Patent Application
20100115853
The present invention relates to power door assemblies and, more particularly, to a power door assembly including a control system for implementing door actuation commands to move a door.
It is known to provide a door with a door operator to open and/or close the door relative to a door opening. Such door operators may incorporate a motor, such as an electric motor and a drive/actuation mechanism to convert the movement of a motor rotor into movement of the door, such as swinging movement, to open or close the door. Electric motors are commonly used in door operators, and frequently require substantial operating currents and/or voltages to provide the necessary power for controlling movement of the door. In addition, in the case of commutator motors, the motor must be of substantial size in order to provide the desired torque, such that the door operator may form a bulky unit that is not easily installed onto existing door structures.
Typical applications of door operators include buildings that require automatic actuation of doors in the event of an emergency, such as may be required for a fire door. Other common applications of door operators include door openings designed for access by individuals with disabilities, such as persons in wheelchairs. In such applications, it is also desirable to control of the motor to provide a desired movement profile and to respond to external inputs to the door. Such inputs requiring a response may comprise a manual push or pull on the door, in which it is desirable to permit door movement without substantial resistance. It is further desirable to enable the control to detect an obstruction to the door and respond in such a way as to preferably maintain an existing door movement command while also responding to the obstruction without applying excessive force against the obstruction.
Other characteristics of a door operator are also desirable to provide efficient controlled movement of the door in combination with a compact door actuator that may be readily incorporated in a range of door configurations.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for controlling an electric motor of an automatic door system. The motor is operatively connected to a door panel to enable the motor to perform a door moving operation for moving the door relative to a door frame. The motor is operable to move the door between open and closed positions using electric power signals delivered to the motor from an electric power supply. The electric power signals being controlled through a motor controller in communication with a system controller, and the system controller is operable to provide control signals to the motor controller for switching power source connections from the power supply to windings of the motor to define motor actuation operations. The method comprises: at the system controller selecting a motor actuation operation from a plurality of predetermined motor actuation operations, and providing control signals to the motor controller corresponding to the selected motor actuation operation; effecting control of movement of the door using the selected motor actuation operation whereby the angular position of the door relative to the door frame is controlled by switching the power source connections in response to the control signals received from the system controller; and wherein the motor actuation operation comprises switching the power source connections to maintain the door at a substantially stationary position relative to the door frame including providing a resistance to an external force applied on the door in a door opening direction without providing a motive electrical power to the motor.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for controlling an electric motor of an automatic door system. The motor is operatively connected to a door panel to enable the motor to perform a door moving operation for moving the door relative to a door frame. The motor is operable to move the door between open and closed positions using electric power signals delivered to the motor from an electric power supply. The electric power signals being controlled through a motor controller in communication with a system controller, and the system controller is operable to provide control signals to the motor controller for switching power source connections from the power supply to windings of the motor to define motor actuation operations. The method comprises: providing a set point input, the set point input defined as an operator selected parameter provided as an input to the system controller and corresponding to at least one of a door opening time and a door closing time; converting the set point input to a speed set value comprising a maximum speed for the motor to move the door; providing a speed command value proportional to the speed set value, and using the speed command value to provide a variable voltage command value; providing a first duty cycle value equal to a ratio of the variable voltage command value and a bus voltage value, the bus voltage value corresponding to a voltage provided from the power supply; and providing control signals from the system controller to the motor controller corresponding to the first duty cycle value, the control signals determined with reference to the first duty cycle value, and switching the power source connections in response to the control signals received from the system controller to effect movement of the door at a speed corresponding to the speed command value.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the present invention, it is believed that the present invention will be better understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying Drawing Figures, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and wherein:
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, a specific preferred embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Referring to
An electric actuator 28 is provided for controlling and effecting movement of the door 12 relative to the frame member 14. The electric actuator may be located adjacent to either of the vertical edge surfaces 20, 22, depending on the location of the hinges 21, and is shown in the illustrated embodiment as being located within a pocket 30 formed between the first and second panels 16, 18 adjacent the inner vertical edge surface 20 of the door 12. The electric actuator 28 is illustrated as being connected to the horizontal header 14a by an actuator arm 32 for effecting pivoting movement of the door 12 relative to the frame member 14, as will be described further below.
Referring to
A drive pinion gear 68 on the output shaft 66 of the gear box 62 drives a spur gear train 70 including first, second and third compound spur gears 72, 74 and 75, respectively, and a driven spur gear 76. The first compound spur gear 72 includes a large spur gear 72a meshingly engaged with the drive pinion gear 68 and a small spur gear 72b attached for rotation with the large spur gear 72a. The second compound spur gear 74 includes a large spur gear 74a and a small spur gear 74b, where the large spur gear 74a is attached for rotation with the small spur gear 74b. The large spur gear 74a of the second compound spur gear 74 is meshingly engaged with the small spur gear 72b of the first compound spur gear 72. The third compound spur gear 75 includes a large spur gear 75a and a small spur gear 75b, where the large spur gear 75a is attached for rotation with the small spur gear 75b. The large spur gear 75a of the third compound spur gear 75 is meshingly engaged with the small spur gear 74b of the second compound spur gear 74, and the small spur gear 75b of the third compound gear 75 is meshingly engaged with the driven spur gear 76. The gear drive train 70 provides a gear reduction from the drive pinion gear 68 to the driven spur gear 76.
An output shaft 78 is rigidly affixed to the driven spur gear 76. The output shaft 78 provides a drive torque for directly driving the actuator arm 32 in response to the drive force from the motor 52 (see
As noted above, the electric actuator 28 may be mounted adjacent to either vertical edge surface 20, 22 of the door 12. The electric actuator 28 may be controlled with reference to the location of the actuator 28 on the door 12 and to provide an opening and closing force as determined by the location of the actuator and pivoting direction of the door 12 relative to the frame member 14.
Referring to
The control unit 82 communicates with a motor controller 86 comprising a brushless DC (BLDC) inverter 86a and a gate driver 86b operating under control of the system controller 84 to drive the motor 52 for effecting movement of the door 12 at predetermined opening and closing speeds and to predetermined positions. The motor controller 86 is connected to a 24 VDC bus. The gate driver 86b provides appropriate voltage/current signals to the inverter 86a to operate power control switches, e.g., FETs/transistors, in the inverter 86a.
The control unit 82 is provided with power from an electrical power supply comprising a 24 VDC interface 92 receiving power from either a standard 24 VDC building power system 88 or from a battery or battery backup system 90. The 24 VDC interface provides a low voltage power supply, i.e., less than 24 V, to the system controller 84. A power cable 91 may convey the power to the 24 VDC interface 92 from the building power system 88 and/or the battery system 90, as is illustrated in
Also, in the preferred embodiment, a position sensor 104 (see
The control unit 82 further includes a communication interface 100 through which the system controller 84 may communicate with a smart building communication system and/or a device programming network via a communication conduit 102 (
To facilitate connection of the electric actuator 28 to the door 12 and associated power and communication lines, the connection from the control unit 82 to a wiring harness including the power cable 91, communication conduit 102 and sensor or ancillary devices is preferably provided by a connector 106 located on the housing 50, as seen in
The device programming network via the communication conduit 102 may comprise a controller area network (CAN). Alternatively, other communication networks may be implemented such as, for example, RS-232, RS-485, SPI, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 Ethernet, LonWorks, BACnet, ZigBee, or other network systems. The control unit 82 may be programmed or otherwise controlled over the CAN or other communication network, and may be programmed, such as via a computer 110 (
It should also be noted that some functions such as, for example, the open and/or close time and the force sensitivity may also be set directly at the electric actuator 28 by accessing one or more potentiometers (depicted generally at 112 in
As discussed briefly above, the described electric actuator 28 performs a door moving operation in which the motor 52 is controlled to move the door 12 between open and closed positions using an electrical power signal delivered to the motor 52 from the motor controller 86 in communication with the system controller 84. The system controller 84 is operable to provide control signals to the gate driver 86b for switching power source connections at the inverter 86a to control the power supply to windings of the motor 52 to define motor actuation operations.
The BLDC inverter 86a for the motor controller 86 is illustrated in
The motor actuation operations provided via the control signals from the system controller 84 include position command functions for moving or positioning the door 12, which are performed with reference to input signals provided to the system controller 84 from the absolute encoder position sensor 104, from a current sensor 108 (
The system controller 84 will control the selection of the position command function in a predetermined order of priority in accordance with a pseudo-code implemented by the system controller 84. If the Learn Open and Closed Positions command is OFF, then the order of priority will be as follows:
During an initial set up procedure for the door actuator, the Learn Open and Closed Positions command functions are implemented to train the system to define the angular locations of the open and closed positions, as sensed by the door position sensor 104, as will be described in greater detail below. The range of door movement will typically be approximately 90 degrees, where the door closed position may be defined as 180 degrees and the door open position may be defined as 270 degrees. An amount of time required for the door to sweep or move between the open and closed positions, i.e., a set point value, may be manually set by an operator, such as during an initial set up procedure for the particular application of the door actuator. For example, in a typical application, the set point value may correspond to a door sweep time of approximately 5 seconds. The set point value, and other variable settings, may be entered through potentiometer settings, such as by adjustment of the one or more potentiometers 112 at the control unit 82. Alternatively, these variables may be viewed and adjusted through a Graphical User Interface (GUI), such as may be implemented through an external personal computer 110 (see
Each of the position command functions are used to generate control signals at the system controller 84 to switch the power source connections through inputs PWM1, PWM2, PWM3, PWM4, PWM5, PWM6 to control the motor 52. The pulse width modulation (PWM) signals for the position command functions are produced in accordance with duty cycles determined with reference to speed command values, ωcmd, and current commands, Icmd, associated with position commands. The position command functions are described as follows, and with further reference to the Position Command table of
A) Close and Hold Command Function
When the system controller 84 receives a signal, such as may be provided from the communication conduit 102, or from ancillary devices and/or sensors 99, the Close and Hold closed position command function is performed as follows (see
i) A movement of the door from the open position, PO, toward the closed position, PC, may be initiated. During movement of the door between the open position, PO, and a lock check position, LC, the speed command value, ωcmd, is set to the speed set value, ωset; and the current command, Icmd, is set to a maximum value, −Imax, such that a maximum available current may flow. The lock check position, LC, may be defined as a location that is 90% of the total door movement from the open position, PO, toward the closed position, PC;
ii) During movement of the door through a soft stop range, RS, defined between the lock check position, LC, and the closed position, PC, the speed command value, ωcmd, is initially reduced generally linearly from ωset to 0.9*ωset as the door travels through 20% of the soft stop range, RS, from the lock check position, L. That is, for operation in the soft stop range, RS, the speed command, ωcmd, is reduced linearly with reference to the actual angular position, θact, of the door 12. In addition, the current command, Icmd, is maintained at −Imax. The soft stop range, RS, may typically comprise approximately the last 10% of door movement to the closed position;
iii) During movement of the door through the soft stop range, RS, between a location 20% from the lock check position, LC, and 80% from the lock check position, LC, the speed command value, ωcmd, is reduced generally linearly from 0.9*ωset to 0.1*ωset, and the current command, Icmd, is maintained at −Imax;
iv) During movement of the door through the soft stop range, RS, between the location 80% from the lock check position, LC, and a location defined as the closed position plus X1 degree, the speed command value, ωcmd, is reduced generally linearly from 0.1*ωset to 0, and the current command, Icmd, is maintained at −Imax. In an exemplary application, X1 may be set equal to 1 degree, such that the closed position (180 degrees) plus X1 may be equal to 181 degrees;
v) During movement of the door within 1 degree of the closed position, PC, the speed command value, ωcmd, is set to 0, and the current command, Icmd, is set to −0.1 A for 200 ms.
Subsequently, a Holding command function is applied, as is described below, to apply a dynamic braking force to the door by shorting the motor phase terminals using the inverter switches. Further, if the door passes the closed position, PC, such that the door position is less than the closed position minus X1 degree (e.g., 1 degree), then a speed command value, ωcmd, of 0.2*ωset is applied with a current command of Imax, to move the door in the direction of the closed position, PC.
B) Open and Hold Command Function
When the system controller 84 receives a signal, such as may be provided from the communication conduit 102, or from ancillary devices and/or sensors 99, the Open and Hold closed position command function is performed as follows (see
i) A movement of the door from the closed position, PC, toward the open position, PO, may be initiated. During movement of the door between the closed position, PC, and a back check position, BC, the speed command value, ωcmd, is set to the speed set value, ωset; and the current command, Icmd, is set to a maximum value, Imax, such that a maximum available current may flow. The back check position, BC, may be defined as a location that is 90% of the total door movement from the closed position, PC, toward the open position, PO;
ii) During movement of the door through a soft stop range, RS, defined between the back check position, BC, and the open position, PO, the speed command value, ωcmd, is initially reduced generally linearly from ωset to 0.9*ωset as the door travels through 20% of the soft stop range, RS, from the back check position, B. That is, for operation in the soft stop range, RS, the speed command, ωcmd, is reduced linearly with reference to the actual angular position, θact, of the door 12. In addition, the current command, Icmd, is maintained at Imax. The soft stop range, RS, may typically comprise approximately the last 10% of door movement to the open position;
iii) During movement of the door through the soft stop range, RS, between a location 20% from the back check position, BC, and 80% from the back check position, BC, the speed command value, ωcmd, is reduced generally linearly from 0.9*ωset to 0.1*ωset, and the current command, Icmd, is maintained at Imax;
iv) During movement of the door through the soft stop range, RS, between the location 80% from the back check position, BC, and a location defined as the open position minus X1 degree, the speed command value, ωcmd, is reduced generally linearly from 0.1*ωset to 0, and the current command, Icmd, is maintained at Imax. In an exemplary application, X1 may be set equal to 1 degree, such that the open position (270 degrees) minus X1 may be equal to 269 degrees;
v) During movement of the door within 1 degree of the open position, PO, the speed command value, ωcmd, is set to 0, and the current command, Icmd, is set to 0.1A for 200 ms.
Subsequently, a Holding command function is applied, as is described below, to apply a dynamic braking force to the door. Further, if the door passes the open position, PO, such that the door position is greater than the open position plus X1 degree (e.g., 1 degree), then a speed command value, ωcmd, of 0.2*ωset is applied with a current command of −Imax, to move the door in the direction of the open position, PO.
C) Open Hold and Close Command Function
When the system controller 84 receives a signal, such as may be provided from the communication conduit 102, or from ancillary devices and/or sensors 99, the Open Hold and Close position command function is performed as follows:
i) The Open and Hold command function is applied as described above under section B);
ii) During holding at the open position, the door is held for X3 seconds, where X3 may be a calibrated analog input for the hold open time, and where X3 may be in the range of from about 0 to about 10 seconds;
iii) After X3 seconds have elapsed, the Close and Hold command function is applied as described above under section A).
D) Sequence Open Hold and Close Command Function
When the system controller 84 receives a signal, such as may be provided from the communication conduit 102, or from ancillary devices and/or sensors 99, the Sequence Open position command function is performed as follows:
i) The Open Hold and Close command function is applied as described above under Section C) after applying an initial delay of T1 seconds. A nominal value of T1 may be set to approximately 4 seconds.
E) Learn Open and Closed Positions
The door open and closed positions are determined and permanently saved through a manual movement of the door and actuation of the system controller 84, as follows:
i) The Learn Open and Closed Positions is turned ON
ii) The door is manually positioned in the closed position and then the Sequence Open command function and the Close and Hold command function are activated;
iii) The system controller 84 will read the actual position value from the position sensor 104 and will store the value in the non-volatile memory 85, i.e., an EEPROM, as a value corresponding to the Closed_Position;
iv) The Close and Hold command function is turned off;
v) The door is manually positioned to the open position and then the Sequence Open command function and the Open and Hold command function are activated;
vi) The system controller 84 will read the actual position value from the position sensor 104 and will store the value in the non-volatile memory 85 as a value corresponding to the Open_Position;
vii) The Open and Hold command and the Sequence Open Hold and Close command are turned off;
viii) The Learn Open and Closed Positions command is turned OFF.
The following additional door position control functions may also be provided:
F) Dynamic Brake Command Function (Hold command)
The dynamic braking command function or Hold command (
G) Push or Pull to Close Function
i) While performing the Hold command function in the open position, if the door changes position by X2 degrees towards the closed position, the Close and Hold position command will be activated. For example, X2 may be a calibrated analog input to set the sensitivity, and may be set, for example, to a value of approximately 2 to 8 degrees.
ii) While performing the Hold command function in the closed position, if the door changes position by X2 degrees towards the open position, the Open and Hold position command will be activated. For example, X2 may be a calibrated analog input to set the sensitivity, and may be set, for example, to a value of approximately 2 to 8 degrees.
H) Obstacle Detection and Reaction Function
Detection: Any of the following conditions will start an obstacle detection counter:
i) During opening, the door has moved to a location that is greater than 3 degrees from the closed position, and a measured current on the motor is Imax;
ii) During closing, the door has moved to a location that is greater than 3 degrees from the open position, and a measured current on the motor is Imax; or
iii) When either of the door opening command or the door closing command is active, detecting that the door position has not changed at least 1 degree in 200 ms.
If any of the above conditions are met, the obstacle detection counter is increased by one count, and the active opening or closing command is executed. If the obstacle detection counter counts up to three, i.e., a detection condition is met three times during execution of the door opening or closing command, then the obstacle detection criteria is met. Note that the counter is reset to zero when the door reaches either the OPEN_POSITION or the CLOSED_POSITION.
Reaction: Upon meeting the obstacle detection criteria, the system controller 84 will change the direction of door movement and move the door to a hard stop, i.e., either the OPEN_POSITION or the CLOSED_POSITION. After reaching a hard stop, the system controller 84 will wait for 2 seconds and execute the original commanded function.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the speed set value, ωset, is utilized by the system controller 84 to provide an input to the motor controller 86 for producing control signals corresponding to the particular configuration of the door operator. That is, the control signals for controlling operation of the motor 52 are provided in accordance with the operator selected sweep time and the angular sweep distance for the door 12 in a particular application, where different installation locations may result in different sweep distances between the open and closed positions, and the available voltage for powering the motor 52, i.e., the bus voltage, VBus, may vary from location to location. Hence, the present system controller 84 is configured to adapt the motor control signals to the particular installation conditions for a given location.
Referring to
The system controller 84 performs a position command generation operation 116 which includes using one or more of the external source command inputs 99I and the door position feedback 104I to select a command function, e.g., a command function from the Position Command table of
Referring to
V
cmd=(Icmd*R)+(Ke*ωcmd)
where:
The voltage provided from either the building power source 88 or the battery back-up 90, indicated as a raw bus voltage, VBus, raw, may comprise noise components, and this voltage is passed through a filtering component 126 to provide a voltage substantially without the noise components, and is indicated as a bus voltage VBus. An initial or first duty cycle value, DI, is calculated at 128 as a ratio of the duty cycle voltage command value, Vcmd, and the bus voltage, VBus. A clamping operation 130 is applied to the first duty cycle value, DI, to prevent the duty cycle used to control the motor 52 from exceeding a value of one (100% duty cycle). In particular, a final duty cycle value, DF, is set equal to one (100% duty cycle) if the first duty cycle value, DI, is greater than one, and the final duty cycle value, DF, is set equal to the first duty cycle value, DI, if the first duty cycle value, DI, is less than or equal to one.
It should be noted that the duty cycle calculation at 126 scales the duty cycle command value, Vcmd, relative to the voltage available as the bus voltage, VBus. Thus, if the available bus voltage, VBus, is greater than the duty cycle voltage command value, Vcmd, the bus voltage, VBus, is adjusted to provide the voltage specified by the duty cycle command value, Vcmd. For example, if the duty cycle command value, Vcmd, is 12V and the bus voltage, VBus, is 24V, then the duty cycle applied by the PWM control signal will equal 50% to provide a 12V drive signal from the 24V source. Similarly, if a lower value of bus voltage, VBus, is available, such as a voltage of 20V, then the duty cycle to provide a 12V drive signal will be 12V/20V=60%. Hence, the desired door opening speed may be provided by the present system controller 84 regardless of the available supply voltage.
The final duty cycle, DF, provided to the motor 52 is further controlled by the current loop PID control 122. The current loop PID control 122 uses a motor current feedback, such as may be provided by sensor 108 (
The final duty cycle, DF, is provided to a commutation generation operation 132 (
It should be understood that incorporating a brushless DC motor 52 and the associated motor controller 86 in the present electric actuator 28 provides advantages over the brush or commutator type motors typically used in prior art door actuation systems. For example, the brushless DC motor 52 provides higher motor acceleration rates enabling greater accuracy and control over door movements in that the brushless DC motor 52, which for the present application has field magnets on the inner rotating member, has a higher torque-to-inertia ratio than that provided by a comparable conventional commutator type motor. In addition, the brushless DC motor 52 has the further attributes of lower electromagnetic interference (EMI), lower audible operating noise, higher operating efficiencies, greater speed capabilities and greater thermal efficiencies, i.e., lower temperature rise per watt (T⊖).
A further advantage of using a 24 VDC motor is that the electric actuator 28 is not subject to limitations imposed by safety codes, such as codes restricting placement of 110 V power on doors, which may limit or prevent installation of a 110 V motor on the door 12. Further, UL certification is not required for an installation incorporating the low voltage electric actuator 28. Accordingly, fewer restrictions are imposed on the installation in that the electric actuator 28 may be installed by persons other than licensed technicians, thereby potentially decreasing the installation costs. In addition, as a result of the low voltage used for the motor 52, it is not necessary to run conduit for the power lines such as the power lines for the building power system 88 and the battery system 90.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/113,720, entitled DOOR POSITION CONTROL, filed Nov. 12, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61113720 | Nov 2008 | US |
