Patent Abstract:
A control circuit for driving a motor and a method for controlling a speed of a motor are provided. The control circuit comprises a microcontroller and a drive circuit. The microcontroller has a memory. The drive circuit is configured to drive the BLDC motor according to a control of the microcontroller. The memory include a RPM table, and the microcontroller sends a duty signal to the drive circuit to change a speed of the motor according to the RPM table.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/872,997, filed on Sep. 3, 2013. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to techniques for brushless DC (BLDC) motor, and particularly to a control circuit for driving the BLDC motor and a method for controlling the speed of the BLDC motor. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    Brushless DC (BLDC) motor are synchronous motors that are powered by a DC electric source via an integrated inverter/switching power supply, which produces an AC electric signal to drive the motor. The BLDC motor and its mechanical parts normally will be resonant to specific frequencies. This resonant phenomenal will cause a reliability problem for the motor and/or generate the acoustic noise. The object of the present invention is to solve this problem. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention provides a control circuit for driving a brushless DC (BLDC) motor. The control circuit comprises a microcontroller having a memory, and a drive circuit. The drive circuit is configured to drive the BLDC motor according to a control of the microcontroller. The memory include a RPM table, and the microcontroller sends a duty signal to the drive circuit to change a speed of the motor according to the RPM table. 
         [0007]    From another point of view, the present invention provides a method for controlling a speed of a BLDC motor. The method includes following steps. A control signal is generated according to a RPM table in a memory. The BLDC motor is driven according to the control signal. The control signal is generated by a microcontroller, and the control signal is configured to drive the BLDC motor through a drive circuit. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram illustrating a control circuit for driving a BLDC motor according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  shows the angle detection and the PWM operation for a sensorless motor control of the BLDC motor according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic diagram illustrating a RPM table (RpmTable) stored in the memory according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows a control flow illustrating the microcontroller according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  shows the waveforms generated by the sine-wave generator according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram illustrating a control circuit for driving a BLDC motor  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The control circuit includes a three-phase bridge driver  20 , a sequencer circuit  30 , a microcontroller (MCU)  100 , and a pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit  50 . The microcontroller  100  has a memory  110  including a program memory and a data memory. The microcontroller  100  generates a duty signal DUTY (i.e., a control signal) and an angle signal θ A  according to a signal H S . The signal H S  is related to the BLDC motor&#39;s position and speed. The duty signal DUTY and an angle signal θ A  are coupled to the PWM circuit  50  for generating a signal SPWM. The signal S PWM  is configured to control the three-phase bridge driver  20  through the sequencer circuit  30  for driving the BLDC motor  10 . The three-phase bridge driver  20  receives an input signal V IN  to drive the BLDC motor  10 . The PWM circuit  50 , the three-phase bridge driver  20 , and the sequencer circuit  30  form a drive circuit for driving the BLDC motor  10 . The drive circuit is configured to drive the BLDC motor  10  according to the control of the microcontroller  100 . In the embodiment of the present invention, the BLDC motor  10  is a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows the angle detection and the PWM operation for a sensorless motor control of the BLDC motor  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The circuit for the angle detection and the PWM operation includes the Clarke transform module  40 , the Park transform module  45 , a sine-wave signal generator  60 , an angle estimation module  80 , and a sum unit  65 . The Clarke transform module  40  is configured to transform a three-axis, two-dimensional coordinate system (referenced to the stator a, b, c) to a two-axis coordinate system. In other words, the Clarke transform module  40  receives phase currents i a , i b , and i c  of the motor  10  to generate two-axis orthogonal currents iα, iβ for mapping the motor&#39;s phase currents of i a , i b  and i c . The Park transform module  45  generates signals I d  and I q  according to the two-axis orthogonal currents i α  and i β . The angle estimation module  80  generates an angle signal θ in accordance with the signal I d . The angle signal θ is further feedback to Park transform module  45 . The sum unit  65  generates another angle signal θ A  in accordance with the angle signal θ and an angle-shift signal AS. The angle-shift signal AS is used for adapting to various BLDC motors, and/or for the weak-magnet control. The angle signal θ includes the information of the motor&#39;s position and speed. 
         [0016]    The angle signal θ A  and the duty signal DUTY are coupled to the sine-wave generator  60  for generating the pulse-width modulation signals and 3-phase motor voltage signals (phase A, phase B and phase C). The 3-phase motor voltage signals (phase A, phase B and phase C) are configured to drive the BLDC motor  10  through the three-phase bridge driver  20 . The sine-wave generator  60  has two inputs including a magnitude input and a phase angle input. The magnitude input is coupled to the duty signal DUTY. The phase angle input is coupled to the angle signal θA. 
         [0017]      FIG. 5  shows the waveforms generated by the sine-wave generator  60  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The amplitude of 3-phase motor voltage signals V A , V B , V C  is programmed by the duty signal DUTY. The angle of 3-phase motor voltage signals V A , V B , V C  is determined by the angle signal θ A . 
         [0018]      FIG. 3  shows a schematic diagram illustrating a RPM table (RpmTable) stored in the memory  110  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The revolution per minute (RPM) represents the speed of the motor. The logic 1 stored in the RpmTable indicates that the RPM is allowed. The logic 0 stored in the RpmTable indicates that the RPM is inhibited. The microcontroller  100  in  FIG. 1  sends the duty signal DUTY to the drive circuit to change the speed of the motor  10  according to the RPM table in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 4  shows a control flow illustrating the microcontroller  100  according to one embodiment of the present invention. From the start step  200 , in step  210 , the MCU  100  in  FIG. 1  checks if the change of the speed of the motor  10  is required. A flag YES represents the change of the speed is required. The flag NO represents the change of the speed is not required. If the flag is YES, then the MCU  100  will set a variable x as 1 and measure the RPM value of the motor  10  for generating a constant K in step  230 . The constant K is calculated by the formula (1). 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   K 
                   = 
                   
                     RPM_n 
                     Duty_n 
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   1 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0020]    The parameter Duty_n is the level of the duty signal DUTY that generates the RPM value of RPM_n. 
         [0021]    After the step  230 , in step  250 , the MCU  100  will estimate the next RPM value of RPM_n+x according to three parameters: (1) the constant K, (2) the variable x, and (3) the next step&#39;s level (Duty_n+x) of the duty signal DUTY. The next RPM value of RPM_n+x is calculated by the formula (2). 
         [0000]      (RPM —   n+x )= k× (Duty —   n+x )  (2)
 
         [0022]    According the RPM_n+x, the MCU  100  will check the RPM table (RpmTable) in the memory  110  in step  270 . If the RpmTable shows the RPM_n+x is allowed (logic 1), then the MCU  100  will set the level of the duty signal DUTY as Duty_n+x in step  290 . If the RpmTable shows the RPM_n+x is inhibited (logic 0), then the MCU  100  will set the variable x as x+1 in step  295 , and go to execute the step  250 . Therefore, the motor  10  can be operated without running at the speed of the resonant frequency of the motor  10 . 
         [0023]    Although the present invention and the advantages thereof have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alternations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. That is, the discussion included in this invention is intended to serve as a basic description. It should be understood that the specific discussion may not explicitly describe all embodiments possible; many alternatives are implicit. The generic nature of the invention may not fully explained and may not explicitly show that how each feature or element can actually be representative of a broader function or of a great variety of alternative or equivalent elements. Again, these are implicitly included in this disclosure. Neither the description nor the terminology is intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7