Patent ID: 7193826

Claim:
A drive system for a plurality of motors comprising: a variable speed drive, the variable speed drive comprising: a converter stage to convert an input AC voltage to a DC voltage, the converter stage being configured to be electrically connectable to an AC power source; a DC link stage to filter and store energy from the converter stage, the DC link stage being electrically connected to the converter stage; an inverter stage comprising a plurality of inverters electrically connected in parallel to the DC link stage, each inverter of the plurality of inverters being configured to convert a DC voltage to an output AC voltage to power a corresponding motor of a plurality of motors, and each inverter of the plurality of inverters being configured to operate substantially independently of other inverters of the plurality of inverters; and wherein the converter stage is configured to provide a boosted DC voltage to the DC link stage and each inverter of the plurality of inverters is configured to provide an output AC voltage greater than the input AC voltage; and a plurality of connecting mechanisms, each connecting mechanism of the plurality of connecting mechanisms being connected in series between an inverter of the plurality of inverters and a corresponding motor of the plurality of motors, and wherein each connecting mechanism being configured to disconnect an inverter from a corresponding motor in response to receiving a control signal.