FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an electric Motor. In particular, the present invention relates to a smart motor for driving a rotating/grinding mechanism in electrical appliances. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of it being mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.

An electric motor is an electrical device that is used to drive a process or a machine by converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. An electric motor can be used for moving a shaft that could be further attached to a shaft or a similar mechanism for driving a machine. T raditionally, electric motors have been used in machines such as kitchen appliances like Mixer Grinders or Grinders are Universal Motors. Universal motors are a special type of motor which are designed to run on either DC or AC current sources. Universal Motors require high maintenance and have short life. These universal motors over-heat easily which decreases their efficiency and life cycle. Kitchen appliances like Mixer Grinders or Grinders can be used for performing various processes not limiting to Grinding, mixing or Blending of food items. The heat generated by the motor during the above-mentioned processes may affect the nutrition of the Foods being Grinded, mixed or Blended etc. Also, in traditional mixer-grinders or Grinders, it is not possible to Grind, Mix or Blend any hot foods. Since, the motor generates heat during the process the user can’t grind, mix or blend any hot foods in the traditional mixer-grinders or grinders since it may over-heat and damage the appliance.

In traditional mixer grinders or grinder, the user has to manually operate the motor with a switch to perform the processes or tasks not limiting to grinding, mixing or blending etc. The user has to manually switch on the switch to start the process when required and switch off the switch when the process is completed or when required. This is time consuming for the user.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a smart motor that can relieve the user from the above-mentioned inconveniences and challenges.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a smart motor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a smart Motor that provides a drive mechanism with high efficiency or a Smart Motor that drives a Grinding Mechanism in a Smart Grinding appliance.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method to start and stop the driving mechanism without any human intervention.

Yet another object of invention is to provide a Sensor module comprising of a plurality of sensors to monitor the Smart Monitor. These Sensors may measure multiple factors like temperate, heat, number of rotations made etc., but not limited to these. Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a method to increase the efficiency of the Smart Motor to achieve the output required by the user. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sensor module with sensors to measure the quantity of the ingredients, amount of water, speed of the shaft rotation, number of rotations of the shaft, temperature, humidity, heat generated in the container etc. but not limited to these.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a modular design of the Smart Motor, sensor module and other components used in the invention so that they can be easily removed or split up for Cleaning, Repair and other purposes and again fit back easily. Therefore, there is a need for the above-mentioned invention that can completely eliminate or reduce the above-mentioned difficulties or challenges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simple manner, which is further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the subject matter, nor to determine the scope of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a smart motor is provided. The motor comprises a rotor, a plurality of magnets disposed on the rotor, a plurality of stators having winding of wires, cascaded in parallel or series, placed around the rotor and the plurality of magnets, one or more power supplies configured to supply electrical power to the plurality of stators. Each stator of the plurality of stators having individual power supply of the one or more power supplies. Further, the one or more stators are configured to generate magnetic field on application of the electrical power, thereby rotating the rotor. The motor may comprise a processing module, in communication with the power supplies, configured to control input of the electrical power to the individual power supply based on a load connected with the motor, and regulate an RPM or torque of the rotor based on the load connected with the motor.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the motor comprises one or more sensors configured to measure a plurality of parameters. The one or more parameters are selected from a group comprising a temperature, heat, and number and speed of rotations of the motor.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more sensors are selected from a group comprising hall sensor, laser sensor, temperature and heat sensor, or a combination thereof.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the processing module in communication with the one or more sensors is configured to determine the temperature, the heat, the number of rotations of the rotor and speed of the rotation based on the measured plurality of parameters.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the processing module is configured to cut the power supply to the motor in case the determined temperature is above a predetermined temperature. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the motor comprises one or more switches configured to indicate vary the input electrical power thereby changing the RPM of the rotor.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of magnets are selected from a group comprising electromagnets or permanent magnets or a combination thereof. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the processing module is configured to determine a time duration of rotation for the rotor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular to the description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

These and other features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following text figure, with like reference numbers referring to like structures across the views, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates an environment diagram of a smart motor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates the smart motor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 illustrate an information flow, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e., meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein is solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.

The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, a number of materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates an environment diagram of a smart motor (100), in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 illustrates the smart motor (100), in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in figure 1 and figure 2, the smart motor (100) may comprise a rotor (152), a plurality of magnets (154), a plurality of stators (156), and the plurality of magnets (154), a processing module (102), and one or more sensors (104).

Further, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in figure 2, the rotor (152) may be placed in between the plurality of stators (156). The rotor (152) may be placed with the help of bearings for smooth and frictionless rotation. The rotor (152) may be a simple frictionless metallic rod or a rod made of magnet. Flowever, without departing from the scope of the invention, the rotor may be a squirrel-cage rotor, a simply cage rotor (152), a phase wound or a wound rotor.

Further, on the rotor (152), the plurality of magnets (154) may be disposed. The plurality of magnets (154) may be selected from a group comprising, but not limited to, electromagnets or permanent magnets or a combination thereof. Further, around the rotor (152) and the plurality of magnets (154), the plurality of stators (156) may be placed. The may the plurality of stators (156) have winding of wires, and cascaded in parallel or series around the rotor (152).

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the smart motor (100) may comprise one or more power supplies configured to supply electrical power to the plurality of stators (156). Further, each stator of the plurality of stators (156) may have individual power supply of the one or more power supplies. The one or more power supplies may be alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) or a combination thereof. Further, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the smart motor (100) may comprise one or more sensors (104) configured to measure a plurality of parameters. The one or more sensors (104) may be selected from a group comprising density meter, humidity sensor, hydrometer, gravity meter, pressure sensor, temperature sensor, proximity sensor, acoustic sensor, hall sensor and laser sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the one or more sensors (104) are selected from a group comprising hall sensor, laser sensor, temperature and heat sensor, or a combination thereof.

In accordance with an additional or alternative embodiment of the present invention, the smart motor (100) may be connected with a mixer having a shaft, and a plurality of blades, configured to mix one or more ingredients. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of blades may be, but not limited to, wet grinding blade, dry grinding blade, chutney grinding blade, mincer blade, slicing disc or shredding disc etc. The plurality of blades may be connected with the shaft and the smart motor (100). The smart motor (100) may be configured to rotate the plurality of blades to mix the ingredients.

In accordance with an additional or alternative embodiment of the present invention, the smart motor (100) may comprise one or more switches. The one or more switches may be selected from Single Pole Single Throw Switch (SPST), Single Pole Double Throw Switch (SPDT), Double Pole Single Throw Switch (DPST), Double Pole Double Throw Switch (DPDT), Push Button Switch, Toggle Switch, Limit Switch, Float Switches, Flow Switches, Pressure Switches, Temperature Switches, Joystick Switch, Rotary Switches, Electronic Switch, Bipolar Transistors, Power Diode, MOSFET, IGBT, SCR, TRIAC, DIAC, Gate T urn-Off Thyristor. The one more switches may be operated by the users. In accordance with an additional or alternative embodiment, the one or more switches may be have touch based or voice based operation.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in figure 1 , the processing module (102) may be connected with the smart motor (100). The processing module (102) is envisaged to include computing capabilities such as a memory unit (1022) configured to store machine readable instructions. The machine-readable instructions may be loaded into the memory unit (1022) from a non-transitory machine-readable medium, such as, but not limited to, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and Flash Drives. Alternately, the machine-readable instructions may be loaded in a form of a computer software program into the memory unit (1022). The memory unit (1022) in that manner may be selected from a group comprising EPROM, EEPROM and Flash memory. Then, the processing module (102) includes a processor (1024) operably connected with the memory unit (1022). In various embodiments, the processor (1024) may be a microprocessor (1024) selected from one of, but not limited to an ARM based or Intel based processor (1024) or in the form of field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a general-purpose processor (1024) and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Further, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the smart motor (100) may include a user interface. The user interface may include a display envisaged to show the data received from, the processing module (102), the smart motor (100), and the one or more sensors (104) (104). The display may be, but not limited to Light-emitting diode display (LED), electroluminescent display (ELD), liquid crystal display (LCD), Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) & AMOLED display. Furthermore, the user interface may include accessories like keyboard, mouse etc. envisaged to provide input capability to enable a user to enter user input command for speed of rotation, an RPM of rotation, time duration of rotation for the motor (150). In another embodiment, the user interface may be a touch input- based display that integrates the input-output functionalities. Further, the processing module (102) further may comprise a communication module (1026) configured for enabling connection of the processor (1024), the user interface, and the one or more sensors (104) (104), the processing module (102) and/or the mixer. The connection may be wired or wireless. In that sense, the communication module (1026) may include Power over Ethernet Switch, USB ports etc. These may allow transferring of data to and from the processing module (102) and among the user interface, the one or more sensors (104) (104), and/or the mixer via ethernet cable, USB cable etc.

Additionally, or alternately, the communication module (1026) may be an Internet of Things (IOT) module, Wi-Fi module, Bluetooth module, RF module etc. adapted to enable a wireless communication, between the processing module (102), the one or more sensors (104), the power supplies, the user interface , and the mixer (150) via a wireless communication network (110). The wireless communication network (110) may be, but not limited to, Bluetooth network, RF network, NFC, WIFI network, Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN). The wireless communication network (110) may be implemented using a number of protocols, such as but not limited to, TCP/IP, 3GPP, 3GPP2, LTE, IEEE 802.x, etc. In one embodiment, the all the components of the smart motor (100) are connected with each other via the communication network (110).

Additionally, the smart motor (100) may be connected with one or more user devices associated with respective users via a wired or wireless connection. Herein, the one or more user devices may be selected from computing devices such as desktop PC, laptop, PDA or hand-held computing device such as smartphones and tablets or IOT devices including, but not limited to, household or industrial appliances such as robots or loT based devices. The one or more user devices may be in configured to provide the user input determining an RPM or torque, rotation, time duration of rotation the rotor (152) and receive information from the processing module (102) including data from the one or more sensors (104) (104) and the user interface.

In yet another embodiment, the smart motor (100) could be implemented as a distributed smart motor (100). The processing module (102), the one or more sensors (104), the user interface, and/or the mixer may be at disposed at a different location from each other and/or could be implemented in a server side computing device or cloud computing environment. It will be appreciated by a skilled addressee that there are multiple arrangements in which the present invention can be implemented, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The smart motor (100) is also envisaged to implement Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and deep learning for data collation and processing.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the smart motor (100) may also include a data repository (106). The data repository (106) may be a local storage (such as SSD, eMMC, Flash, SD card, etc.) or a cloud-based storage. In any manner, the data repository (106) is envisaged to be capable of providing the data to the processing module (102), when the data is queried appropriately using applicable security and other data transfer protocols. The data repository (106) may store, user preferences, history of RPM and torque used, number of rotations, and energy consumed. In one embodiment of the present invention, the processing module (102) may include Al and deep learning- based trained models using the above data, so as to monitor and learn the torque and RPM based on a load on the motor (150).

Furthermore, in an embodiment the smart motor (100) may further comprise a power module to power all the components of the smart motor (100) such as, but not limited to, the plurality of stators (156), the power supplies, the rotor (152), the plurality of magnets (154), the user interface , the one or more sensors (104) (104), and the processing module (102). The power module may be an AC or DC power module, a non-rechargeable battery or a rechargeable battery. In one embodiment, the power module is a self-sustainable battery that makes the smart motor (100) a self-powered device.

The invention works in following manner:

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, first, the one or more power supplies configured to supply electrical power to the plurality of stators (156). Each stator of the plurality of stators (156) having individual power supply of the one or more power supplies. The one or more stators (156) are configured to generate magnetic field on application of the electrical power. The generated magnetic field may push and/or pull the plurality of magnets (154) disposed on the rotor (152). The synchronised pushing and/ or pulling of the plurality of magnets (154) may result in rotation of the connected rotor (152).

Further, as shown in figure 3, the one or more sensors (104) in the smart motor (100) may be configured to measure a plurality of parameters. The one or more parameters may be selected from a group comprising a temperature, heat, and number and speed of rotations of the motor (150) or a combination there of. The processing module (102) in communication with the one or more sensors (104) is configured to determine the temperature, the heat, the number of rotations of the rotor (152) and speed of the rotation based on the measured plurality of parameters. For example, the one or more sensors (104) let’s say, laser sensor may measure a parameter i.e. the number of rotation by reading a marker on the rotor (152) on every rotation. Further, the one or more sensors (104) may be a thermometer may measure the temperature of the motor (150).

Further, as shown in figure 3, the processing module (102) in communication with the one or more sensors (104) is configured to determine the temperature, the heat, the number of rotations of the rotor (152) and the speed of the rotation based on the measured plurality of parameters using the user interface or the user devices. Furthermore, the processing module (102) is configured to cut the power supply to the motor (150) in case the determined temperature is above a predetermined temperature. For example, in case the running of motor caused over heating of the rotor (152) or any other part, such that the overheating may cause damage to the motor (150), the processing module (102) may cut the power supply to the motor (150) to prevent the damage of the smart motor (100). In accordance with an additional or alternative embodiment, the processing module (102) may be configured to determine a time duration of rotation for the rotor (152) based on the connected load or as per the user input.

Next, as illustrated in figure 4, the processing module (102), in communication with the power supplies, configured to control input of the electrical power to the individual power supply based on a load connected with the motor (150). In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more sensor (104) such as, but not limited to, load measurement sensor, may be configured to measure a load on the rotor. The processing module may determine the load on the rotor based on the measured load by the one or more sensors. Now, in case the load is connected with the rotor (152), for example, in the mixer, where the rotor (152) is connected to the shaft and the plurality of blades, if the connected load, that is, the ingredients in the mixer are heard to break or are highly viscous, the processing module (102) may control the input of the electrical power to the individual power supply and the individual stator to generate adequate power for mixing of the hard or viscous ingredients. The processing module (102) may restrict flow of the electrical power to some of the stators (156) of the plurality of stators (156) to adjust the RPM and torque to mix the ingredients. The processing module (102) may limit the flow of electrical power to any stators (156) of the plurality of stators (156) to gain adequate ratio of RPM and the torque.

Further, as illustrated in figure 4, the processing module (102), in communication with the power supplies, configured to regulate an RPM or torque of the rotor (152) based on the load connected with the motor (150). For example, in case the mixer and the shaft which is connected with the rotor (152) contains the ingredients which are soft and less viscous, the processing module (102) may decrease the torque and increase the RPM to mix the low viscous and soft ingredients. The processing module (102) may regulate the torque and the RPM of the rotor (152) by limiting amount of the electrical power in the plurality of stators (156). There may occur cases where some of the stators (156) of the plurality of stators (156) are idle while others are working to generate an adequate amount of the torque and RPM.

Furthermore, in accordance with an additional or alternative embodiment, the one or more switched connected with the smart motor (100) may be configured to indicate vary the input electrical power thereby changing the RPM of the rotor (152). For example, user may want a custom desired speed, RPM, torque of the rotor (152), the user may modify the one or more parameters manually using the one or more switches. In an embodiment, the motor (150) enables a feedback-based error control and auto-correction mechanism to achieve an output as required by the user. The motor (150) may facilitate a user to provide a feedback based on the output and the smart motor (100) based on the feedback can auto- correct itself to achieve the desired output. For example, the smart motor (100) may auto-correct itself by altering the number of rotations etc. to achieve the desired output as required by the user.

The smart motor (100) may have a modular design that can be easily removed from the kitchen appliance or split up for repair, service or any other purposes. The Smart motor (100) is easily customizable for any machine or driving mechanism as required by the user.

The present invention offers a number of advantages. Firstly, it provides a cost-effective and technologically advanced solution to the problems of the prior art, the solution provided herein is easy to understand and implement. This Smart motor (100) Increases the RPM of the motor (150) with a minimum power provided and thus increasing the efficiency of the smart motor (100) and the drive mechanism operated by the Smart motor (100). In an aspect, the smart motor (100) can be used for driving any machine in a particular motion direction such as rotation, horizontal, or vertical direction. The smart motor (100) is made modular for easily removing for repair, service, cleaning, and other purposes etc. but not limited to these and can again be fit back easily. Since, the operation of the smart motor (100) is automated, the user does not have to manually switch on the switch to start the process when required and switch off the switch when the process is completed or when required. The smart motor (100) does not over-heat which increases their efficiency and life cycle. Further, the heat generated is minimal by the motor (150) during the rotation process and therefore mixing using the smart motor (100) does not affect the nutrition of the Foods being Grinded, mixed or Blended etc. It is possible to grind the ingredients without heating the mixing ingredients. In general, the word “module,” or “unit” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be appreciated that modules may comprised connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may comprise programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device.

Further, while one or more operations have been described as being performed by or otherwise related to certain modules, devices or entities, the operations may be performed by or otherwise related to any module, device or entity. As such, any function or operation that has been described as being performed by a module could alternatively be performed by a different server, by the cloud computing platform, or a combination thereof.

It should be understood that the techniques of the present disclosure might be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer executable instructions residing on a suitable computer readable medium. Suitable computer readable media may include volatile (e.g., RAM) and/or non volatile (e.g., ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media. Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data steams along a local network or a publicly accessible network such as the Internet.

It should also be understood that, unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "controlling" or "obtaining" or "computing" or "storing" or "receiving" or "determining" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that processes and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Various modifications to these embodiments are apparent to those skilled in the art from the description and the accompanying drawings. The principles associated with the various embodiments described herein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the description is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown along with the accompanying drawings but is to be providing broadest scope of consistent with the principles and the novel and inventive features disclosed or suggested herein. Accordingly, the invention is anticipated to hold on to all other such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the present invention and the appended claims.