JP2003009470A - Fan motor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable disposing of a drive means for driving a motor having a fan part around its periphery, without making it a resistance to air- distribution, and to reduce cost by restraining the length of a lead wire connecting between the motor and the drive means. SOLUTION: In a fan motor provided with a drive means 30 for rotating a motor 26 having a fan part 25 around its outer periphery, the drive means is so constituted as to be disposed between a bell mouth 38 provided on the outer periphery of the fan portion 25 and an outermost surrounding case 39.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fan motor integrally provided with a fan portion around the outer periphery of the motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a fan motor of this type,
For example, a fan motor used in a refrigerator is known, and such a fan motor circulates and supplies cold air into the refrigerator due to its blowing action and also serves to stir the cold air in the refrigerator. FIG. 8 shows an example adopted in the refrigerator 1, and the drawing is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a main part. First, the structure of the refrigerator 1 will be roughly described. This is a refrigerating room 3 formed in a refrigerator body 2, a door 4 for opening and closing a front opening of the refrigerating room 3, and a cooling air for the refrigerating room 3. A motor 6 having a fan portion 5 as a fan motor provided for performing the supply and agitation of the fuel, and an evaporator 7 and the like, which is arranged upstream of the motor 6 and constitutes a refrigeration cycle (not shown). is there.

That is, the downstream side of the installation site of the motor 6 is the refrigerating chamber 3, and between this and the upstream side having the evaporator 7, the fan unit is driven when the motor 6 is driven. The rotation of 5 causes air to flow in the direction of arrow S in the drawing and circulate. Then, when the air passes through the evaporator 7, heat in the air is taken away by the heat exchange action to be cooled and supplied as cold air into the refrigerating chamber 3 which is the inside of the refrigerator.

The motor 6 has a plurality of spokes 8
The motor 6 is supported by a motor casing 9 via a DC brushless motor of the outer rotor type (outer rotor type) in recent years from the viewpoints of long life, low power consumption, and space saving due to thinning. A motor is frequently used, and the fan portion 5 is integrally provided on the outer periphery of the outer rotor 10 to form a fan motor. In this case, in order to rotationally drive such a fan motor, a driving means 11 which constitutes a driving circuit for switching energization of a coil (not shown) of the motor 6 at a predetermined timing is required, and this driving means 11 is a coil energization switching device. An electronic component including elements such as a drive IC, a control IC, and an electrolytic capacitor (none of which is shown) is mounted.

The driving means 11 provided with such an electronic component has a machine room 14 below the inside of the main body 2 via a plurality of lead wires 13 led out from the connector 12 of the motor 6.
It is located inside. In addition, in the machine room 14, a compressor and a condenser (both not shown) for pressure-feeding the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, etc., which are not shown, are also provided.

[0006]

However, since the drive means 11 is provided in the machine chamber 14 according to the above configuration, the plurality of lead wires 1 having one end connected to the coil of the motor 6 are provided.
3 must be extended to the machine room 14 below the main body 2, and the lead wire 13 becomes long and the material cost increases, and the assembly workability including connection is also poor, and the cost rises. Had. Therefore, if the driving means 11 is attached using the spokes 8 of the motor casing 9 as a countermeasure, it seems possible to shorten the lead wire 13 as well. However, in such a case, the spokes 8 provided with the driving means 11 are in the air passage and are wide in the direction (arrow S) in which air (cool air) flows,
This becomes a resistance, and there is a concern that the air blowing characteristic is deteriorated or that an eddy current is generated and abnormal noise is generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a drive means for a motor having a fan portion on the outer periphery thereof without causing resistance to air flow. Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan motor capable of suppressing the length of the lead wire connecting the motor and the driving means.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a fan motor of the present invention comprises a motor having a fan portion on the outer periphery thereof, a motor casing for supporting the motor through a plurality of spokes, and A bell mouth provided on the outer peripheral side of the fan portion, an outer case provided on the outer peripheral side of the bell mouth, and a drive means for rotationally driving the motor, the drive means being the bell mouth and the outer case. It is characterized in that it is arranged between the two (invention of claim 1).

According to this structure, since the drive means is arranged in the range constituting the fan motor, the lead wire connecting the motor and the drive means can be short, and the machine room as in the prior art can be used. It is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of extending the cable and connecting it, which is advantageous in terms of cost. Further, since the driving means is not located in the air passage, it does not impair the air blowing characteristics, and in general, there is often a dead space between the bell mouth and the outer case, and in such a case, the space can be effectively utilized. It is possible to attach the drive means by using it, and it is convenient that no special attachment space is required.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the plurality of spokes has a U-shaped cross section that is vertically long in the blowing direction, and the motor and the driving means are provided in the U-shaped spoke. It is characterized in that a lead wire for connecting between the two is laid (the invention of claim 2).

According to this structure, the width of the spokes that guide the lead wires can be minimized in the air blowing direction, the air blowing characteristics are not impaired, and unnecessary eddy currents are suppressed from occurring. The generation of sound can be prevented.

Further, in the second aspect of the present invention, the U-shaped spoke is formed with a hook portion at the open end portion in a direction of blocking the open portion (the invention of the third aspect).

According to such a construction, it is often easier to assemble the lead wire laid in the spoke if it has some slack (or margin), or even if this is unnecessary slack. The hook portion can effectively prevent the lead wire from jumping out of the spoke due to the bending, and the wiring process can be simplified, which is effective.

Further, in the first aspect of the present invention, the driving means is embedded via a heat insulating material (the invention of the fourth aspect).

According to this structure, electronic components such as drive ICs that constitute the driving means can be protected adiabatically for a long period of time, and are also suitable for installation in a humid part such as a refrigerator.

[0016]

1 to 7 show one embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a refrigerator, which will be described below with reference to these drawings. First, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the refrigerator 21. The refrigerator 21 generally has a refrigerating chamber 23 formed in a refrigerator main body 22 and a door 24 for opening and closing a front opening of the refrigerating chamber 23. And a motor 26 having a fan section 25 constituting a fan motor provided for supplying and stirring cold air into the refrigerating chamber 23, and the motor 2
6 is provided with an evaporator 27 and the like arranged on the upstream side.

More specifically, the motor 26 will be described.
Is disposed between the evaporator 27 and the refrigerating chamber 23, and is supported by a motor casing 28. The evaporator 27 and the compressor and the condenser (neither is shown) are Machine room 29 in the lower part of the main body 22
, Which constitute a refrigeration cycle as is well known. Therefore, based on the drive of the motor 26, the air flow by the fan unit 25 is provided on the downstream side of the refrigeration chamber 2.
The air flowing toward 3 and flowing in returns to the upstream side having the evaporator 27, which is partitioned off from the air, and returns to the refrigerating chamber 23 again.
The so-called air is circulated and blown in the direction of arrow S in the figure. In this case, when the air passes through the evaporator 27, heat is taken away by the heat exchange action performed with the evaporator 27 to be cooled, and the air is supplied as new cold air into the refrigerating chamber 23, which is the inside of the refrigerator. .

1 and 3 to 5, drive means 30 (details will be described later) which constitutes a specific configuration of the motor 26 and a drive circuit for switching the energization of the motor 26 at a predetermined timing. Yes)). First, as the motor 26, in particular, as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 4, an outer rotation type (outer rotor type) DC brushless motor is adopted.
The rear bearing assembly 31 is attached to the rear portion of the rear surface (cylindrical portion 28e described later) of 8 and the rear bearing assembly 3
1, a stator 33 formed by winding a coil 32 in a three-winding system inside 1, and a front bearing assembly 34 provided to face the rear bearing assembly 31 with the stator 33 sandwiched therebetween. It has a cup-shaped rotor 36 (outer rotor) having a motor shaft 35 rotatably supported by the both bearing assemblies 31 and 34 in the center thereof.

The rotor 36 is provided with a magnet 37 radially opposed to the outer periphery of the stator 33 with a slight gap, and the outer periphery of the magnet 37 is integrally formed with the rotor 36. The fan unit 25 is provided, and the fan motor is configured with this configuration.

The motor casing 28 is specifically made of a synthetic resin such as PBT (polybutadiene terephthalate) and has a cylindrical portion 28e having an open rear rear portion (right side surface in FIG. 4) of the central portion. A plurality of (for example, four) spokes 28 are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the spoke 28 and extend in the radial direction, as clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.
a to 28d are integrally provided at substantially equal intervals. Further, in this configuration, a cylindrical bell mouth 38 is integrally provided so as to be connected to the outer peripheral portions of the spokes 28a to 28d, and the bell mouth 38 is located on the outer peripheral side of the fan portion 25 and surrounds the fan portion 25. ing. In addition, an outer case 39 in the shape of a rectangular tube is integrally formed on the outer peripheral side of the bell mouth 38, and is fixedly attached to the partition part of the refrigerating chamber 23 via the corner of the outer case 39. is doing.

The rear bearing assembly 31 fitted and attached to the cylindrical portion 28e of the motor casing 28 is made of a galvanized steel plate and has a cylindrical bracket 40 through which the motor shaft 35 is inserted, and an inner side thereof. It comprises a bearing 41 made of sintered metal mounted on the rear part, an oil-impregnated felt 42 filled with lubricating oil, and the like, and its rear surface opening is closed by an appropriate lid member 43. Incidentally, the center of the inner surface of the lid member 43 receives the tip of the motor shaft 35. Thus, the rear bearing assembly 31 is closely fitted into the motor casing 28 from the rear side of the rear surface, and the bracket 40 thereof is press-fitted into the center hole of the stator 33 to be fixedly attached.

Further, in the stator 33, in a state where the coil 32 is wound around the stator core 33a, the stator core 33a together with the terminal block 44 is molded with a synthetic resin (PBT) molding material 45.
It is molded by. Then, the rear end of the molding material 45 is engaged with the motor casing 28,
In addition, the bracket 40 is inserted in the center hole of the stator core 33a.
By press-fitting, the rear bearing assembly 31 and the stator 33 are firmly fixed so as to sandwich the motor casing 28 from both sides, and by extension, the motor 26 is a cylindrical portion of the motor casing 28. 28e and spokes 28a-28d.

Thus, when the stator 33 is molded, as shown in FIG. 4, the coil 3 of the three-winding system is used.
The three connecting ends 2 are pre-connected to the three connecting pins 46 (only one is shown in FIG. 4), and the tip ends of the connecting pins 46 that are led out in the axial direction are embedded in the terminal block 44. The leads 47 are electrically connected to the leads 47, and the tips of the leads 47 are led to the bases of the spokes 28a among the plurality of the leads as shown in FIG.

More specifically, this lead 47
Has the same shape as the terminal block 44, extends radially outward after the base end is connected to the connecting pin 46, and is bent axially rearward when reaching the spoke 28a site. It is formed in an L shape. And this spoke 28a
A connector 49, to which one end of a lead wire 48 is connected, is fitted and connected to a terminal block 44 having a lead 47 led out to the base of the motor 26, while the other end of the lead wire 48 is connected to the motor 26.
Is connected to the driving means 30.

However, the lead wire 48 is laid inside the groove 50a formed in the spoke 28a. Therefore, unlike the other dedicated spokes 28b to 28d, the spoke 28a has a vertically elongated U-shaped cross section as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the lead wire 48 is clearly shown in FIG. Thus, it can be laid so as to be stacked in a line along the vertically long groove portion 50a, for example. That is, along the air blowing direction indicated by arrow S in FIG. 4, it is formed in a U-shape that is narrow and vertically long so as not to resist the air flow as much as possible, and the opposite air blowing side is open to form the groove 50a. The groove portion 50a has a structure that also serves as so-called meat stealing for material saving.

On the other hand, other dedicated spokes 28b ...
The groove portions 50b to 50d of 28d are formed for meat stealing in order to save material, and are also located in the air passage, and thus have a narrow shape. A hook portion 60 that is elastically deformable in a direction blocking the groove portion 50a is formed on the open end side of the groove portion 50a, and the lead wire 48 laid in the groove portion 50a is formed.
Is regulated so as not to pop out. Further, in this configuration, the groove portion 50a is formed continuously up to the outer side surface of the outer case 39 so that the lead wire 48 can be subjected to the wiring process while being converged to the vicinity of the corner portion.

On the other hand, the structure of the driving means 30 will be described below. Particularly, as shown in FIG.
A coil 32 for connecting to a power source (not shown) via 7 to rotate and drive the motor 26 having the above-described configuration.
A drive circuit for switching the power supply to the coil 32 at a predetermined timing, and a drive IC 52 as a switching device for supplying power to the coil 32 is provided on both surfaces of the circuit board 51.
a, a control IC 52b, an electrolytic capacitor 52c, a ceramic oscillator 52d, etc. are mounted.

The position of the drive means 30 is
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the cylindrical bell mouth 3 described above is used.
8 is attached and fixed to a corner portion between the outer casing 38 and the outer cylindrical casing 39 located on the outer peripheral side thereof, and is sealed and potted with a heat insulating material 53 such as an epoxy resin. Particularly, in the present embodiment, between the cylindrical bell mouth 38 and the rectangular tubular outer casing 39,
Only the mounting boss 54 is provided at the corner portion, which can be sufficiently utilized as a space for mounting the driving means 30. Therefore, the driving means 30 is attached using one corner near the spoke 28a, and the partition wall 55 is provided upright to regulate the filling range by potting.

Further, in the present construction, the control means 57 is disposed at the corner portion adjacent to the partition wall 55, which mainly receives the signal from the drive means and controls the rotation speed of the motor 26. It has a control circuit configuration and is connected to a power supply circuit (not shown) of the refrigerator 21. In this way, the control means 57 can also be arranged by utilizing the space between the bell mouth 38 and the outer case 39, and the number of lead wires led out to the power supply circuit side can be reduced to facilitate the wiring work. ing.

In FIG. 4, the front bearing assembly 34 is substantially symmetrically equivalent to the rear bearing assembly 31 described in detail above, and therefore, the tubular bracket 5 is provided.
8, a bearing 59 made of sintered metal, an oil-impregnated felt 60, a lid member 61, and the like. However, in this front bearing assembly 34, the motor shaft 35 is completely penetrated and inserted to be fixedly connected to the rotor 36. Then, similarly to the above, the bracket 58 of the front bearing assembly 34 is press-fitted into the central hole of the stator core 33a and fixed to the stator 33.

Thus, the operation of this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described. Now, when the coil 32 of the stator 33 is energized via the drive means 30 as shown in FIG. To rotate. That is, the outer rotor type motor 26 is energized and driven, whereby the fan portion 25 is also rotated integrally. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the cold air supplied to the refrigerating chamber 23 of the refrigerator 21 is circulated and blown in the direction of the arrow S in the figure, and the air effectively taken in from the bell mouth 38 intersects with the evaporator 27. Heat is taken away by and is regenerated as cold air for refrigeration. In this way, the motor 26 constituting the fan motor is energized and driven by the drive means 30, and further controlled by the control means 57 at an appropriate number of revolutions, so that the rotation of the fan portion 25 supplies the cool air to the refrigerating chamber 23. Stirring is performed, and foods (not shown) and the like in the refrigerating chamber 23 are evenly refrigerated and stored at a required temperature.

The fan motor of this embodiment has the following effects. First, the drive means 30 for controlling the energization of the coil 32 can be mounted and fixed by effectively utilizing the so-called dead space in the corner portion between the bell mouth 38 and the outer case 39, and it is not necessary to provide a special installation space. . However, since the installation site of the drive means 30 is not located in the air passage, the air blowing characteristics are not impaired. In addition, the drive means 30 includes the heat insulating material 53.
Since it was configured to be embedded by potting using
Electronic components such as the drive IC 52a can be protected insulatively for a long period of time, and can be applied to a part having a lot of moisture such as the refrigerator 21.

Moreover, the lead wire 48 wired from the lead 47 of the terminal block 44 to the driving means 30 can be made much shorter than the case where it is extended to the conventional machine room 29, and the material cost is reduced accordingly. Also, the work is easy and cost effective. In addition, since the spokes 28a laid and guided by the lead wires 48 have a vertically long U shape along the air blowing direction (direction of arrow S in FIG. 4), they are shown in the vertically long groove portion 50a as shown in FIG. Can be wired without being bulky,
It is possible to configure the spokes 28a that are as narrow as possible in the blowing direction. Therefore, even if it is in the air flow path, it creates a large air flow resistance, impairs the air volume characteristic, and suppresses the generation of unnecessary eddy currents as much as possible.
It is possible to avoid the anxiety that an abnormal noise is generated.

Further, since the hook portion 56 located at the open end of the groove 50a and elastically deformable in the direction of blocking the groove 50a, which is the open portion, is provided, the lead wire 48 is formed.
The hook portion 56 can be easily inserted by inserting the hook portion 56 into the groove portion 50a while elastically deforming the hook portion 56, and the hook portion 56 prevents the lead wire 48 from rising and the lead wire 48 has a slack. Can be easily stored and held without popping out.

Further, since the motor 26 is an outer rotor type DC brushless motor, it has a long life, low power consumption, and can be thinned in the axial direction including the fan portion 25.
Therefore, it is effective to form the refrigerating chamber 23 (internal volume) by minimizing the installation space. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment shown in the drawings. For example, the bell mouth and the outer case are integrally formed with the motor casing, but they are individually formed and connected. The present invention is not limited to the refrigerator, and can be widely used in other applications as a compact fan motor as well as in a refrigerator.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides the fan motor of the present invention with driving means for rotating the motor having the fan portion on the outer periphery on the outer peripheral side of the fan portion. It was arranged between the provided bell mouth and the outer case. As a result, the drive means is arranged in the range that constitutes the fan motor, so that the lead wire connecting the motor and the drive means can be short, and it is troublesome to extend and connect to the machine room as in the conventional case. This can be eliminated, which is advantageous in terms of cost. In addition, since the driving means is not located in the air passage, it does not impair the air blowing characteristics, and moreover, the installation location of the bell mouth and the outer casing often becomes a dead space in many cases. It is possible to provide a compact and practical fan motor in which the drive means can be mounted by effectively utilizing the space and a special mounting space is not required.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a refrigerator.

[Figure 3] Rear view

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AOA in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view seen from the back side.

6 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the main part

FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 is a refrigerator, 23 is a refrigerating room, 25 is a fan part, 26 is a motor, 27 is an evaporator, 30 is drive means, 28 is a motor casing, 28a to 28d are spokes, 32 is a coil, 33 is a stator, and 36 is a rotor. (Outer rotor), 38 bellmouth, 39 outer case, 44 terminal block, 47 lead, 48 lead wire, 49 connector, 50a to 50d groove portion, 51 circuit board, 53 heat insulating material, 55 Is a partition wall, 56 is a hook portion, and 57 is a control means.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) F25D 17/06 304 H02K 7/14 A 5H611 H02K 7/14 29/00 Z 29/00 11/00 X F Term (reference) 3H032 CA01 CA04 3H034 AA02 AA18 BB02 BB08 CC01 CC03 CC05 DD01 DD30 EE06 EE12 3L045 AA05 AA07 BA01 CA02 DA02 EA01 NA03 PA04 5H019 AA00 AA09 CC04 CC07 DD01 EE09 FF01 514607BB17 AA00 AA09 BB08 TT01 UA04 UB02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A motor having a fan portion on the outer periphery, a motor casing for supporting the motor through a plurality of spokes, a bell mouth provided on the outer peripheral side of the fan portion, and an outer peripheral side of the bell mouth. A fan motor comprising: an outer case provided in the outer case; and driving means for rotating and driving the motor, wherein the driving means is arranged between the bell mouth and the outer case. 2. At least one of the plurality of spokes has a U-shaped cross section that is vertically long along the air blowing direction, and a lead wire connecting the motor and the driving means is provided in the U-shaped spoke. The fan motor according to claim 1, wherein the fan motor is laid. 3. The fan motor according to claim 2, wherein a hook portion is formed at an open end portion of the U-shaped spoke in a direction of blocking the open portion. 4. The fan motor according to claim 1, wherein the drive means is embedded via a heat insulating material.