Patent ID: 7501785

Claim:
A starting system for a single-phase induction motor comprising: a stator having a running coil and a starting coil; a power source which supplies current to said running coil and said starting coil; a running switch and a starting switch, each switch having an open and a closed condition, respectively connecting the running coil and starting coil to the power source when in the closed condition; a current sensor coupled to the stator and operatively connected to the control unit, adapted to determine when the current to at least one of the running coil and the starting coil crosses zero; and a control unit supplied by the power source and operatively connected to the current sensor, the running switch and the starting switch in order to instruct the running switch and the starting switch to assume their open and closed conditions, wherein at start up during acceleration the control unit instructs the starting switch to close, and each time the current to at least one of the running coil and the starting coil crosses zero the current sensor informs the control unit, the running switch opens, and the control unit instructs the running switch to close after a determined time interval considered from the moment the current in at least one of the running coil and the starting coil crosses zero, to thereby intermittently feed current to the running coil while continuously feeding current to the starting coil, and wherein after acceleration is complete the control unit instructs the starting switch to open.