Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02K—DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
  • H02K1/00—Details of the magnetic circuit
  • H02K1/06—Details of the magnetic circuit characterised by the shape, form or construction
  • H02K1/12—Stationary parts of the magnetic circuit
  • H02K1/14—Stator cores with salient poles
  • H02K1/146—Stator cores with salient poles consisting of a generally annular yoke with salient poles
  • H02K1/148—Sectional cores

Definitions

• the present invention relates to brushless motor armature arrangements, and, in particular, to wound stator constructions produced in manners maximizing efficiency and torque production benefits.
• U.S. Patent 5,642,013 and U.S. Patent 5,910,691 both to Wavre, disclose synchronous motors including armatures having pluralities of solid teeth consolidated with yokes and spaced apart by slots in which coils are accommodated.
• the Wavre ( ⁇ 13) patent illustrates both linear and rotary motor arrangements, while the Wavre ('691) patent illustrates multiple linear motor arrangements.
• the disclosures of both the Wavre ( ⁇ 13) patent and the Wavre ('691) patent are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
• a stator constructed in accordance with the present invention is intended to create a higher efficiency brushless motor through the use of higher density wire coils (which may be crushed coils) in slots defined between stator teeth, while at the same time maintaining torque production benefits of the tooth tips and keeping the stator robust.
• construction of a wound stator of the brushless motor begins initially by stamping stator laminations without tooth tips and then stacking these laminations together by bonding, dimpling, or in some other standard method to produce a first stack of laminations. Coils of magnet wire that have been tightly wound in layers and formed to give a high copper density are assembled on the teeth, and a second stack of laminations is then shrink or expansion fit onto the inner diameter of the first stack of laminations to function as tooth tips.
• the laminations in the second stack all have the same shape.
• the assembly, including the first and second lamination stacks, is bored out, but a thin bridge of material is left connecting all of the tooth tips.
• the second stack will include laminations having two different shapes. One of these shapes is configured so that a bridge between stator teeth is thin, while the second shape is configured so that a bridge between stator teeth is relatively thick.
• the assembly, including the first and second stacks, is bored out such that, with all of the laminations having thin bridges, the bridges are machined away, but with all of the laminations having the thicker bridge, a thin portion of the bridge is maintained after boring is complete. In this way, with the second alternative, only some of the teeth of the stator are bridged, which minimizes losses while maintaining mechanical strength.
• Another aspect of the present invention concerns a process of producing a stator for use in a rotary motor arrangement in which a multiplicity of laminations are joined together to produce a first stack of laminations defining teeth, slots between adjacent teeth, and a yoke section connecting the teeth together. Coil elements are then mounted on the teeth so that the coil elements have portions disposed in the slots between the adjacent teeth, and a second stack of laminations is fitted onto an inner diameter of the first stack of laminations and fixed in place to function as tooth tips. At least part of the second lamination stack is then bored out or otherwise removed to dispose of all but a thin layer of the second stack of laminations bridging adjacent teeth so aslo form the ⁇ tator.
• the portion removed from the second lamination stack is either annular or crescent-shaped.
• the laminations in the second lamination stack could all have the same shape, or could be shaped differently.
• the present invention also concerns stators for a rotary motor produced by processes such as those mentioned.
• a thin layer of material connects all tips of the stator teeth together, while in another embodiment, a fraction of the stator laminations includes thin material layers that connect only some, and not all, tips of the stator teeth together.
• Figure 1 is a plan view of one of a multiplicity of laminations used to construct a stator in accordance with the present invention.
• Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of assembly of wire coils to a tooth formed by a first stack of laminations that ultimately forms part of the stator.
• Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the unfinished stator after a second stack of laminations, ultimately forming stator tooth tips, has been secured by shrink or expansion fitting to the inner diameter of the first stack of laminations.
• Figure 4 is a schematic end view of a finished stator according to one embodiment of the invention with the wire coils mounted thereto omitted.
• Figure 5 is a schematic end view of a finished stator according to an alternative embodiment of the invention with the wire coils mounted thereto omitted.
• the lamination 10 shown in plan view in Figure 1 is one of a multiplicity of such laminations used to construct a stator in accordance with the present invention.
• Each lamination as illustrated includes a roughly circular yoke section 12 and tooth sections 14 protruding radially inwardly from the yoke section.
• the multiplicity of laminations 10 are joined together by bonding, dimpling, or another standard method to produce a first stack of the laminations 10, which ultimately will define part of the finished stator.
• the finished stator is to be used as part of a rotary motor arrangement similar to that disclosed by the Wavre ('013) patent.
• openings or recesses 16 defined between the tooth sections 14 are wedge shaped, since the opening widths decrease at locations closer to the center of the yoke section 12.
• each wire coil element 18 is formed from numerous turns (for example, 50 or more turns) of insulated copper wire, which may be compressed to define a "crushed coil” wire coil element.
• a coil element 18 is mounted to one of the teeth 20 by passing the open center of the coil element 18 over and past the radially inner end of a tooth 20, until coils of magnet wire that have been tightly layer wound and formed to give a high copper density have been assembled on as many of the teeth 20 as is desired, with lateral sections of the coil elements 18 disposed in slots defined between adjacent teeth 20.
• a second stack of laminations is then secured by shrinking the first lamination stack (or, alternatively, expanding the second lamination stack) so that the outer circumferential surface of the second stack of laminations is pressed onto the inner diameter of the first stack of laminations as shown in Figure 3 to function as tooth tips.
• the shrinking or expanding operation may be performed by appropriately heating and then cooling the first lamination stack, cooling and then heating the second lamination stack, or combining these steps appropriately.
• Other methods of securing the lamination stacks together, such as gluing, welding, and so on, could be used in addition to or in place of the heat shrinking or heat expanding operations mentioned.
• the inner diameter of the first lamination stack is typically defined by radially inner ends of the teeth 20.
• the tooth tip lamination stack 22 includes tooth tips 24 and a ring 26, from which the tooth tips 24 extend radially outwardly, joining the tips 24 together.
• the first lamination stack and the second, tooth tip lamination stack 22, upon being joined together, will be connected at facing surfaces located along an imaginary cylinder 28 aligned with interfaces between the stacks. Such interfaces 29 are best shown in Figures 4 and 5.
• a locating, anti-rotation, or locating and anti-rotation protrusion 30 may be defined on an outer radial end of a tooth 20 or an inner radial end of a tooth tip 24 for reception in a corresponding protrusion-receiving recess in an associated tooth tip 24 or tooth 20, respectively, to aid in positioning and preventing relative rotation of the first and second lamination stacks as they are joined together.
• a plurality of such protrusions could be used if desired.
• a stator arrangement such as that shown in Figure 3, which includes twelve teeth, it is advantageous to include one protrusion 30 on each tooth, so that twelve of the protrusions 30 will be present.
• the laminations in the second stack 22 all have the same shape.
• the overall stator assembly including the first and second lamination stacks, is then ground out, bored out, or otherwise processed to remove an annulus 40 of material from the radially inner portion of the second lamination stack.
• a thin bridge 32 of material is advantageously left between adjacent teeth.
• a plurality of these bridges 32 preferably connects all of the tooth tips 24 together.
• the second stack of laminations includes laminations of two different types having two different shapes. One of these shapes is configured so that a bridge between stator teeth is thin, while the second shape is configured so that a bridge between stator teeth is relatively thick.
• the assembly including the first and second stacks is then bored out such that, with all of the laminations having thin bridges, the bridges are machined away, but with all of the laminations having the thicker bridge, a thin portion of the bridge is maintained after boring is complete. In this way, with this alternative, only some of the teeth of the stator are bridged, which minimizes losses while maintaining mechanical strength.
• a partial stack 22 A of laminations, or any number of individual laminations, prior to being joined together with other laminations to form the overall stack may be bored out along an axis that is not coincident with a central axis of the partial stack or the lamination.
• Figure 5 illustrates a crescent-shaped partial annulus 42 of material, rather than a complete ring of material, as being removed from the radially inner portion of the partial stack 22 A.
• Some, but not all, of the openings 16 defined between teeth 20 of the partial stack 22A will thus be open to the radially interior volume of the stator assembly to face the rotor (not shown), while others will have thin bridges 32A of material closing off the openings 16.
• a certain percentage such as approximately one out of every eight laminations in the overall lamination stack constituting a stator, will be provided with the configuration shown in Figure 5, leaving bridges of material between some of the teeth. This percentage may vary significantly, although, preferably, fewer laminations will have bridges than will lack bridges. The ratio selected is easily achieved by distributing an appropriate number of laminations configured as shown in Figure 5 within a lamination stack having laminations primarily configured as shown in Figure 4.
• Each tightly compacted single tooth coil 18 is preferably implemented to minimize the axial length of the end turn. Also, reducing the amount of copper in the end turns will help maintain high generator efficiency. Novel coil insertion techniques allow one to achieve high copper fill percentages in the slot, resulting in high generator efficiencies.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Iron Core Of Rotating Electric Machines (AREA)

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• 2011
  • 2011-06-16 EP EP11796446.0A patent/EP2583371A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-06-16 WO PCT/US2011/040727 patent/WO2011159916A1/en active Application Filing

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