
115 Northeast
Worcester, Massachusetts 01615-0036 (508) 853-5000
Box 15036
2916
DUALFULL-BRIDGE
MOTORDRIVER
5
APPLICATIONS INFORMATION
PWM CURRENT CONTROL
TheUDN2916B/EB/LBdualbridgesaredesignedto
drivebothwindingsofabipolarsteppermotor. Output
currentissensedandcontrolledindependentlyineach
bridgebyanexternalsenseresistor(R
S
),internalcom-
parator,andmonostablemultivibrator.
WhenthebridgeisturnedON,currentincreasesin
themotorwindinganditissensedbytheexternalsense
resistoruntilthesensevoltage(V
SENSE
)reachesthelevel
setatthecomparator’sinput:
I
TRIP
= V
REF
/10 R
S
Thecomparatorthentriggersthemonostablewhich
turnsOFFthesourcedriverofthebridge. Theactual
loadcurrentpeakwillbeslightlyhigherthanthetrippoint
(especiallyforlow-inductanceloads)becauseofthe
internallogicandswitchingdelays. Thisdelay(t
)is
typically2μs.After turn-of,themotorcurrentdecays,
circulatingthroughtheground-clampdiodeandsink
transistor. Thesourcedriver’sOFFtime (andtherefore
themagnitudeofthecurrentdecrease)isdeterminedby
themonostable’sexternalRCtimingcomponents,where
t =R
T
C
T
withintherangeof20k
to100k
and
100pFto1000pF.
The fxed-oftime should be short enough to keep
thecurrentchoppingabovetheaudiblerange(<46μs)
andlongenoughtoproperlyregulatethecurrent.Be-
causeonlyslow-decaycurrentcontrolisavailable,short
of times(<10μs)requireadditional efortstoensure
propercurrentregulation.Factorsthatcannegatively
afect theabilitytoproperlyregulatethecurrentwhen
usingshort oftimesinclude:highermotor-supplyvolt-
age,lightload,andlongerthannecessaryblanktime.
Whenthesourcedriverisre-enabled,thewinding
current(thesensevoltage)isagainallowedtorisetothe
comparator’sthreshold. Thiscyclerepeatsitself,main-
tainingtheaveragemotorwindingcurrentatthedesired
level.
Loadswithhighdistributedcapaci-tancesmay
resultinhighturn-ONcurrentpeaks. Thispeak(appear-
ingacrossR
)willattempttotripthecomparator,result-
inginerroneouscurrentcontrolorhigh-frequency
oscillations. AnexternalR
C
timedelayshouldbeused
tofurtherdelaytheactionofthecomparator. Depending
onloadtype,manyapplicationswillnotrequirethese
externalcomponents(SENSEconnectedtoE).
PWMOUTPUTCURRENTWAVEFORM
LOADCURRENTPATHS
+
–
0
Dwg. WM-003-1A
V
PHASE
I
OUT
t
d
t
o
I
Dwg. EP-006-1
RS
BB
V
BRIDGE ON
SOURCE OFF
ALL OFF