Driving Method of Permanent-Magnet Linear Synchronous Motor With the Stationary Discontinuous Armature for Long-Distance Transportation System

In recent years, long-distance transportation systems have been increasingly used in the factory. The high cost of the linear synchronous motor (LSM) at the initial stage, however, is a problem. This paper proposes that a discontinuous stator permanent-magnet LSM can decrease this initial cost. The motor composed of a stator block (accelerator, reaccelerator, and decelerator) and a free-running section has problems with restarting, however, when the mover stops in the free-running section. As for discontinuous arrangement of the stator block proposed newly, to resolve this problem, one or two stators always overlap the mover. This arrangement can always supply a thrust force to the mover. However, the problem with this system is that, because one inverter is connected to each stator, the number of inverters increases. Moreover, the structure of the control system becomes complicated. Therefore, the number of inverters is decreased by changing the output point of the inverter using a solid-state relay linked to the stator block (the section). This paper describes the section change method of the stator block. This drive method is verified by carrying out experiments and simulation of various drive patterns.