DC Motor drive system

Claim 2

A DC motor drive system comprising: (a) means for detecting the power of the DC motor, said power detecting means including means for detecting the rotational speed and armature current of the DC motor; absolute value means, connected to the means for detecting the rotational speed and armature current of the DC motor, for providing outputs proportional to the absolute values of the rotational speed and armature current of the DC motor; and means, connected to the absolute value means, for multiplying together the outputs porportional to the absolute values of the rotational speed and armature current of the DC motor and producing an output value directly proportional to the power output of the DC motor, providing that the field flux of the DC motor is constant; and (b) means, connected to said power detecting means, for controlling the rotational speed of the DC motor in accordance with the power output value of said power detecting means and in such a manner that said power output value of said power detecting means does not exceed a predetermined allowed power value for the DC motor.

Claim 3

A DC motor drive system according to claim 1, wherein said DC motor further comprises brushes and wherein the predetermined allowed power value is selected not to exceed a commutation limit of the motor brushes.

Claim 4

A DC motor drive system according to claim 1, wherein the DC motor is a permanent magnet-type DC motor.

Claim 5

A DC motor drive system for driving a DC motor and comprising an AC to DC voltage converter means having a plurality of thyristors, a tachometer generator means mechanically connected to said DC motor for producing a voltage signal representative of the actual speed of said DC motor, a current detecting means operatively connected to said DC motor for producing a voltage signal representative of the armature current of DC motor, a multiplier means operatively connected to the tachometer generator means and the armature current detecting means for producing an output signal representative of the product of the voltage signals from said tachometer generator means and said armature current detecting means, said output signal thereby being directly proportional to the power output of said DC motor, a comparator means operatively connected to said multiplier means for comparing the output signal from said multiplier means with a fixed voltage representative of a predetermined maximum allowed power value for said DC motor, and a speed control means operatively connected to said plurality of thyristors and to a manually controlled voltage source, said manually controlled source producing a voltage signal representative of the desired DC motor speed; wherein said speed control means generates an error signal representative of the difference between the desired DC motor speed and the actual DC motor speed and controls said plurality of thyristors such that the armature current of said DC motor is controlled so as to make the desired DC motor speed equal to the actual DC motor speed; and wherein said comparator means is operatively connected to said speed control means such that said error signal is limited in value by said comparator means whereby the output power of said DC motor does not exceed a predetermined maximum value.

Claim 6

A DC motor drive system for driving a DC motor and comprising an AC to DC voltage converter means having a plurality of thyristors, a tachometer generator means mechanically connected to said DC motor for producing a voltage signal representative of the actual speed of said DC motor, a current detecting means operatively connected to said DC motor for producing a voltage signal representative of the armature current of DC motor, a multiplier means operatively connected to the tachometer generator means and the armature current detecting means for producing an output signal representative of the product of the voltage signals from said tachometer generator means and said armature current detecting means, said output signal thereby being directly proportional to the power output of said DC motor, a comparator means operatively connected to said multiplier means for comparing the output signal from said multiplier means with a fixed voltage representative of a predetermined maximum allowed power value for said DC motor, and a speed control means operatively connected to said plurality of thyristors and to a manually controlled voltage source, said manually controlled source producing a voltage signal representative of the desired DC motor speed; wherein said speed control means generates an error signal representative of the difference between the desired DC motor speed and the actual DC motor speed and controls said plurality of thyristors such that the armature current of said DC motor is controlled so as to make the desired DC motor speed equal to the actual DC motor speed; and wherein said comparator means is operatively connected to said speed control means such that said error signal is limited in value by said comparator means whereby the output power of said DC motor does not exceed a predetermined maximum value.

Claim 7

The DC motor of claim 1 wherein said speed control means comprises: (a) a plurality of thyristors; (b) thyristor circuit means for controlling the firing phase angles of said thyristors in response to an analog error voltage signal representative of the difference between a desired DC motor speed and the actual DC motor speed; and (c) comparator means for comparing the detected power output value of said power detecting means and a predetermined maximum power output value for the DC motor and producing a limiting voltage for the analog error voltage signal input of the thyristor control circuit when the detected power output value exceeds the predetermined power output value.

Claim 8

The DC motor of claim 5 wherein said speed control means further comprises adder means, responsive to the error voltage and power limiting voltage, for producing an input voltage to the thyristor circuit control means equivalent to that in which the desired DC motor speed has been reduced.

Claim 9

The DC motor of claim 5 or 6 wherein said comparator means provides a constant power limiting voltage for adjusting the input voltage to the thyristor circuit control means independent of the power output value produced by said multiplier means when the produced power output value exceeds the predetermined maximum allowed power output value.