Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
104 words
A step motor control comprising: a supply voltage for the motor; drive means connected to said supply voltage for orthogonally driving each of orthogonal low impedance windings of the motor; means for causing the current in one of said orthogonal windings to decay rapidly to zero while another of said orthogonal windings is being driven by said drive means; sensing means connected across said one of said orthogonal windings for directly sensing the voltage induced in said one of said orthogonal windings by the permanent magnet of the motor after the current in said one of said orthogonal windings has decayed to substantially zero.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
104 words
A step motor control comprising: a supply voltage for the motor; drive means connected to said supply voltage for orthogonally driving each of orthogonal low impedance windings of the motor; means for causing the current in one of said orthogonal windings to decay rapidly to zero while another of said orthogonal windings is being driven by said drive means; sensing means connected across said one of said orthogonal windings for directly sensing the voltage induced in said one of said orthogonal windings by the permanent magnet of the motor after the current in said one of said orthogonal windings has decayed to substantially zero.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The step motor control of claim 1 wherein said drive means further includes: current responsive means for limiting the current through any of said windings so as to prevent overheating of said windings.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
55 words
The step motor control of claim 1 wherein said drive means has switching devices capable of driving current through a winding in either of two directions, and wherein said current responsive means turns off said switching devices when said current exceeds a predetermined value and thereafter permits said switching devices to be again turned on.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
56 words
The control means of claim 2 wherein said sensing means further includes: a differential sensing means for referencing the voltage across said one of said orthogonal windings to a fixed reference voltage; comparator means connected to said differential sensing means to detect when said voltage across said one of said orthogonal windings crosses said reference voltage.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
92 words
The motor control of claim 4 wherein; said differential sensing means is a differential amplifier connected across said one of said orthogonal windings for scaling the voltage induced in said one of said orthogonal windings and for referencing the voltage across said one of said orthogonal windings to zero volts; said comparator being connected to said differential amplifier to detect the zero crossing of the output of said amplifier; and switching means for selecting the output of said comparator means when comparing a scaled voltage which does not include a current component.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
The motor control of claim 5 wherein said switching means further comprises: logic means responsive to the step commands for controlling selection of the comparator output.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
The motor control of claim 6 wherein said logic means is a programmed computer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
The motor control of claim 3 wherein said drive means has four switching devices connected in an H configuration.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
64 words
The motor control of claim 7 wherein said current responsive means includes a current sensing resistor; a comparator connected to compare the voltage drop across said resistor with a reference voltage; and a bistable circuit responsive to excess current sensed by said comparator and turn off said four switching devices and responsive to timed input to permit said devices to be again turned on.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
90 words
The method of operating a step motor including the steps of: (1) driving a first winding of said motor with a voltage so as to impart motion to the rotor of said motor; (2) turning off said voltage to said first winding and causing the current in said first winding to decay to zero; (3) directly sensing the voltage induced by the permanent magnet of said rotor in said first winding; (4) again driving said first winding of said motor with said voltage in response to said directly sensed voltage.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
90 words
The method of operating a step motor including the steps of: (1) driving a first winding of said motor with a voltage so as to impart motion to the rotor of said motor; (2) turning off said voltage to said first winding and causing the current in said first winding to decay to zero; (3) directly sensing the voltage induced by the permanent magnet of said rotor in said first winding; (4) again driving said first winding of said motor with said voltage in response to said directly sensed voltage.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 10 further comprising the steps of; following step (1), directly sensing the voltage induced by said permanent magnet of said rotor in a second winding orthogonal to said first winding and in response to said voltage induced in said second winding, performing step (2).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
56 words
The motor control of claim 4 wherein said drive means is responsive to said comparator means to cease driving said another of said orthogonal windings and to begin driving said one of said orthogonal windings when the voltage induced in said one of said orthogonal windings by the permanent magnet of the motor crosses zero volts.