Electric Motor Arrangement Adapted for Use in an Actuator and an Actuator Including the Motor Arrangement

Abstract

This invention relates to a linear type actuator unit, said actuator unit (100), including an electric motor (1) driving a linear actuator (2) of, said motor (1) having a casing (11), a stator (14,15) fixed to the casing, a rotor (13) fixed to a rotary part (10), preferably a rotary motor shaft (10), wherein said rotary part (10) is arranged to be operatively connected to a reduction gear (5) which drives the mechanical output of the actuator (2), a separate magnetic brake unit (3), said magnetic brake (3) including a rotating brake member (30,31) connected to the motor shaft (10), directly or indirectly, and a plurality of fixed brake members (32, 33), wherein said magnetic brake (3) is arranged to produce a torque that will strive to position a rotary member (10, 20) with said rotating brake member (30,31) into one or more specific angular positions in relation to the fixed brake members (32, 33), and wherein said rotating brake member (30,31) is in the form of a separate annulus (30, 31) attached to said rotary member (10, 20) arranged to brake the motor at low rotational speeds and in that the actuator unit (100) is arranged with a circuitry (101) including a short circuiting arrangement (113, 103) arranged to enable braking of the motor (1) at rotational speeds above low rotational speeds.

Claims

1. A linear type safety actuator unit, said actuator unit (100), including an electric motor (1) driving a linear actuator (2) of, said motor (1) having a casing (11), a stator (14, 15) fixed to the casing, a rotor (13) fixed to a rotary part (10), wherein said rotary part (10) is arranged to be operatively connected to a reduction gear (5) which drives the mechanical output of the actuator (2), a separate magnetic brake unit (3), said magnetic brake (3) including a rotating brake member (30, 31) connected to the motor shaft (10), directly or indirectly, and a plurality of fixed brake members (32, 33), wherein said magnetic brake (3) is arranged to produce a torque that will strive to safely position a rotary member (10, 20) with said rotating brake member (30, 31) into one or more specific angular positions in relation to the fixed brake members (32, 33), characterized in that said rotating brake member (30, 1) is in the form of a separate annulus (30, 31) attached to said rotary member (10, 20) arranged to brake the motor at low rotational speeds and in that the actuator unit (100) is arranged with a circuitry (101) including a short circuiting safety arrangement (113, 103) arranged to enable braking of the motor (1) at rotational speeds above low rotational speeds.

2. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said short circuiting arrangement (113, 103) includes a relay (K1A).

3. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said short circuiting arrangement (113, 103) includes at least one transistor (T1, T2).

4. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said annulus (30, 31) has inertial mass (la) that is less than 10% of the inertial mass (Ia) of said rotary member (10, 20).

5. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said annulus (30, 31) has a diameter in the range of 10 to 30 mm, and radial thickness in the range of 1 to 4 mm.

6. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, characterized by having said fixed brake pole members (32, 33) attached to a casing (11, 51), directly or indirectly.

7. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a commutator (12) of said motor (1) is located between said movable magnetic brake member (30, 31) and said rotor (13), wherein said movable magnetic brake member (30, 31) is located between said commutator (12) and a bearing (4) for the motor shaft (10) of said motor (1).

8. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing (11), comprises an end plate (17) for attachment of said brake pole members (32, 33).

9. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable magnetic brake member (30, 31) is made from different material than said rotatable member (10,20) in the form of a permanent magnet, more preferred including neodym, and wherein said brake pole pieces (32, 33) are in the form of permanent magnets.

10. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 7, comprising an electric brushed DC motor (1) having the commutator (12) attached to the motor shaft (10), wherein the motor (1) is a twelve-pole motor.

11. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a maximum power (P) of the motor (1) in relation to a brake torque (T) in N/cm applied to the motor shaft (10) by the magnetic brake (3) is in a region of P/50>T>P/100.

12. A linear type actuator unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motor (1) and actuator (2) are included in a unit (100) comprising a local controller (CU2) and an H-bridge (101) between the motor (1) and the local controller (CU2).

13. A seat for a vehicle having a linear type actuator unit as specified in claim 1.

14. A seat as claimed in claim 13, including a reduction gear (5), in a form of a worm gear with a screw (20) having a trapezoidal thread with a pitch of 2-8 mm, and wherein the reduction gear (5) has a reduction ratio in an interval between 20:1 and 60:1.

15. A method of braking an actuator included in a linear type safety actuator unit, said actuator unit (100), including an electric motor (1) driving a linear actuator (2) of, said motor (1) having a casing (11), a stator (14, 15) fixed to the casing, a rotor (13) fixed to a rotary part (10), a rotary motor shaft (10), wherein said rotary part (10) is arranged to be operatively connected to a reduction gear (5) which drives the mechanical output of the actuator (2), a separate magnetic brake unit (3), said magnetic brake (3) including a rotating brake member (30, 31) connected to the motor shaft (10), directly or indirectly, and a plurality of fixed brake members (32, 33), wherein said magnetic brake (3) produces a torque that will strive to position a rotary member (10, 20) with said rotating brake member (30, 31) into one or more specific angular positions in relation to the fixed brake members (32, 33), characterized by providing said rotating brake member (30, 31) in the form of a separate annulus (30, 31) attached to said rotary member (10, 20) that brakes the motor at low rotational speeds and by providing the actuator unit (100) with a circuitry (101) including a short circuiting arrangement (113, 103) enabling braking of the motor (1) at rotational speeds above low rotational speeds.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein a delay of the activation of the short circuiting arrangement (103) enables a diagnose of motor current to confirm correct functioning of the relays (103) prior to activation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments and the appended drawings.

[0030] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an arrangement in accordance with the invention, showing schematic views of an actuator with reduction gear, wherein the motor has a part of the casing taken away.

[0031] FIG. 1A is an enlarged partial perspective view of that in FIG. 1, showing schematically details of a reduction gear of an actuator in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention,

[0032] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a curve presenting how the variations of rotor speed relate to the average rotor speed, with a motor in accordance with the invention

[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram a showing a curve presenting how the casing movements relates to the average rotor speed, with a motor in accordance with the invention,

[0034] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a curve presenting how the brake torque varies in relation to rotor angle, with a motor in accordance with the invention,

[0035] FIG. 5 presents data used as basis for simulations used to produce the curves of FIGS. 2-4,

[0036] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a control arrangement in accordance with the invention,

[0037] FIG. 7a is a schematic view of an alternative control arrangement in accordance with the invention, and

[0038] FIG. 7b is a schematic view of a control arrangement in accordance with the invention that is modified in relation to FIG. 7a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] In FIG. 1 there is shown a preferred embodiment of a motor 1 equipped with a magnetic brake 3 in accordance with the invention. The motor 1 is shown in a perspective view having a part of the casing 11 cut away to show parts of the motor 1 with the magnetic brake 3.

[0040] Further FIG. 1 also shows a linear actuator 2 in a schematic manner. The linear actuator 2 comprises a rotary screw 20 and nut device 21, as is known per se. The screw 20 is normally of the trapezoid kind having a screw pitch of about 2-16 millimeter. The nut device will be attached to a member of an arrangement (not shown) where adjustment of the position is a desired function. Accordingly, by activation of the linear actuator 2 the nut device 21 will be set into a position corresponding to the amount of rotations of the screw 20, in a known manner.

[0041] Furthermore, it is schematically shown that there is preferably also included a reduction gear 5, wherein preferably a sensor 50 is arranged having one rotary part 52 and a fixed part 53 attached to the housing 51 of the reduction gear 5, as will be described more in detail below. The reduction gear 5 is preferably in the form of a worm gear device 5 having the output motor shaft 10 as input 55 and the rotary screw 20 connected to output 54. Normally the worm gear device 5 has a reduction of 10:1-60:1 to reduce the rotational speed of the motor 1 to an appropriate amount for the rotary screw 20. The worm gear device 5 and the actuator 2 are merely a part of the actual invention in a specific claim constellation, including a motor 1 in accordance with the invention. It is evident for the skilled person that also other devices/arrangements having need of the same kind of functionality, as a linear actuator in accordance with the description above, may of course also be driven by a motor 1 in accordance with the invention, and that therefore the scope of claim 1 encompasses the motor as such.

[0042] As can be seen in the partly cut through motor 1, inside of the casing 11 there is a rotor 13 attached to the motor shaft 10, Further there are a pair of stator magnets 14. 15 fixed to the casing 11, as is known per se. There is collector 12 attached to the shaft and a brush 16 fixed to the casing 11, also known per se. At the output end of the casing 11 there is arranged a bearing 44. Adjacent the endplate 17 at the output end of the motor 1, preferably at the inside thereof, there is arranged the magnetic brake 3, between the collector 12 and the bearing 4. The magnetic brake 3 comprises a rotating magnetic brake member 30, 31 which is attached to the shaft 10, either directly or indirectly. The diameter of the movable magnetic brake member 30, 31 may be about the same as the diameter of the collector 12. In a preferred embodiment it will be of a relatively small size, e.g. a radial thickness of about 1-3 mm, implying a small mass that may not cause any possibly disturbing imbalances of the rotor 13. A pair of opposing brake pole pieces 32, 33, are cooperating with the rotating magnetic brake member 30, 31. A clearance G is arranged between the outer surface of the rotating magnetic brake members 30, 31 and the inner ends of the brake pole pieces 32, 33, which preferably have a curved surface 32A, 33A facing the movable magnetic brake member 30, 31 with a corresponding radius of the rotating magnetic brake member 30, 31.

[0043] Furthermore FIG. 1A shows that according to a preferred embodiment the rotating part 52 of the sensor 50 is positioned at the center of the worm wheel 54, e.g. at the bottom end of the rotating shaft 20 of the actuator 2. One example of such a sensor 50 may be in the form of a fixed (to the housing 51, see FIG. 1) micro circuit 53 including a Hall sensor or other type of magnetic sensing device that senses the orientation of a small permanent magnet 52 following the rotation of the worm wheel 54. Accordingly, the sensor 50 may exactly inform regarding the angular position of the worm wheel 54 and shaft 20 and also provide information regarding the number of turns.

[0044] Thanks to the arrangement with the magnetic brake 3, there will be a force striving to position the rotating parts of the motor 1 in a specific position, i.e. having the poles of the rotating/movable magnetic brake members 30, 31 in a position where they are in balance in relation to the magnetic influence of the fixed brake pole pieces 32, 33.

[0045] The magnetic rotor 30, 31 as shown in FIG. 1 comprises to halves of an annulus (ring). In a preferred embodiment the annulus may be homogenous, e.g. in order to be able to provide an optimized balancing. The magnet 30, 31 may be preferably form a separate part attached to the shaft 10 of the motor 1, or the shaft of the actuator. The material may be for instance a ferrite material or in a more preferred a permanent magnet including neodym that may exert a higher magnetic effect than other materials. In a preferred embodiment a diameter within the range of 10-20 mm and radial thickness of about 1-3 mm is sufficient, for application used for adjusting seats of vehicles. Thank to this arrangement very little extra inertial mass will be added, which is of great importance for motors of the preferred kind to be able to work in an appropriate manner.

[0046] Test have shown that a magnetic brake force of about 1-2 Ncm is sufficient to reliably, desirably position the rotor of the motor 1, if connected to an actuator 2 via a transmission 5 with self-lock, for a motor having a max power of about 150 W. The addition of such a relatively small brake torque to the self-lock of a linear actuator in most cases is sufficient to make the self-lock 100% reliable.

[0047] In FIGS. 2-5 there are shown data from a test that has been carried through with a motor 1 in accordance with the invention, wherein FIG. 5 presents parameters used in the test.

[0048] In FIG. 5 it is for instance seen that the radius, Rr, of a motor 1 in accordance with the preferred embodiment is below 20 mm, in this case 14 mm. Hence there is a motor that may provide compactness due to its relatively small size. Furthermore, it can be seen that the inertial mass (m R*Rr.sup.2/2) of the motor 1 is also relatively low, i.e. since the measures are small as also the mass mr of the rotor. Accordingly, it is beneficial that the rotating part 30 of the magnetic brake 3 has a relatively low weight, due to the fact that it in the preferred embodiment according to the invention it is positioned as a separate annulus at the periphery of the shaft 10 of the motor 1, or any other appropriate shaft connected thereto. In a preferred embodiment the inertial mass of the rotating magnetic brake part 30 should add less than 10%, preferably not more than 5% to the initial mass of the rotor. This will ensure that the rotor balance is kept at good level also after adding rotating brake member 30.

[0049] In FIG. 2 there is shown a curve presenting the rotor speed variation on the y axis and the rotational speed on the x axis. As can be seen in FIG. 2 the variation drastically decreases from 1000-2000 rpm and are more or less neglect able at rotational speeds that normally are used when driving an actuator mechanism, or similar device, with a DC motor 1 in accordance with the invention, e.g. at a rotational speed at and above 4000 rpm, no noticeable variation occurs.

[0050] Moreover, in FIG. 3 there is shown that the vibrations/oscillations also are neglectable at higher rpms. Here movement in mm is presented on the y axis and rpm on the x axis. From 1000 rpm to 2000 there is drastic decreases and at and above 3000 it is neglectable.

[0051] In FIG. 4 it is shown brake torque on the y axis and rotor angle on the x axis, and as expected it present a sinus curve. Here with a peak force of about 2 Ncm.

[0052] It is surprising that the above effects are neglectable at higher rpm. Without any binding effect we below will present some reasons why these effects in reality are neglectable. The first is the direction of vibration. Normally if there is a motor with the slightest unbalance in the rotor, vibrations will act transversally in relation to the motor axis. This direction of vibration makes it very difficult to isolate its influence from the structure where the motor is mounted. This kind of vibration will also increase in amplitude with increasing motor speed. In contrast, the direction of vibrations caused by the inventive brake member 30, 31 is rotational and will act as a sinusoidal torque acting on motor casing tangentially, i.e. around the longitudinal axis of the motor 1. Since the total moment of inertia on the complete structure of motor case with chassis where the motor 1 is mounted, in most cases is substantial, in comparison to the brake torque generated from the brake member 3 there will be a very effective reduction of the effect of these vibrations. Secondly, it depends on the physical nature of the brake function, which is sinusoidal and works in a push pull kind of way, where the time that the rotor passes through these phases will be less and less as the motor speed increases. This means that the time that this torque can act on the moment of inertia that is taken up by the motor casing (and mounting and chassis etc.), diminishes with speed, and thus produces less and less effect as motor speed increases.

[0053] FIG. 6 shows a configuration where the actuator 2, motor 1 and a local controller CU2 is integrated into one unit 100. The motor 1 is controlled by the local controller CU2 through an H-bridge 101, which may include four transistors T1-T4. Typically the configuration is such that a complete system includes one (or more) actuator/s 2 controlled by a central unit CU1 which supplies power and some kind of communication, e.g. by means of three cables, GND, V+, COM, connected between the central unit CU1 and the local controller CU2, preferably partly including a wire harness 102. The local controller CU2 may preferably be designed to stop the motor 1 immediately when an error is detected by activating two of the transistors, T1 and T2, thus creating a short circuit of the motor. This short circuit will effectively stop any ongoing movement of the actuator. Examples of system errors are loss of power or loss of communication. The characteristic of the brake function of a short-circuited DC motor is that brake force is proportional to speed, i.e. at high speed, high torque is produced and most important, at close to zero speed almost no brake torque is produced. Accordingly, this provides an effect that is opposite to the characteristics of the magnetic brake 3. Hence, such a combination will thus effectively fulfil the purpose of a bolt-on brake device.

[0054] Thanks to an arrangement according to FIG. 6, efficient braking may be achieved also when connection between controller CU1 and motor 1 is lost during high speed operation in the same direction as the load. The brake effect of the magnetic brake 3 is very low, in many applications essentially zero, above a certain speed of the motor 1, in which particular case the magnetic brake 3 would fail, in comparison to a known bolt-on brake device. Hence, if this brake function is desired (or possibly required in certain applications), there is a solution by having the motor control circuit CU2, 101 mounted on to the motor arrangement itself. The circuit CU2, 101 may operate in such a way that when supply (e.g. via V+) or communication (e.g. via COM and/or GND) is lost then the motor 1 will be short-circuited. This will in a very effective manner stop any ongoing movement and subsequently, when the motor has been brought down to low speed, the magnetic brake 3 will again work effectively.

[0055] FIG. 7a shows an alternative solution with respect to FIG. 6, where the controller CU3 has no inherent part of the actuator unit 100. The main objective is still to create a short circuit of the motor, but without having a local controller, i.e. without a local controller CU2 as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 6. The solution is in this simple form an actuator unit 100, having a circuit 101, that includes a relay 103 (K1A) which is driven by a diode bridge 104 (D1-D4), through limits switches 105 (S1) and 106 (S2), which are situated in such a way that when the actuator 2 reaches its stroke limits, the relay 103 will deactivate and short-circuit the motor 1 until sufficiently low speed is reached that the magnetic brake 3 will start to operate. The limit switches 105, 106 may preferably be included because they are normally common practice 4 in actuators units 100 of this type, and the circuit 101 will gain from the fact that high motor currents will no longer have to pass the switches 105, 106 and thereby a smaller and cheaper switches may optionally be selected.

[0056] This solution will achieve the objective as long as the actuator has some degree of self-lock, i.e. sufficient to stop the load if the connection between the controller CU3 and the actuator unit 100 is lost. But as this is not always the case, especially when trend is to increase efficiency in actuator systems which normally means reduced self-lock ability, these may preferably be added a resistance and a capacitor, the RC network 107 made up from R2, C, that may create a short time delay which can be used to diagnose the relay function, as is described in more detail below in relation to FIG. 7B. R2 may also act as a current limiter for the diode bridge 104. Some component designators in both FIGS. 7a and 7b are identical as they perform the same basic function.

[0057] In FIG. 7b is shown a solution similar to 7a but with some added features to ensure safe operation even with actuator systems that have low or no self-lock at all.

[0058] The main components are the same, i.e. a relay 103 that is activated by voltage generated from the controller CU3. But here with the added condition that in one, or both of the directions of the actuator 2, there have to be present an AC component of the driving voltage from the controller CU3. This AC voltage is normally a part of an actuator control system as a PWM modulation of the supply voltage in order to control the speed of the actuator 2. This AC component passes through a high pass filter 108 that is made up of C3, R4 and activates the relay 103 through limit switch 105 (in a first direction, the other limit switch 106 in the second direction) and switch device 108, which preferably includes a transistor Q1. This is normally only done in one direction because the typical application involves lifting some load, and the lifting direction never changes. The AC component detection should then be applied in the lowering direction, i.e. in the load direction. The main reason for the circuit 101 is that if the load falls, and the actuator is of a kind of low self-lock, it may go into regenerative mode, and then there is no way of telling if the connection between the controller CU3 and the actuator unit 100 is lost, and thereby no information would be available that can be used to decide if the relay 103, should be deactivated or not. In other words, this AC component detection circuit require a PWM signal to be present in the lowering direction, which will simply not occur if the connection between CU3 and the actuator unit 100 is lost.

[0059] As in FIG. 7a, also FIG. 7B includes the limit switches 105, 106 for end of travel detection. In addition to this, FIG. 7B also includes a feature to make end stop more smooth, by adding a second relay 110 (K2A) and a NTC resistor 111, R1 (also sometimes referred to as inrush current limiter). The second relay 110 is driven by the same signal, via the third switch 109, Q1, but with a small time delay on release. This means that when the third switch 109 releases, regardless of reason, the short circuit current of the motor 1 will pass the NTC resistor 111 and thus be limited. As temperature rises in the NTC resistor 111, resistance will be reduced and the motor will make a relatively smooth stop, a second relay 110, when compared to the more simple solution in FIG. 7a. As speed approaches zero, the time delay will release second relay 110 and make a full stop as intended, with near zero resistance in the motor circuit. This solution has the benefit of reducing mechanical stress on actuator components and also electric stress on relay contacts and motor commutating parts.

[0060] In systems where reliability and safety are at premium, the correct operation of the first short-circuit relay 103 may be essential. Therefore, a second RC-network 112 including, R2, C1 and R6, R8, C4, may be used to create a time delay before activation of the first relay 103, which will enable the controller CU3 to diagnose the first relay 103 for faults. This requires that the controller CU3 has the possibility to monitor motor current (which it normally does). For example, the second RC network 112 may be designed for a time delay of 15 mS, leading to the controller CU3 performing the following procedures before every activation of the motor 1: [0061] 1. Start motor with full power in the direction that involves R6 as relay activation. [0062] 2. Wait for 10 mS [0063] 3. Read motor current. [0064] 4. If motor current is above a certain level, implying faulty function, e.g. 100 mA, then abort movement. [0065] Else proceed in wanted direction.

[0066] This procedure will ensure that the first relay 103 is not stuck in its activated position. If the relay 103 is stuck in the deactivated positionno harm is done because motor 1 will not start. A similar procedure can be implemented also in the direction that involves the high pass filter 108 for relay activation.

[0067] The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but may be varied within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, for the skilled person it is evident that instead of one magnetic brake pole piece on each side, there may be arranged two, three or more, e.g. to enhance the force exerted by the fixed magnetic brake pole pieces, and also that their positioning and/or form may deviate from what has been described/shown and still achieve the basic, desired functionality. Furthermore, it is evident for the skilled person that the magnetic brake may be positioned in principle anywhere along the line of torque and fulfil its purpose, e.g. on the other side of the motor casing (than that shown), in the reduction gear, or in connection with the screw.