primary side and is used to transmit optical signals that carry the information of the pulses (rectangular or a narrow pulse) to be passed to the secondary side. A photodiode 132 is mounted (in a niche formed) at the secondary side and is used to receive the transmitted optical signals and detect the information carried by the pulses. The detected information (which may be in a form of a square wave 121 or a sharp short pulse 122) is used to control the current at the secondary side.
[0158] FIG. 19 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, using magnetic coupling. In this example, it is more difficult to pass rectangular pulses via the magnetic field due to the lower frequency of the square wave signal. Therefore, the preferred way is to pass very short synchronization signals 122, carried by the sinusoidal wave 134 at a lower frequency, which is suitable to be passed by the magnetic coupling. At the secondary side, the sinusoidal wave 134 is filtered by a High-Pass filter 135 and the series of short pulses is reconstructed and passed to the PLL circuit described above.
[0159] FIG. 20 shows a schematic illustration of passing the synchronization (command) signals from the primary side to the secondary side, using capacitive coupling 140. In this example, it is more difficult to pass rectangular pulses via the induced electric field. Therefore, the preferred way is to pass very short pulses. The stator metal body is connected to the ground, as well as the metal body of the rotor (via the bearings 103). Typically, the air gap between the primary and the secondary of the rotary transformer is used as the capacitor through which the synchronization (command) signals pass from the primary side to the secondary side.
[0160] This arrangement may be further improved by using open ring electrodes (to avoid circulating current) 160a and 160b, as shown in FIG. 21. In this case, the synchronization pulses are coupled to the rotary transformer by capacitors 165 and 166 that transfer the high frequency components of the synchronization signals 122. An open ring electrode is mounted on each surface 150a, 150b of the rotary transformer which implements the capacitive coupling, on top of an insulating layer 161, such that each insulating layer prevents contact between the open ring electrode (160a, 160b) and the wires 151a, 151b of each side of the rotary transformer. This arrangement does not deteriorate the operation of the rotary transformer, since the presence of the open ring electrodes and the insulating layers is transparent to the magnetic flux between the windings at each side of the rotary transformer.
[0161] FIG. 22 illustrates another improved arrangement for the capacitive electrodes, which is essentially similar to the arrangement shown in FIG. 16, with the addition of a guard layer at each side of the rotary transformer. The function of the guard is to prevent penetration of the main power signal into the synchronization channel. In this case, in addition to the open ring electrode 160 and an insulating layer 161, there is an additional open ring electrode 172, which is grounded and hence functioning as a guard layer, and an additional insulating layer 171. The additional open ring electrode 172 and insulating layer 171 are sandwiched between each open ring electrode 160 and the corresponding surface of the rotary transformer. The opening in each electrode is important to prevent short-circuit and preferably, should not overlap one with the other.
[0162] FIGS. 23A-23B illustrate an equivalent circuit of the arrangement of FIG. 22. FIG. 23A represents in a simplified manner the relative positions of the capacitive electrodes 160a and 160b and the guard electrodes 170a and 170b. The transmission of the synchronization signal from primary to secondary is illustrated in the simplified equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 23B. Capacitance 180 represents the capacitance of the primary guard layer 170a to ground while capacitance 181 represents the capacitance of the secondary guard layer 170b to ground, taking into account the insulation layers 171a, 171b. Capacitance 182 represents the capacitance transmitting and receiving open ring (capacitive) electrode 160a, 160b. The synchronization signal 122 is injected between the capacitances 180 and 182 and is received at the secondary after passing the capacitive voltage divider 181 182. The link capacitance 182 may be in the order of 50-100 pF, which is a relatively low capacitance. However, since the pulses that pass are short pulses, this capacitance is sufficient for introducing a low impedance to the short pulses (that contain high frequency components). Therefore, the solution of using short pulses and reconstructing them by a PLL circuit is preferable for such a capacitive coupling.
[0163] FIG. 24 shows a segmented capacitive ring electrode including, in this illustrated case, two independent and electrically isolated conductive layers 160A, 161A which are adhered to an isolating layer 190A applying e.g. a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technology. This structure allows bidirectional data transfer which is accomplished by utilizing one of the conductive strips to transfer data capacitively from the stator to rotor (as discussed above), while the other segment is used to transfer data from the rotor to the stator.
[0164] The above examples and description have of course been provided only for the purpose of illustrations, and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. As will be appreciated by the skilled person, the invention can be carried out in a great variety of ways, employing more than one technique from those described above, all without exceeding the scope of the invention.
