Patent ID: 7013328

Claim:
An electrical drive system for the synchronized adjustment of the position, speed or acceleration of a plurality of movable, functional parts of devices and machines, the system comprising: (a) a plurality of drive units each connected to one or more of the functional parts for said adjustment under computer assisted control; (b) a plurality of drive networks, each drive network having a plurality of the drive units as network nodes, each drive network allocated to a group of the functional parts, the nodes of at least one of the drive networks connected together for communication between the nodes; (c) a plurality of intercommunication networks for synchronizing the drive units of different drive networks, each intercommunication network connecting a node of a drive network with a node of another drive network; (d) a multi-link controller having a plurality of communication components, each communication component being a node of one of the intercommunication networks for coupling the nodes of the intercommunication network; and (e) drive synchronisation control unit as nodes of an intercommunication network for an electrical drive system having at least one communication interface and at least one processor that controls it and is provided with the following functional modules: (i) a master axis module, designed to receive, to generate and/or route data and/or commands for a virtual master axis via the at least one communication interface and (ii) a data distribution module, which is designed for controlling a data and/or command flow via the at least one communication interface with one of the networks, in particular the intercommunication network.