FR3040419A1 - METHOD AND INITIALIZATION SYSTEM FOR RECORDING END-OF-CLOSE POSITIONS OF A CLOSURE ELEMENT - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for recording an end position (10) of a closure element (1) prior to its use, said closure element (1) being mechanically coupled to a motor (2), said method comprising the steps of: imposing, with the aid of said motor (2), a movement of said closure member (1) so that it reaches an end position (10); during step (i), following a temporal evolution of a physical quantity of the motor (2); when the physical magnitude of step (ii) describes a sudden change, determining a position of said closure member (1); registering the position of step (iii) as an end position (10) of said closure member (1).

Description

According to a first aspect, the invention relates to a method for recording one or more end-of-travel positions of a closure element such as a shutter or blind, for example. According to a second aspect, the invention relates to an initialization system for recording one or more end-of-travel positions of a closure element such as a shutter or a blind, for example.

A shutter or awning can generally describe a movement between two end-of-travel positions or two extreme positions. To do this, a flap is usually mechanically coupled to a motor (preferably electric) so that it is able to describe such a movement. The two end positions can for example be a low position and a high position. To avoid overloading and overheating the engine deploying the flap, it is desirable to know or detect these end positions. It is then possible to impose a motor stop when the shutter or blind reaches such a position.

There are limit management systems based on stopping the motor if a threshold value of a torque is exceeded, see for example EP1172516A1 or DE4440449A1. According to this approach, when the management system detects a significant variation in the engine load, it interprets this as resulting from an arrival at the end of travel of the shutter and stops the power supply of the engine. For example, the determination of the motor load can be deduced from the measurement of the phase shift of signals corresponding to some of the current and / or voltage parameters that can be measured at the motor terminals. This solution which eliminates the knowledge of the end positions usually causes, at each arrival of the flap end position, an overtorque (or sudden increase in the output torque of the engine) which can be detrimental to the longevity of the engine. It is therefore preferable to know the end positions of a flap before use to avoid imposing an over torque to the engine controlling the flap when it reaches an end position.

In general, the recording of the end positions before using a shutter is done as follows. A first step is to deploy the flap as much as possible (totally closed flap, for example). When the flap is in this position, it informs the system controlling the movement of the flap (or control system) that it is an end position, for example a maximum deployment position (eg low position) ). Then, we impose a maximum retraction movement to the flap (it opens up to the maximum for example). When the flap is in this state, the control system is informed that it is an end position, for example a maximum open position (high position for example) and this position is recorded. The control system can then know the end positions. These can be used during a subsequent use of the shutter, for example to avoid over-torque of the motor controlling the shutter when the latter reaches an end position.

Such a procedure to record end positions of a component prior to its use has drawbacks. In particular, this method requires an initialization step for an operator, the installer, for example. For the recording of each end position, the flap must be extended to an end position. Once this end position has been reached, it is necessary to inform the control system that the flap has reached a limit position so that it is able to associate the position reached with an end position. It would be desirable to have a simpler procedure for recording the end positions of a shutter prior to its use.

According to a first aspect, one of the aims of the invention is to provide a simpler method for recording a limit position of a closure element prior to its use. For this purpose, the inventors propose the following method. A method for recording a limit position of a closure member prior to its use, said closure member being mechanically coupled to a motor so that it is adapted to describe a deployment movement and a retraction movement, said method comprising the steps of: (i) imposing, with the aid of said motor, a movement of said closure member so that it reaches an end position; (ii) during step (i), following a temporal evolution of a physical magnitude of the engine; (iii) when the physical magnitude of step (ii) describes a sudden change, determining a position of said closure member; (iv) registering the position of step (iii) as an end-of-travel position of said closure member.

The method of the invention allows to save (or save) automatically an end position of a closure element. With the method of the invention, an end position is associated with a position for which a physical magnitude of the motor varies abruptly when the closure element is moved until it reaches an end position of race. Thanks to the method of the invention, it is no longer necessary to visually follow the movement of the closure element and to record the position of the closure element when the latter has reached a running position. The method of the invention makes it possible to record an end position of the closing element automatically. It is therefore simpler. It is also possible to release an operator who must no longer follow the position of the closure element to record an end position. With the method of the invention, an end position is automatically detected by an initialization system (or control system) when the physical quantity of step (ii) undergoes a sudden change. The method of the invention thus also saves time and possibly reduce costs: an operator can be busy with another task during the automatic recording of the end position or positions.

The systems described in EP1172516A1 or DE4440449A1 do not use end positions, contrary to the method of the invention. Knowing the end positions, it is possible to provide a particular movement of the closure element when it approaches or reaches an end position. One can then derive several advantages. The longevity of the engine driving the closure element can be increased because it can slow the motor when approaching a limit position of the closure element and stop when said end position is reached . On the other hand, it can reduce noise such as noise. By slowing down the engine when approaching a limit position and / or stopping it when it is reached, it is indeed possible to reduce the noise related to the impact of the end-of-travel element on a stop generally associated with a limit position.

Knowing the end positions, it is also possible to detect the presence of an obstacle along the path of the closure element. For example, if the motor torque varies abruptly between two end positions of the closure element, this can be interpreted as resulting from the presence of an obstacle. It is then possible to provide an automatic shutdown of the motor supply. This reduces the risk of damage to the closure element when it encounters an obstacle. This also reduces the risk of injury when the obstacle is a human being (finger for example). For example, a sudden change in the value of the current above 20% will cause the motor power supply to stop. For an engine with a torque of 0.05 Nm the power consumption will be 55W. As soon as the soft will bind a value of 66W, it will cut off the motor power. The closure element may be for example: a shutter, a blind, a shutter, a screen, a canvas. Other examples are nevertheless possible.

Different physical quantities of the engine can be followed during step (ii). According to a first example, the physical quantity is an output torque. This term is known to those skilled in the art. Preferably, the output torque of the motor is determined without a torque sensor. Preferably, it is determined from at least one observer of a microcontroller controlling the engine. An observer of a microcontroller is known to a person skilled in the art. It is a soft or software capable of measuring currents flowing on tracks connected to the microcontroller and induced by the rotation of said motor. From the knowledge of these currents, it is possible to determine different physical quantities of said motor, for example: an output torque, an angular position of the rotor, a rotor speed. An example of an observer algorithm is FASTTM. An observer also makes it possible to determine the position of the closure element (shutter for example) at any instant t. By defining a reference position and knowing an angular position of the rotor which can be determined by the observer, it is possible to deduce the position of the closure element.

The value of the output torque will depend on the type of motor, especially its dimensions. The type of motor will generally be chosen according to the size and / or weight of the closure element. An example of motor output torque (nominal value) is 0.25 N.m. This order of magnitude of output torque can be obtained with an electric motor having the following characteristics: stator 50 mm long, 25 mm internal diameter, 42 mm outside diameter; nominal current injected into the stator coils: 1.3 A;

Number of turns per coil: 130; rotor carrying a Feplast permanent magnet.

This type of electric motor can for example be used when the closure element is a flap. Other values of the output torque are possible if one or more characteristics of this electric motor are changed.

In a second example, the physical quantity that is followed in step (ii) is an electrical power, for example an electric power consumed by an electric motor capable of driving the closure element. This term is known to those skilled in the art. An example of an order of magnitude of the electric power consumed by an electric motor that drives a flap is between 40 and 300 W. The value of the electric power will depend on the type of engine, in particular its dimensions.

The electric power of the motor can be followed in different ways. A possible example is to follow the voltage across the motor and the electrical current flowing through it (or through the different coils of the motor if the latter is an electric motor). Preferably, this voltage and current are continuously measured using suitable sensors known to those skilled in the art. For current measurement, one or more shunts can be used.

According to a possible variant of the method of the invention, different physical quantities of the engine are followed in step (ii). It can then be decided in step (iii) to determine a position of the closure element when one, more or all of the physical quantities describe a sudden change.

Preferably, step (iii) further comprises a step of stopping said engine when said physical quantity of step (ii) describes an abrupt variation. This helps preserve the engine more.

Preferably, said abrupt variation in step (iii) of said physical quantity corresponds to a variation of 10% (preferably 20%) during a time interval less than or equal to one second.

The method of the invention can be used to record more than one end position, for example to record two end positions. For example, a flap can generally describe a movement between a high position (open flap) and a low position (closed flap). In this case, there are two end positions: the high position (or open position, retracted flap) and the low position (or closed position, deployed flap).

In this case, the method of the invention further comprises the following steps: (v) imposing, with the aid of said motor, a movement of said closure element so that it reaches another end-of-travel position; (vi) during step (v), following a temporal evolution of a physical magnitude of the engine; (vii) when the physical magnitude of step (vi) describes a sudden change, determining a position of said closure member; (viii) registering the position of step (vii) as another end-of-travel position of said closure member.

According to a second aspect, the inventors propose an initialization system (or device, or combination of means) for recording one or more end-of-travel positions of a closure element prior to its use, said closure element being mechanically coupled. to a motor so that it is able to describe a deployment movement and a retraction movement, said initialization system comprising: monitoring means for monitoring a temporal evolution of a physical magnitude of the engine (2), means capable of detecting an abrupt variation of said physical quantity of said engine; position detecting means for determining a position of said closure member when said monitoring means has detected said sudden change in said physical magnitude; backup means for recording said position of said closure member as an end position.

According to one possible variant, the monitoring means make it possible to follow the temporal evolution of several physical quantities of the engine.

The advantages of the method of the invention (first aspect of the invention) apply to the system of the invention, mutatis mutandis.

Preferably, the initialization system further comprises actuating means for imposing, with the aid of the motor, a movement of said closure element so that it reaches an end position.

Preferably, said actuating means are also capable of stopping the motor when said physical quantity describes a sudden variation.

The inventors also propose an assembly for concealing an opening and comprising: a closure element; a motor mechanically coupled to said closure member to impose a deployment movement and a retraction movement; an initialization system as described above. Other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description of several alternative embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a house with a door provided with a closure member; Figure 2 shows an example of an editor; Figure 3 shows an example of an initialization system.

The different figures are not necessarily scaled.

Figure 1 shows a house 30 which includes an opening 20. In the example of Figure 1, the opening 20 is a door. Another example of opening 20 is a window. A closure element 1 makes it possible to conceal or close the opening 20. Examples of closure element 1 are: a shutter, a blind, a shutter, a fabric. This closure element 1 may describe a deployment movement (or closing movement, occultation) for closing the opening 20. In the example shown in Figure 1, this corresponds to a downward movement. The closure element 1 may also describe a retraction movement (or opening, disengagement movement) making it possible to release or release the opening 20. In the example shown in FIG. 1, this corresponds to a movement towards the high.

In general, the closure element 1 is mechanically coupled to a motor 2 which can impose these movements of deployment and retraction. Preferably, this motor 2 is an electric motor. Different types of electric motors can be used. Preferably, the output of the motor 2 is coupled to a gearbox (for example an epicyclic reduction gear) which is itself mechanically coupled to the closure element 1. Preferably, there is furthermore a mechanical brake which makes it possible to avoid the deployment of the closure element 1 in the absence of power supply of the motor 2.

An example of an electric motor 2 that can be used is a tubular asynchronous motor. Another more recent example of an electric motor 2 which can be used is a tubular motor with brushless permanent magnets operating without brushes. Such a motor 2 comprises a stator 22 wound while magnets are placed on the rotor 21, an electronic control system ensuring the switching of current in the stator windings.

According to a preferred variant, the motor 2 is a tubular electric motor with permanent magnets comprising at least one rotor 21 consisting of at least one permanent magnet extending through a stator 22 carrying a plurality of coils, said stator 22 consisting of a plurality of assembled rings, each ring having a central recess for the passage of the rotor 21 and a plurality of inverted T-shaped radial teeth extending towards the center of said ring, said radial teeth respectively receiving the coils, the ratio between the surface of the teeth and the surface of the spaces between said teeth being between 0.3 and 0.7. Compared to other known engines 2, this preferred variant has the following advantages: less bulky, sufficient torque to unwind / wind a shutter or blind, less noise.

FIG. 2 schematically shows this preferred variant of the engine 2 in combination with a gearbox 3. This engine 2 also comprises two flanges 23 on either side of the stator 22.

In general, the motor 2 mechanically coupled to the closure element 1 is controlled by a control system, for example an electronic control board.

In general, the closure element 1 can describe a movement (retraction or deployment) between two end-of-travel positions 10. These two end-of-travel positions 10 correspond, for example, to abutment positions. The closure element 1 can not go beyond these end-of-travel positions. A lower or lower end-of-travel position corresponds, for example, to the floor, to a threshold, or to a window sill.

The method of the invention makes it possible to determine one or more end-of-travel positions 10. A first step (step (i) consists in imposing a movement of the closure element 1 so that it reaches an end position of 10. This may be a deployment movement (downward in Figure 1) or a retracting movement (upward in Figure 1) while the closure element 1 describes this. motion, a temporal evolution of a physical quantity of the motor 2 is followed (step (ii)) Depending on the type of physical quantity, different methods can be used to follow its evolution. for example, a variation of 20% over a time interval of less than one second, a position of the closure element 1 is determined (step (iii)) For example, a sudden change in the value of the current greater than 20% will stop feeding the m For an engine with a torque of 0.05 Nm the power consumption will be 55W. As soon as the soft will bind a value of 66W, it will cut off the motor power.

Various methods known to those skilled in the art allow a position of the closure element 1 to be determined. According to one preferred variant, the position of the closure element 1 is determined from a reference position of the latter and an angular position of the rotor 21 of the motor 2. There are various methods known to those skilled in the art to know an angular position of the rotor 21 of the motor 2. Preferably, this angular position is obtained from an observer ( software) installed on a controller for example controlling the engine 2. An example of a controller is a microcontroller.

The last step of the method of the invention (step (iv)) consists in recording the position previously determined as being an end-of-travel position of the closing element 10.

The method of the invention can be automatic. It is indeed possible to program an initialization system 5 so that it executes the method of the invention or at least some of its steps.

In particular, according to a second aspect of the invention, the inventors propose an initialization system 5 for recording one or more end-of-travel positions of a closure element 1 prior to its use. This initialization system 5 may take the form of an electronic card for example. A purely illustrative example of an initialization system 5 in the form of an electronic card is shown in FIG. 3. Other implementations are possible.

This initialization system 5 comprises monitoring means (4,7) for monitoring the temporal evolution of one or more physical variables of the motor 2. These monitoring means may for example comprise one or more shunts 4 (or low resistances). ) making it possible to measure the current flowing in the motor 2 (or in the different coils of the motor, the different coils can be supplied with currents having different phases). This or these shunts 4 can be connected to means 7 able to follow a temporal evolution of a physical quantity of the motor 2 (current for example). These means 7 may be for example a processor, a microcontroller (example shown in Figure 3), a programmable unit, programmed to perform this function. These means 7 are also suitable (because programmed for this purpose for example) to detect a sudden change in the physical magnitude of the motor 2 which is followed.

According to another preferred variant, the monitoring means comprise only a controller, a microcontroller 7 for example, having an observer type software for example. The microcontroller 7 is then able to deduce physical quantities of the motor 2 at any time t from return currents.

The initialization system 5 comprises position detection means (8, 7) for determining a position of the closure element 1 when the monitoring means (4, 7) have detected a sudden change in the physical magnitude of the motor 2. There are various possibilities known to those skilled in the art for determining a position of the closure element 1. For example, the initialization system 5 may comprise one or more sensors (symbolized by the other circuits 8 in FIG. 3) whose output signals are analyzed by means 7, a microcontroller for example. According to another preferred variant, the means 7 have an observer-type program able to determine an angular position of a rotor 21 of a motor 2. From a reference position of the closure element 1, it is then possible to determine its position at any time t.

The initialization system 5 also comprises backup means 9 for recording the position of the flap corresponding to a sudden variation of said physical quantity as being an end-of-travel position 10.

The initialization system 5 of the invention may be simpler than that shown in FIG. 3. In particular, according to another embodiment, the initialization system 5 does not include the EMC filter 17, the correction circuit of the power factor 18, the rectifying and filtering circuit 19, the circuit comprising insulated gate bipolar transistors IGBT 6, the other circuits 8 and the backup means 9. It could indeed be envisaged that the system of FIG. initialization 5 comprises only a programmable unit (a microcontroller 7 for example) comprising the various means for performing the function of the initialization system 5 of the invention. In particular, the one or more end positions 10 could be recorded within backup means 9 of a microcontroller 7.

Preferably, the initialization system 5 further comprises actuating means (6, 7, 17, 18, 19) for imposing, with the aid of the motor 2, a movement of the closure element 1 so that it reaches a limit position 10. According to this preferred embodiment, the procedure for recording one or more end positions 10 is further automated.

According to the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 3, said actuating means comprise: at least one electromagnetic compatibility filter, referred to as EMC 17, a power factor correction circuit, a rectifying and filtering circuit, 19, - a circuit comprising insulated gate bipolar transistors known as IGBT 6 (term known to those skilled in the art) in order to supply the supply voltage to an electric motor 2, - a microcontroller 7 able to determine and transmit the signals for controlling the IGBT transistors circuit 6.

The EMC filter 17 is preferably a filter making it possible to reduce or even prevent induced currents on cables which can disturb the operation of the various means of the initialization system 5. This EMC filter 17 may for example perform frequency filtering and / or time filtering and / or voltage clipping. Other filters known to those skilled in the art can be used to suppress electromagnetic disturbances in ducts and radiated mode. The power factor corrector circuit 18 makes it possible, in the usual manner, to eliminate the deformations of the electrical network on the current absorbed to avoid the appearance of harmonic currents polluting the network on the one hand, and to put the current and the voltage in phase on the other hand. The righting and filtering rectifying circuit 19 ensures the DC bus voltage.

The initialization system 5 can include control means for starting the method of the invention when a signal is sent by an operator for example. One can imagine that such a signal is sent using a remote control, a switch or an application of a mobile phone for example.

In summary, the invention can also be described as follows. A method for recording a limit position 10 of a closure member 1 prior to its use, said closure member 1 being mechanically coupled to a motor 2, said method comprising the steps of: imposing, using said motor 2, a movement of said closure member 1 so that it reaches a limit position 10; during step (i), follow a temporal evolution of a physical quantity of the engine 2; when the physical magnitude of step (ii) describes a sudden change, determining a position of said closure member 1; storing the position of step (ni) as a limit position 10 of said closure member 1.

Claims (12)

A method for recording a limit position (10) of a closure element (1) prior to its use, said closure element (1) being mechanically coupled to a motor (2) so that it is adapted to describe a deployment movement and a retraction movement, said method comprising the steps of: (i) imposing, with the aid of said motor (2), a movement of said closure element (1) so that it reaches a limit position (10); (ii) during step (i), following a temporal evolution of a physical magnitude of the engine (2); (iii) when the physical magnitude of step (ii) describes a sudden change, determining a position of said closure member (1); (iv) registering the position of step (iii) as an end-of-travel position (10) of said closure member (1). 2. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that said physical magnitude of the motor (2) which is followed in step (ii) is an output torque. 3. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that said physical magnitude of the motor (2) which is followed in step (ii) is an electric power. 4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that step (iii) further comprises a step of stopping said engine (2) when said physical quantity of step (ii) describes a sudden change. 5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said sudden variation of step (iii) corresponds to a variation of 20% during a time interval of less than one second. 6. Method for recording two end positions (10) of a closure element (1) prior to its use, said closure element (1) being mechanically coupled to a motor (2) so that it is suitable describing a deployment movement and a retraction movement, said method comprising the steps of any one of the preceding claims characterized in that it further comprises the following steps after step (iv): (v) imposing, using said motor (2), a movement of said closure member (1) so that it reaches another end position (10); (vi) during step (v), following a time evolution of a physical quantity of the motor (2); (vii) when the physical magnitude of step (vi) describes a sudden change, determining a position of said closure member (1); (viii) registering the position of step (vii) as another end-of-travel position (10) of said closure member (1). Initialization system (5) for recording an end position (10) of a closure element (1) prior to its use, said closure element (1) being mechanically coupled to a motor (2) so that it is able to describe a deployment movement and a retraction movement, said initialization system (5) comprising: monitoring means (4,7) for following a temporal evolution of a physical magnitude of the engine (2), means (7) adapted to detect a sudden change in said physical quantity of said motor (2); position detecting means (8,7) for determining a position of said closure member (1) when said monitoring means (4,7) has detected said sudden change in said physical magnitude; backup means (7; 9) for recording said position of said closure member (1) as an end position (10). 8. Initialization system (5) according to the preceding claim characterized in that it further comprises actuating means (6, 7, 17, 18, 19) to impose, using the engine (2) a movement of said closure member (1) so that it reaches an end position (10). 9. Initialization system (5) according to the preceding claim characterized in that said actuating means (6, 7, 17, 18, 19) are also able to stop the motor (2) when said physical quantity describes a variation sudden. 10. Initialization system (5) according to any one of claims 7 to 9 characterized in that said physical magnitude of the motor (2) is an output torque. 11. Initialization system (5) according to any one of claims 7 to 9 characterized in that said physical magnitude of the motor (2) is an electric power. An assembly for concealing an opening (20) comprising: a closure member (1); a motor (2) mechanically coupled to said closure member (1) to impose a deployment movement and a retraction movement; an initialization system (5) according to any one of claims 7 to 11.