Patent GB-1047917-A (GB)
Title: A variable frequency supply system
IPC: H02M5/45
Filed: 1965-06-30
Abstract: 1,047,917. Automatic speed control. BROOKHIRST IGRANIC Ltd. June 30, 1965 [July 13, 1964], No. 27698/65. Heading G3R. [Also in Division H2] A frequency changing arrangement providing a variable frequency supply for, for example, a squirrel cage motor, comprises a three phase source 1 feeding a controllable three phase rectifier bridge 2 whose variable D.C. output 5 supplies a polyphase thyristor bridge inverter 4 supplying the A.C. output to the motor, the arrangement including an oscillator 20 which determines the output frequency and is fed with the D.C. from the rectifier 2 so that both the output amplitude and the output frequency are proportionally adjustable. The arrangement also includes a firing circuit 17 for adjustably controlling the phase of the firing signals to thyristors in the rectifier 2; a ring circuit for controlling the sequential firing of the thyristors in the inverter 4; a rectifier 10 for providing various auxiliary D.C. supplies; and a control and regulating circuit 9 whose functions include (a) starting (b) providing for automatic or manual speed control, (c) providing compensation for motor IR loss. (d) providing a current limitation in the event of motor stall. A transducer 13 provides an input to the circuit 9 for use in automatic speed control. These various components will now be explained in greater detail in terms of the complete circuit diagram (Figs. 2a, 2b, 2c not shown). Rectifier 2. This comprises a bridge of three thyristors 76, 77, 78, and three diodes 79, 80, 81, whose output circuit includes a shunt resistor 86, a reverse diode 87, a blocking diode 82, and a smoothing circuit 83, 84 across which the output is taken on lines 137, 138. A small series resistor 85 is incorporated, which is used in the motor IR loss compensation RC circuits shunt the components 76, 77, 78, 82, 83. Inductors 30, 31, 32 are connected in the supply phase lines and have double magnetic cores, one core being of saturable square loop material, the other being of low Á, non-saturable material. These inductors have two protective functions:-(a) When diode 87 is conducting under the influence of motor back e.m.f. and bridge 2 is quiescent, the firing of a thyristor in bridge 2 would feed into a short circuit formed by the diode 87 and this would produce a current jump causing radiation interference, The inductors prevent the current jump and hence the radiation. (b) The inductors also prevent misfiring of a thyristor on commutation. Control and regulation circuit 9. Closure of a start button 40 provides output pulses on three transformer windings 41a, 41b, 41(c). Winding 41a fires a thyristor 45 to provide 35 volts D.C. on line 47 to feed the phase control circuits 47. 41(b) fires thyristor 48 to provide 10 volts D.C.for the oscillator and ring circuit. Winding 41(c) fires a thyristor 50 supplying D.C.to a manual speed reference potentiometer 55 and IR compensation potentiometer 56. As an alternative to the manual potentiometer 55, a transistor T1 may be provided, its impedance being varied automatically in response to a speed transducer 13 on the machine. A D.C. potential determined by the setting of 55 or by T1 is picked up on a switch arm 64 and applied to a transistor T2 whose output is used as a D.C. control for the phase determining circuits 17. A measure of the motor current detected as a voltage across the resistor 85 is applied across the potentiometer 56 and compensates for motor IR loss. This voltage is also applied across a current limit potentiometer 92 and controls a spill-over transistor T3 which shunts the control circuit of the transistor T2 on the occasion of excess current due to motor stall. Feed back is also supplied from the D.C. output on line 99 to the emitter of T2 to provide automatic voltage control. Control circuit 17. Circuits 17a, 17b, 17c are supplied with the appropriate phases of the polyphase input supply from a transformer 39, with 35v. D.C. from line 47 end with control voltage on line 73a which is smoothed and limited by a zener diode 72. Oscillator 20. This comprises a unijunction transistor UT and capacitor 108, the emitter voltage (and hence oscillator frequency) being dependent on the D.C. voltage applied to the inverter as detected on the line 104 across the capacitor 84. The oscillator frequency is six times the output frequency. Ring circuit 21. This comprises six thyristors SCR1...SCR6 which produces square waves on output windings 113 ...118 to fire the inverter thyristors A ...F. The square waves are sequentially phase displaced by 60 degrees, (see Fig.4 not shown). The anode circuits of the thyristors SCR1...SCR6 include transformer primary windings, and common cores linking the windings associated with 1 and 4, 2 and 5 and 5 and 3 and 6 respectively. The anodes of the pairs SCR1 and SCR4, SCR2 and SCR5, SCR3 and SCR6, are interconnected through commutating capacitors. Normally three of the thyristors are conducting at any time. Consider SCR2. If SCR1 is non conducting its anode will be at high potential and this will be applied via a resistor 122 to the anode of a diode D2 in the gate circuit of SCR2. It will thereby inhibit a firing pulse through D2 from the oscillator output resistor 102 to the gate of SCR2. If however SCR1 is conducting its anode voltage is low so that no inhibiting potential appears on D2. Thus any conducting thyristor removes the inhibiting potential from the next thyristor. Suppose thyristors SCR1, SCR2 and SCR3 to be conducting then SCR2, SCR3 and SCR4 will be uninhibited, and on the advent of the next pulse from the oscillator these will receive firing pulses. Now SCR2 and SCR3 are already conducting and unaffected, but SCR4 is fired. The commutating capacitor 128 now shuts off SCR1. The operation is repeated cyclically. The common core linking of windings such as 113 and 116 ensures that when one is feeding a positive pulse to a main inverter thyristor, a small negative voltage is being applied to the complementary thyristor. Inverter 4. This comprises three half-bridges each furnishing an output terminal OT1, OT2, OT3, between which stepped waveforms are produced (see Fig. 4 not shown). Each half-bridge comprises two series thyristors A, D, each in series with a commutating inductor 140a, 141a on a common core, and a "square loop" inductor 140, 141, on individual cores which protect the thyristors against high di/dt. Reverse diodes 146 148 are disposed the diodes for inductive current flow. Commutating capacitors 143 144 are also provided, these being supplied both from the main D.C. supply and from an auxiliary precharging supply derived through transformer 155 and bridge 156.