TWI894725B - Power supply systems for electrical equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The power supply system for electric motor equipment of the present invention includes a power switch, a first rectifier, a second rectifier, a backup power supply, and a core control device. When the power switch is in the on state, the first rectifier supplies a first DC power to the motor load and charges a first energy storage module of the backup power supply, while the second rectifier supplies a second DC power to the computer load. The core control device monitors a first charging time required for the first energy storage module to fully charge to a first target voltage. When the first charging time falls below a warning condition, the core control device notifies the computer load.

Description

Power supply system for electrical equipment

The present invention relates to electrical equipment, and in particular to a power supply system for electrical equipment.

Motor equipment is widely used in production environments. For example, motor loads (such as robotic arms) and computer loads (such as industrial computers) are used to control and monitor the operation of the robotic arms. Because production environments require stable operation of motor equipment, the power supply to the motor equipment can easily become unstable when power outages, malfunctions, power outages, or failures occur. In these situations, the systems supporting the motor and computer loads may not be able to complete normal shutdown procedures, causing subsequent restart or re-start failures, posing a risk to the stability of the production environment.

Currently, the aforementioned problem can be avoided by connecting an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system to the input power supply of the motor equipment to stabilize the power supply system. However, UPS systems are bulky and expensive to install, which makes them difficult to install in a production environment.

If an uninterruptible power supply system is not installed and the unstable power supply described above occurs, a momentary power outage to the motor load can cause a misjudgment of the computer load, affecting the operational stability during restart or boot.

Furthermore, the overall power storage capacity of the rechargeable batteries used in uninterruptible power systems will be affected by usage time and battery quality. However, the lifespan of rechargeable batteries is difficult to monitor, and it is not possible to replace a rechargeable battery with reduced power storage capacity.

In view of the above shortcomings, the power supply system for electric motor equipment of the present invention can detect the power storage capacity of the backup power supply device, allowing users to replace weakened energy storage components.

To achieve the above objectives, the power supply system for electric motor equipment of the present invention includes a power switch, a first rectifier, a second rectifier, a backup power supply, and a core control device. The power switch is connected to an input power source and has an on state and an off state. The first rectifier is electrically connected to the power switch and a motor load. The second rectifier is connected to the power switch and a computer load. The backup power supply is connected to the first rectifier and the motor load and includes a first energy storage module. The core control device is electrically connected to the power switch, the computer load, and the backup power supply. When the power switch is in the on state, the first rectifier device supplies a first DC power to the motor load and charges the first energy storage module. The second rectifier device supplies a second DC power to the computer load. The core control device monitors a first charging time taken for the first energy storage module to be fully charged to a first target voltage. When the first charging time falls below a warning condition, the core control device notifies the computer load.

In this way, the power supply system for electric motor equipment of the present invention can supply power to motor loads and computer loads via the first and second rectifiers. The first rectifier can also be used to charge the first energy storage module of the backup power supply device to store backup power. The core control device can monitor the first charging time of the first energy storage module and compare it with a reminder condition to notify component replacement. This allows the power supply system for electric motor equipment to more stably supply power to various loads.

The detailed structure, features, circuits, and applications of the power supply system for electric motor equipment of the present invention will be described in the detailed description of the embodiments that follow. However, those skilled in the art will understand that these detailed descriptions and the specific embodiments listed for implementing the present invention are intended solely to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the patent application for the present invention.

100: Power supply system

10: Power switch

11: Input power

20: First rectifier

30: Second rectifier

40: Backup power supply

41: First protection module

411: First input diode

412: First switch circuit

413: First low voltage protection circuit

4131: Voltage monitoring unit

414: First output diode

42: First energy storage module

43: Second protection module

431: Second input diode

432: Second switch circuit

433: Second low voltage protection circuit

4331: Voltage monitoring unit

434: Second output diode

435: Input Regulator

436: Output Regulator

44: Second energy storage module

45: Energy storage unit

451:Supercapacitor

452: Resistor

453: Energy Storage Switch

50: Control core device

51: Detection Circuit

52: Control Core

60: Motor load

61,71: Power supply path

70: Computer load

Q1: First transistor

Q2: Second transistor

Q3: The third transistor

P: Optocoupler

R1, R2: Resistors

S80-S89: Steps

Figure 1 is a system block diagram of the power supply system for the motor device of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of the first protection module and first energy storage module of the backup power supply device in Figure 1, the detection circuit of the control core device, and the control core and motor load.

Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of the second protection module and second energy storage module of the backup power supply device in Figure 1, as well as the computer load.

Figure 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the power supply system of the motor device of the present invention shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a graph showing the time-voltage characteristics of the fully charged supercapacitor in Figures 2 or 3.

The applicant first clarifies that throughout this specification, including the embodiments described below and the claims in the patent application, terms such as first, second, and third, etc., are based on the position of components in the drawings. Furthermore, in the embodiments and drawings described below, identical component numbers represent identical or similar components or their functional features.

As shown in FIG1 , the power supply system 100 for an electric motor device of the present invention includes a power switch 10, a first rectifier device 20, a second rectifier device 30, a backup power supply device 40, and a control core device 50.

The power switch 10 is connected to an input power source 11 and has an on state and an off state. The power switch 10 can be a mechanical switch or an electronic switch. The input power source 11 is alternating current.

The first rectifier 20 is connected to the power switch 10 and a motor load 60, while the second rectifier 30 is connected to the power switch 10 and a computer load 70. The first rectifier 20 and the second rectifier 30 form different power supply paths 61 and 71, respectively, to supply power to the motor load 60 and the computer load 70. The motor load 60 may be a robot controller, for example, and the computer load 70 may be an industrial computer.

When the power switch 10 is in the on state, the first rectifier 20 supplies a first DC power to the motor load 60, and the second rectifier 30 supplies a second DC power to the computer load 70. In this embodiment, the voltage of the first DC power is 24 volts, and the voltage of the second DC power is 12 volts. In short, the first rectifier 20 and the second rectifier 30 can supply different DC voltages to meet the needs of different loads. In other embodiments, the DC voltage value can also be other parameters.

The backup power supply device 40 is connected to the first rectifier device 20, the motor load 60, and the computer load 70, and includes a first protection module 41, a first energy storage module 42, a second protection module 43, and a second energy storage module 44. The first protection module 41 is connected to the first rectifier device 20 and the motor load 60. The first energy storage module 42 is connected to the first protection module 41. The second protection module 43 is connected to the first rectifier device 20 and the computer load 70. The second energy storage module 44 is connected to the second protection module 43. The first protection module 41 and the second protection module 43 are used to prevent leakage of the power stored in the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 during normal operation and after shutdown.

The first protection module 41 includes a first input diode 411, a first switching circuit 412, a first low-voltage protection circuit 413, and a first output diode 414. The positive electrode of the first input diode 411 is connected to the first rectifier device 20, and its negative electrode is connected to the first switching circuit 412 and the first energy storage module 42. The first low-voltage protection circuit 413 is connected to the first switching circuit 412 and the positive electrode of the first output diode 414, and the negative electrode of the first output diode 414 is connected to the motor load 60. Power can also be supplied between the motor load 60 and the first rectifier device 20 via a power supply path 61.

The second protection module 43 includes a second input diode 431, a second switching circuit 432, a second low-voltage protection circuit 433, a second output diode 434, an input voltage regulator 435, and an output voltage regulator 436. The input voltage regulator 435 is connected to the first rectifier 20 and the positive electrode of the second input diode 431. The negative electrode of the second input diode 431 is connected to the second switching circuit 432 and the second energy storage module 44. The second low-voltage protection circuit 433 is connected to the second switching circuit 432 and the output voltage regulator 436. The positive electrode of the second output diode 434 is connected to the output voltage regulator 436, and the negative electrode of the second output diode 434 is connected to the computer load 70. Power can also be supplied between the computer load 70 and the second rectifier device 30 via the power supply path 71.

The core control device 50 is connected to the power switch 10, the backup power supply 40, and the computer load 70. The core control device 50 monitors the AC power supply status of the power switch 10 to confirm normal power supply and the charging status of the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 to determine the charging capacity and lifespan of each energy storage module. The core control device 50 is used to trigger the first protection module 41 and the second protection module 43.

In this embodiment, the control core device 50 includes a detection circuit 51 and a control core 52. The detection circuit 51 is connected to the power switch 10 and the control core 52 to detect the AC power supply status. When the AC power supply stops and a power outage time is met, the control core 52 notifies the computer load 70 to shut down. In this embodiment, the power outage time is a few seconds, such as two, three, or four seconds, and the number of seconds can be adjusted. However, if the power outage time is not met, the control core 52 will not notify the computer load 70 to shut down or change its current operation.

The control core 52 is connected to the first energy storage module 42, the second energy storage module 44, and the computer load 70, and is used to monitor the voltages _V42 , _V44 , and lifespan of the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44, and to notify the computer load 70 of a monitored reminder condition.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 are similar in composition, differing in their storage capacity. Each of the first and second energy storage modules 42, 44 includes multiple energy storage cells 45 connected in series. In this embodiment, the first and second energy storage modules 42, 44 have seven and five energy storage cells 45, respectively. Each energy storage cell 45 includes a supercapacitor 451, a resistor 452, and an energy storage switch 453. The supercapacitor 451 is, for example, a lithium-ion supercapacitor. The energy storage switch 453 connects the supercapacitor 451, the resistor 452, and the control core device 50. The supercapacitors 451 of the multiple energy storage units 45 are connected in series, and the resistors 452 are also connected in series. In other embodiments, the number of energy storage units in each energy storage module can be adjusted to more or less, but must meet the power requirements of each load.

The first DC power is used to fully charge the first energy storage module 42 to a first target voltage V ₄₂ and the second energy storage module 44 to a second target voltage V ₄₄ . The first target voltage V ₄₂ is substantially the same as the voltage required for normal operation of the motor load 60 , while the second target voltage V ₄₄ is substantially the same as the voltage required for normal operation of the computer load 70 .

When the motor device is powered on or in normal operation, indicating that the power switch 10 is in the on state, the control core device 50 controls the energy storage switches 453 of each energy storage unit 45 to conduct, thereby connecting the supercapacitor 451 and the resistor 452. When the motor device is powered off or forced to shut down due to a crash, the control core device 50 controls the energy storage switches 453 of each energy storage unit 45 to open based on a shutdown result signal from the computer load 70, thereby disconnecting the supercapacitor 451 and the resistor 452. This prevents leakage current from causing component damage after the supercapacitor 451 is shut down in various conditions, thereby ensuring component life and reliability.

Furthermore, the first switching circuit 412 and the second switching circuit 432 have substantially the same composition and control. The first low-voltage protection circuit 413 and the second low-voltage protection circuit 433 also have substantially the same composition and control. Therefore, the circuit components are represented by the same reference numerals. The first switching circuit 412 and the second switching circuit 432 each include a first transistor Q1, a second transistor Q2, and an optocoupler P. The first transistor Q1 is a P-type transistor, and the second transistor Q2 is an N-type transistor. The first low-voltage protection circuit 413 and the second low-voltage protection circuit 433 each include a third transistor Q3 and a voltage monitoring unit 4131 or 4331. The third transistor Q3 is a P-type transistor. The voltage monitoring units 4131 or 4331 include an integrated circuit (the solid rectangle in the figure), resistors R1 and R2 connected in series, and a capacitor. An example of such an integrated circuit is the NCV33161 series monitoring circuit.

The source of the first transistor Q1 is connected to the first energy storage module 42 or the second energy storage module 44. The drain of the first transistor Q1 is connected to the source of the third transistor Q3 and the resistor R2 of the voltage monitoring units 4131 and _{4331. The gate of the first transistor Q1 is connected to the drain of the second transistor Q2 and the optocoupler P. The source of the second transistor Q2 is grounded, and the gate of the second transistor Q2 is connected to the optocoupler and a computer load 70 (represented by terminal N70} in the figure). The integrated circuits of the voltage monitoring units 4131 and 4331 are connected to resistors R1 and R2 and the gate of the third transistor Q3 to trigger the third transistor Q3 by detecting the node voltage of the resistors R1 and R2. The node voltage of the resistors R1 and R2 may correspond to the energy storage voltages V ₄₂ and V ₄₄ of the first energy storage module 42 or the second energy storage module 44. The drain of the third transistor Q3 of the first low-voltage protection circuit 413 is connected to the first output diode 414, and the drain of the third transistor Q3 of the second low-voltage protection circuit 433 is connected to the output regulator 436.

The first switching circuit 412 and the second switching circuit 432 are also connected to the computer load 70 (indicated by terminal _N70 in the figure) and operate in response to a hardware shutdown signal generated by the shutdown result signal of the computer load 70. After the software shutdown process of the computer load 70 is completed, regardless of whether the shutdown result signal indicates that the computer load 70 has completed shutdown or not, the hardware shutdown signal can trigger the first switching circuit 412 and the second switching circuit 432 to enter an open circuit state, thereby disconnecting power from the backup power supply device 40 and various loads. This operation will be described in detail below.

The first and second low-voltage protection circuits 413 and 433 are used to prevent over-discharge of the first and second energy storage modules 42 and 44. Over-discharge would reduce the energy storage capacity of the first and second energy storage modules 42 and 44. Therefore, voltage monitoring units 4131 and 4331 detect the voltages of the first and second energy storage modules 42 and 44. When the voltages reach a low level (e.g., 3.5 volts or other values), the third transistor Q3 shuts off the power supply. This prevents over-discharge of the first and second energy storage modules 42 and 44. In other embodiments, the voltage monitoring units 4131 and 4331 may also be implemented as detection circuits composed of other circuits, rather than being limited to integrated circuits.

In other embodiments, when the power supply of the computer load 70 has a backup power supply or the backup power supply can support the time required for the computer load 70 to execute the shutdown process or back up data, the second protection module 43 and the second energy storage module 44 can be omitted.

As shown in FIG4 , the power supply system 100 for motor equipment of the present invention operates as follows: Step S80 determines whether the power switch 10 is switched on. When the power switch 10 is switched on, step S81 supplies AC power to the first rectifier 20 and the second rectifier 30, thereby supplying power to the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 of the backup power supply 40, as well as the motor load 60 and the computer load 70. At this point, the motor load 60 and the computer load 70 are powered on and operational, and the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 are fully charged to the first target voltage _V42 and the second target voltage _V44 , respectively. The control core 52 of the control core device 50 monitors the first charging time used for the first energy storage module ₄₂ to be fully charged to the first target voltage V42 and the second charging time used for the second energy storage module 44 to be fully charged to the second target voltage _V44 , and when the first charging time and the second charging time are lower than the reminder condition, the control core notifies the computer load.

The reminder condition is related to the energy storage capacity of the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44. The energy storage capacity can be observed from the full charge voltage and time of each energy storage module. Since the full charge voltage and time characteristics of each energy storage module are roughly similar, the difference lies in the full charge voltage level. Therefore, Figure 5 uses the charging characteristics of one energy storage module to illustrate. In this embodiment, the reminder condition is the ratio of the current full charge time of each energy storage module to the initial full charge time. The time required for full charge is the first and second charging times required to fully charge from zero or low voltage to the first target voltage _V42 or the second target voltage _V44 . In the figure, t1 is the initial first charging time or second charging time, with the solid line representing the charging characteristics of the initial energy storage module. t2 is the first charging time or second charging time after degradation, with the dashed line representing the charging characteristics after degradation. In this embodiment, the reminder condition is the ratio of t1 and t2, more specifically, the percentage of t2 divided by t1. When the ratio is lower than a specific parameter (e.g., 70%), it is determined that the first energy storage module 42 or the second energy storage module 44 should be replaced. The initial first energy storage module 42 or the second energy storage module 44 refers to a component that is functioning normally. In other embodiments, the ratio in the reminder condition may vary with the calculation method, and the actual parameters may be adjusted (e.g., higher than 70% or lower than 70%), or the changes in reference time and charging voltage may be converted into a slope for judgment.

The control core 52 can notify the computer load 70 according to the reminder conditions, allowing the computer load 70 to remind the administrator to replace the first energy storage module 42 or the second energy storage module 44. This ensures that the motor load 60 and the computer load 70 can be stably shut down or data backed up in the event of a failure, accident, or power outage.

Subsequently, when the power switch 10 is switched to the off state, the AC power supply is stopped. This switching may be caused by a power outage, a power outage, a malfunction, a failure, or a normal shutdown of the computer load 70. Regardless of the switching scenario, in the off state, step S82 is to switch to the backup power supply device for power supply. That is, the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 can both supply power to the motor load 60 and the computer load 70 in a timely manner. Based on the power outage time reached in the off state (step S83), the control core 52 notifies the computer load 70 to execute a system software shutdown (step S84). In this embodiment, the power outage time is defined as two seconds. If the power outage duration has not yet been reached, the control core 52 will not notify the computer load 70 to initiate a shutdown via the system software. This prevents accidental or momentary power outages and resets, which could cause the loads to be repeatedly shut down and started up within a short period of time, leading to errors or failures.

Regardless of whether the system software shutdown is completed normally, the first switching circuit 412 and the second switching circuit 432 of the backup power supply device 40 can perform a hardware shutdown after the system software shutdown operation. Step S85 determines whether the system software shutdown has completed to confirm whether the computer load 70 has shut down. If so, the computer load outputs a shutdown result signal to the backup power supply device to interrupt power supply to the backup power supply device (step S89). In other words, the first switching circuit 412 and the second switching circuit 432 are switched to the off state, interrupting the path from the first energy storage module 42 and the second energy storage module 44 to the motor load 60 and the computer load 70.

If the software shutdown is not complete, the computer load sends a shutdown result signal (step S86) upon reaching a first shutdown cycle, effectively sending a hardware shutdown signal. Then, if the computer load completes shutdown, step S89 is executed to disconnect the backup power supply. If the computer load still has not completed shutdown, the computer load sends a shutdown result signal (step S87) upon reaching a second shutdown cycle, effectively sending a hardware shutdown signal for the second time, and then executes step S89. In this way, in addition to software shutdown, hardware shutdown can also be achieved by controlling the backup power supply 40 through the computer load's sending of a shutdown result signal, thereby improving issues such as computer load crashes or failures.

Confirmation of the first shutdown cycle indicates that the first hardware shutdown was successfully completed. The second shutdown cycle, which lasts longer than the first, indicates that the previous hardware shutdown failed to successfully shut down the computer load. Therefore, a hardware shutdown is performed directly to disconnect power to the backup power supply device 40. Although this embodiment illustrates the hardware shutdown operation after a successful and unsuccessful software shutdown, in other embodiments, the hardware shutdown may not refer to the first and second shutdown cycles, but may instead be performed after the software shutdown is complete to disconnect power to each energy storage module.

100: Power supply system 10: Power switch 11: Input power 20: First rectifier 30: Second rectifier 40: Backup power supply 41: First protection module 411: First input diode 412: First switching circuit 413: First low-voltage protection circuit 414: First output diode 42: First energy storage module 43: Second protection module 431: Second input diode 432: Second switching circuit 433: Second low-voltage protection circuit 434: Second output diode 435: Input voltage regulator 436: Output voltage regulator 44: Second energy storage module 50: Control core device 51: Detection circuit 52: Control core 60: Motor load 61, 71: Power supply path 70: Computer load

Claims (6)

A power supply system for an electric motor device includes: a power switch connected to an input power source and having an on state and an off state; a first rectifier electrically connected to the power switch and a motor load; a second rectifier electrically connected to the power switch and a computer load; a backup power supply electrically connected to the first rectifier and the motor load and including a first energy storage module; and a control core device electrically connected to the power switch, the computer load, and the backup power supply. When the power switch is in the on state, the first rectifier is used to supply a first direct current to the motor load. The first energy storage module is charged and the second rectifier is used to supply a second direct current to the computer load. The control core device monitors a first charging time taken for the first energy storage module to be fully charged to a first target voltage. When the first charging time is lower than a reminder condition, the control core device notifies the computer load. The backup power supply device further includes a second energy storage module. The first direct current is also used to charge the second energy storage module. The control core device also monitors a second charging time taken for the second energy storage module to be fully charged to a second target voltage. When the second charging time is lower than a reminder condition, the control core device notifies the computer load. When the reminder condition is met, the control core device notifies the computer load, wherein the backup power supply device further includes a first protection module and a second protection module, the first protection module is connected to the first rectifier device, the first energy storage module, the control core device and the motor load, the second protection module is connected to the first rectifier device, the second energy storage module, the control core device and the computer load, the control core device is used to trigger the first protection module and the second protection module, wherein the first protection module includes a first input diode and a first switch circuit, the positive electrode of the first input diode receives the A first direct current is received, and the negative pole of the first input diode is connected to the first switching circuit, the first energy storage module, and the computer load. The second protection module includes a second input diode and a second switching circuit. The positive pole of the second input diode receives the first direct current, and the negative pole of the second input diode is connected to the second switching circuit, the second energy storage module, and the computer load. When the power switch is in an open circuit state, the first energy storage module and the second energy storage module respectively supply power to the motor load and the computer load to shut down. The computer load outputs a shutdown result signal to control the first switch and the second switch. A power supply system for an electrical machine as described in claim 1, wherein the reminder condition includes a ratio of a current time taken for the first energy storage module to be fully charged to the first target voltage to an initial time taken for the first energy storage module to be fully charged to the first target voltage, and a ratio of a current time taken for the second energy storage module to be fully charged to the second target voltage to an initial time taken for the second energy storage module to be fully charged to the second target voltage. A power supply system for an electrical machine as described in claim 1, wherein the first energy storage module and the second energy storage module respectively include a plurality of energy storage units connected in series, each of the plurality of energy storage units includes a supercapacitor, a resistor and an energy storage switch, the energy storage switch is connected to the supercapacitor, the resistor and the control core device, and the control core device controls the energy storage switch based on a shutdown result signal of the computer load. The power supply system for an electric machine device as described in claim 3, wherein the supercapacitor comprises a lithium-ion supercapacitor. A power supply system for an electric motor device as described in claim 1, wherein the first protection module includes a first low-voltage protection circuit connected to the first switch and the motor load, and the second protection module includes a second low-voltage protection circuit connected to the second switch circuit and the computer load. A power supply system for an electric machine device as described in claim 1, wherein the control core device includes a detection circuit and a control core, the detection circuit is connected to the power switch and the control core, and is used to detect the power supply status of an alternating current of the input power source. When the alternating current stops supplying and meets a power outage time of the control core, the control core notifies the computer load to shut down.