JP2022148197A - Electric blower and vacuum cleaner including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To achieve compactification of a motor incorporated in an electric blower, to surely maintain pre-load of a rotation shaft, and to improve reliability of the motor.SOLUTION: An electric blower includes an electric motor, an impeller, and a fan casing for storing the electric motor and the impeller. The electric motor includes a rotor, a stator, a front housing, and a rear housing. The rotor includes a rotor core and a rotation shaft. At the rotation shaft, at least two bearings are attached. The bearing includes an outer ring, an inner ring and a rolling element. At the front housing, a bearing holding member is attached. At the bearing holding member, a small diameter part is provided. At an outer peripheral part of the rotor core, a spring is arranged. The outer ring of the bearing has a constitution for receiving a pre-load by the spring via the small diameter part of the bearing holding member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an electric blower and a vacuum cleaner having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a rotor of a motor that rotates at high speed for use in a vacuum cleaner or the like is provided with two bearings that support its rotating shaft.

A bearing is composed of an outer ring, an inner ring, and rolling elements (balls or rollers) interposed therebetween. Usually, preload is applied to the outer ring or the inner ring to prevent the rolling elements from vibrating inside the bearing.

In Patent Document 1, an electric blower used for a small electric vacuum cleaner is provided with two bearings for rotatably supporting a rotating shaft between a centrifugal impeller and a rotor core. A spring is disclosed that is placed in a compressed state to preload the two bearings.

JP 2017-227156 A

In vacuum cleaners and the like, motor parts made of resin are sometimes used from the viewpoint of weight reduction.

If the bearing that supports the rotating shaft of the motor is fixed to another part with adhesive and preload is applied to the bearing through the adhesive, the adhesive will deteriorate over time, and the resin that comes in contact with the bearing will deteriorate. Due to expansion/contraction of other parts, the position of the bearing may shift, making it difficult to maintain the preload.

In a configuration in which preload is applied to the bearings by a spring arranged between the two bearings, as in the electric blower described in Patent Document 1, the preload is reliably maintained, so the positional deviation of the bearings as described above does not occur. problem does not arise. However, in order to further reduce the weight of electric vacuum cleaners, etc., it is necessary to make them more compact, including the arrangement of the springs. It has been demanded. In this case, it is difficult to apply preload to the bearing directly from the spring, and the preload is applied indirectly through other parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to reduce the size of a motor incorporated in an electric blower, to reliably maintain the preload of the rotary shaft, and to improve the reliability of the motor.

An electric blower according to the present invention includes an electric motor, an impeller, and a fan casing housing the electric motor and the impeller. The electric motor includes a rotor, a stator, a front housing, and a rear housing. includes a rotor core and a rotating shaft; the rotating shaft is attached with at least two bearings; the bearing includes an outer ring, an inner ring, and rolling elements; A holding member is attached, the bearing holding member is provided with a small diameter portion, a spring is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the rotor core, and the outer ring of the bearing is preloaded by the spring via the small diameter portion of the bearing holding member. configured to receive.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while making the motor incorporated in an electric blower compact, the preload of the rotating shaft can be reliably maintained, and the reliability of a motor can be improved.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of a vacuum cleaner. It is an exploded perspective view showing an electric blower of this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the rotor of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a bearing before being preloaded; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the bearing under preload; It is sectional drawing when the electric blower of this embodiment is cut|disconnected along the axial direction.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a vacuum cleaner to which the present embodiment is applied.

As shown in the figure, the vacuum cleaner 100 is configured in a stick shape by combining a vacuum cleaner main body 2 provided with a hand control switch 7 and the like, an extension pipe 5, and a mouthpiece 6. . The electric vacuum cleaner 100 also includes a rechargeable battery 24 (storage battery) that is a power source for driving the cleaner main body 2 and the suction body 6 .

The cleaner main body 2 includes an electric blower 1 that generates a suction force, a dust collector 22 that stores dust collected by the suction force of the electric blower 1, and the like.

One end of the extension pipe 5 is connected to a connection port 23 of the cleaner body 2 so as to communicate with the dust collector 22 of the cleaner body 2 . The other end of the extension pipe 5 is connected to the mouthpiece 6 . The extension pipe 5 is formed with a ventilation passage (not shown) and has wiring (not shown) for electrically connecting the rechargeable battery 24 and a brush motor (not shown) of the suction body 6 .

When the hand operation switch 7 is operated, the body control circuit (not shown) controls the operation and stop of the electric blower 1, the switching of the suction force, and the operation and stop of the electric motor (not shown) provided in the suction body 6. . A body control circuit is provided in the cleaner body 2 .

The vacuum cleaner is not limited to the stick-type vacuum cleaner shown in the figure, but can be a handheld vacuum cleaner, a canister vacuum cleaner (cylinder vacuum cleaner), a rechargeable (cordless type) robot vacuum cleaner, or the like. It can be applied to vacuum cleaners. It can also be applied to a power cord type vacuum cleaner having a similar configuration.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an electric blower to which this embodiment is applied.

As shown in the figure, the electric blower 1 includes an electric motor 10 (slotless motor), an impeller 60 (impeller), and a fan casing 70 (accommodating portion).

The electric motor 10 includes a rotor 30 (rotor), a stator 40 (stator), and a housing (receiving portion) including a front housing 51 and a rear housing 52 . The housing accommodates the rotor 30 and the stator 40 . The housing is made of synthetic resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate).

The rotor 30 includes a rotating shaft 31 (shaft), a rotor core 32 (rotor core), bearings 33 and 34, and balance rings 35 and 36.

The rotating shaft 31 has an elongated cylindrical shape and is made of a magnetic material such as iron. The rotating shaft 31 is not limited to the magnetic material described above, and may be made of a non-magnetic material such as stainless steel (SUS). An impeller 60 is fixed to one axial end of the rotating shaft 31 .

The rotor core 32 is composed of permanent magnets and fixed around the rotating shaft 31 . Balance rings 35 and 36 are fixed to both sides of the rotor core 32 in the axial direction Ax.

The balance rings 35 and 36 have the same diameter as the rotor core 32 and are fixed to the rotating shaft 31 so as to be in contact with the axial end face of the rotor core 32 . Also, the balance rings 35 and 36 have a flat shape sufficiently shorter than the axial length of the rotor core 32 .

Bearings 33 and 34 are provided axially outside the balance rings 35 and 36 . The bearings 33 and 34 are composed of ball bearings or the like, and are configured to have a diameter smaller than that of the rotor core 32 . Part of the rotary shaft 31 protrudes from the bearings 33 and 34, respectively. The length of the portion of rotating shaft 31 protruding from bearing 33 is longer than the length of the portion of rotating shaft 31 protruding from bearing 34 .

The stator 40 is arranged on the outer periphery (outside in the radial direction) of the rotor core 32 and includes a bobbin 41 , a stator core 45 (core member) and a coil member 47 . Details of the bobbin 41 and the coil member 47 will be described later. Stator core 45 is formed in a cylindrical shape by laminating electromagnetic steel sheets and arranged on the outer periphery of bobbin 41 .

The front housing 51 is arranged on the front side in the axial direction Ax. The rear housing 52 is arranged on the rear side in the axial direction Ax. Here, the front side means the upstream side from which air is introduced, and the rear side means the downstream side from which air is discharged.

The front housing 51 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and is arranged on the air introduction side (the side where the impeller 60 is provided). Further, the front housing 51 is formed with a cylindrical air passage R2 on the outer peripheral portion thereof. A shaft hole 51 a through which the rotating shaft 31 is inserted is formed in the radial center of the front housing 51 . Further, the front housing 51 is formed with a locking portion 51 b that is locked to the rear housing 52 . The engaging portion 51 b is formed in a U-shape when viewed from the side, and is formed to protrude from the edge portion of the front housing 51 toward the rear housing 52 side. Although not shown, the locking portions 51b are formed at a plurality of locations (three locations in this embodiment) in the circumferential direction.

The rear housing 52 is arranged on the rear side of the center of the rotating shaft 31 in the axial direction Ax, and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape. Further, the rear housing 52 has an accommodating portion 52a in which a portion of the rotor 30 and a portion of the stator 40 are accommodated. Further, the rear housing 52 is formed with an annular air passage R3 on the outer peripheral side. The air passage R3 is configured to communicate with the air passage R2.

Further, the rear housing 52 is formed with locking projections 52b for locking the locking portions 51b of the front housing 51 . The locking projection 52b is located at the front end of the outer peripheral surface of the rear housing 52. As shown in FIG.

The impeller 60 has a slope 60a that expands in diameter toward the downstream side (rear side), and a plurality of blades 61 and 62 are circumferentially arranged on the outer surface of the slope 60a. The slope 60a is configured to be substantially continuous with the inner peripheral wall surface of the air passage R2. A fixing portion 60b to which the rotating shaft 31 is fixed is formed at the tip of the impeller 60. As shown in FIG. The rotating shaft 31 protrudes from the tip of the impeller 60 , and the impeller 60 is fixed to the rotating shaft 31 by screwing a nut 90 into a thread groove formed at the tip of the rotating shaft 31 .

The vanes 61 and 62 are formed in a thin plate shape, and the vane 61 is formed longer than the vane 62 . Further, the blades 61 and 62 are arranged alternately in the circumferential direction. Further, the blades 61 and 62 are arranged to be inclined with respect to the axial direction Ax, and are formed so as to curve in the circumferential direction from the upstream side to the downstream side. Also, the blades 61 and 62 have a twisted structure from the upstream side to the downstream side. Further, the blades 61 and 62 are both formed to extend to the end on the downstream side. Further, the upstream end of the blade 61 is formed longer upstream than the upstream end of the blade 62 .

The fan casing 70 is formed into a substantially cylindrical shape by resin molding. Further, the fan casing 70 has a hollow portion 71 in which the impeller 60 is accommodated. The hollow portion 71 is formed so as to increase in diameter from the upstream side toward the downstream side along the outer peripheral shape of the impeller 60 .

A circular suction port 71a through which air is introduced is formed in the front end surface of the fan casing 70. As shown in FIG. Further, the fan casing 70 is formed with a lightening portion 71b on the outside of the hollow portion 71 to prevent sink marks during molding and to reduce weight.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the rotor of this embodiment.

A rotor 30 shown in this figure has a rotating shaft 31, a rotor core 32, and three bearings 33, 34p, and 34q.

The bearing 33 is arranged on the front side of the electric blower and supported by a bearing holding member 101 (end bracket). The bearings 34p, 34q are arranged on the rear side. Bearings 34p and 34q are preferably arranged so as to be in direct contact with each other.

FIG. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a bearing before receiving preload.

In this figure, the bearing 33 includes an outer ring 33p, an inner ring 33q, and rolling elements 33r (balls or rollers) sandwiched between the outer ring 33p and the inner ring 33q. A gap 33s is formed between the outer ring 33p and the inner ring 33q. The inner ring 33 q is fixed to the rotating shaft 31 and rotates together with the rotating shaft 31 .

The outer ring 33p and the inner ring 33q are at the same position (coordinates) in the direction of the rotating shaft 31 before being preloaded.

In this state, the center of gravity of the rolling element 33r can move within the range of the gap 33s, and the rolling element 33r may collide with the outer ring 33p or the inner ring 33q, causing vibration and noise.

FIG. 4B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the bearing under preload.

In this figure, the outer ring 33p receives a preload from the outside and moves upward in the figure to push up the rolling elements 33r. Therefore, the outer ring 33p and the inner ring 33q are at different positions (coordinates) in the direction of the rotating shaft 31 .

In a conventional bearing, the outer ring of the bearing is fixed with an adhesive in a preloaded state in order to achieve the state shown in this figure. When the adhesive is used for fixing, the effect of the adhesive is weakened, and if the position of the outer ring changes, there is a possibility that the preload cannot be maintained.

As will be described later, the bearing of the present disclosure is provided with a small diameter portion in the bearing holding member (end bracket) to support the outer ring of the bearing, so that a force is applied in a certain direction to the outer ring and preload is maintained. can be ensured, the reliability of the bearing can be improved, and vibration and noise in the bearing can be prevented.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electric blower cut along the axial direction.

As shown in this figure, the electric blower 1 includes an electric motor 10 , an impeller 60 , a fan casing 70 , a front housing 51 and a rear housing 52 . Electric motor 10 includes a rotor 30 and a stator 40 . The rotor 30 includes a rotating shaft 31 , a rotor core 32 and balance rings 35 and 36 . The rotating shaft 31 is rotatably supported by a bearing 33 on the front side and two bearings 34p and 34q on the rear side. That is, the rotating shaft 31 is supported by three bearings 33, 34p and 34q.

The electric blower 1 also includes a bearing holding member 101 that holds the bearing 33, and a bearing holding member 102 that holds the bearings 34p and 34q. The bearing holding member 101 is made of metal and integrally formed with the front housing 51 made of resin by insert molding.

The bearing holding member 101 is formed in a cylindrical shape and arranged on the outer peripheral side of the bearing 33 . Further, the bearing holding member 101 has a small diameter portion 101s. The small diameter portion 101s supports the outer ring of the bearing 33 so as to maintain a preload from the rotor 30 side toward the impeller 60 side.

With such a configuration, the position of the outer ring of the bearing 33 can be fixed, the reliability of the bearing 33 can be improved, and vibration and noise in the bearing 33 can be prevented.

Since the front housing 51 is made of resin, it tends to expand when the temperature rises, and due to its structure, it may press the bearing 33 from the front side toward the rear side. In this case, it may be difficult to hold the position of the bearing 33 with a conventional bearing holding member that does not have the small diameter portion 101s.

The bearing holding member 102 is made of metal and integrally formed with the resin rear housing 52 by insert molding.

The bearing holding member 102 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape and arranged on the outer peripheral side of the bearings 34p and 34q. The bearings 34p and 34q are arranged to overlap in the direction of the rotating shaft 31 .

The rotor core 32 is arranged between the bearing 33 and the bearing 34p.

As a result, compared with the conventional two-bearing structure, one bearing 34q for supporting the rotating shaft 31 is added on the rear side, so that the swinging of the rotating shaft 31 can be prevented and noise can be reduced. can.

A coil spring 80 (compression coil spring) is arranged in the front housing 51 . Also, the coil spring 80 is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the rotor core 32 and extends and contracts in the direction of the rotating shaft 31 . The coil spring 80 has a front end in contact with the inner wall surface 51c (surface on the rear side of the front surface) of the front housing 51 in the direction of the rotating shaft 31, and a rear end in the stator core 45 (end surface). ). As a result, the state in which the stator core 45 is pressed against the positioning ribs 43c is maintained.

In summary, the coil spring 80 has a configuration that presses the front housing 51 toward the impeller 60 side.

An air passage R1 is formed between the fan casing 70 and the impeller 60 . The air passage R1 communicates with the air passage R2 of the front housing 51. As shown in FIG. Air passage R2 communicates with air passage R3 of rear housing 52 . The air passage R3 is configured such that the cross-sectional area of the passage increases from upstream to downstream.

Further, the front housing 51 is provided with stationary blades 51m in the air passage R2 to provide a rectifying function. Further, the rear housing 52 is provided with stationary blades 52m in the air passage R3 to provide a rectifying function. A known technique can be adopted for the stationary blades 51m and 52m.

A communication hole 50 s is formed between the front housing 51 and the rear housing 52 to communicate with the inside of the electric motor 10 when the front housing 51 and the rear housing 52 are combined. Also, the communication hole 50 s is formed at a position facing the stator core 45 . Further, the communication hole 50s is located at the end of the stator core 45 on the front side.

In the electric blower 1, the air sucked from the suction port 71a is discharged from the electric blower 1 through the air paths R1, R2, and R3. Further, the rear housing 52 is formed with a hole (not shown) for drawing out an electric wire from the coil member 47 and the like. In this case, since the air passage R3 on the outer peripheral side of the communication hole 50s becomes negative pressure, part of the exhaust air discharged from the rear housing 52 and outside air pass through the holes (not shown) as indicated by the white arrows. Then, it returns to the inside of the electric motor 10 and flows toward the communication hole 50s. The return air at this time returns to the communication hole 50s while contacting the stator core 45, and returns to the air passage R3 from the communication hole 50s. The stator core 45 and the coil member 47 are cooled by such air flow.

Further, as described above, when the coil member 47 is provided with thermally conductive grease, the heat of the coil member 47 is easily transmitted to the stator core 45 via the grease. The stator core 45 that has received the heat is cooled by the return air that returns to the communication holes 50s. In this way, the electric motor 10 can be efficiently cooled, the efficiency of the electric motor 10 can be improved, and the efficiency of the electric blower 1 can also be improved.

Although not shown, when the electric blower 1 is attached to the vacuum cleaner main body 2 (FIG. 1) to form a vacuum cleaner 100 (FIG. 1), the air discharged from the electric blower 1 controls the electric motor 10. The control board (not shown) and the rechargeable battery 24 ( FIG. 1 ) are cooled and discharged to the outside of the vacuum cleaner 100 .

Next, operation of the electric motor 10 will be described.

A DC magnetic field is formed on the outer diameter side of the rotor 30 by a rotor core 32 made of a permanent magnet. On the other hand, when three-phase electric power converted to a predetermined frequency by an inverter (not shown) is supplied to the coil member 47 , a rotating magnetic field is formed on the inner diameter side of the stator 40 . By applying a current that matches the magnetic pole position of the rotor 30, torque is generated due to attraction and repulsion between the rotating magnetic field and the DC magnetic field, and the rotor 30 is rotationally driven. Since the cylindrical (annular) stator core 45 does not have teeth on which magnetic flux concentrates, iron loss is reduced. Therefore, highly efficient operation with small iron loss can be realized even in a high-speed region.

The stator 40 includes a cylindrical body 42 disposed on the outer periphery of the rotor 30 with a gap interposed therebetween, a coil member 47 provided on a winding frame portion 46 provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical body 42 , and an outer periphery of the winding frame portion 46 . and a cylindrical stator core 45 provided to face the . The winding frame portion 46 has a head portion 43 that is T-shaped in cross section. As a result, the coil member 47 (winding) and the stator core 45 can be arranged using only the winding frame portion 46 . Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed, and the number of parts can be reduced.

Further, in the electric motor 10 , the reinforcing member 44 is made of a non-magnetic material and arranged at a position that does not radially overlap the stator core 45 . As a result, it is possible to suppress the formation of a magnetic path that wraps around the reinforcing member 44, thereby improving the overall efficiency.

1: electric blower, 2: cleaner body, 10: electric motor, 21: electric blower, 30: rotor, 31: rotating shaft, 32: rotor core, 33, 34p, 34q: bearing, 33p: outer ring, 33q: inner ring, 33r : Rolling elements 35, 36: Balance ring 40: Stator 41: Bobbin 42: Cylindrical body 43: Canopy part 43c: Positioning rib 44: Reinforcing member 45: Stator core 46: Winding frame part 47 : Coil member 50: Housing 50s: Communication hole 51: Front housing 52: Rear housing 60: Impeller 70: Fan casing 100: Vacuum cleaner 101, 102: Bearing holding member 101s: Small diameter portion , Ax: axial direction, R1, R2, R3: air path.

Claims (4)

an electric motor;
an impeller;
a fan casing housing the electric motor and the impeller,
the electric motor includes a rotor, a stator, a front housing, and a rear housing;
the rotor includes a rotor core and a rotating shaft;
At least two bearings are attached to the rotating shaft,
The bearing includes an outer ring, an inner ring, and rolling elements,
A bearing holding member is attached to the front housing,
The bearing holding member is provided with a small diameter portion,
A spring is arranged on the outer periphery of the rotor core,
The electric blower, wherein the outer ring of the bearing is preloaded by the spring via the small diameter portion of the bearing holding member. 2. The electric blower according to claim 1, wherein said spring has a structure that presses said front housing against said impeller. one of the two bearings is disposed on the impeller side of the rotor core;
2. The electric blower according to claim 1, wherein said rotor core is arranged between said two bearings. The electric blower according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A vacuum cleaner comprising a dust collecting part.

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