JP6123640B2 - Mechanical and electric integrated engine starter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electromechanically integrated engine starter in which an inverter is mounted on a starter for starting an engine.

As a conventional technique, an engine starter that serves as both a starter and a generator is known (see Patent Document 1). This engine starter includes an armature (stator) having a three-phase winding and a field element (rotor) having a permanent magnet, and each phase of the three-phase winding is connected to an inverter.
When used as a starter, a three-phase alternating current is applied to each phase of the three-phase winding from the inverter to generate a rotating magnetic field in the armature, and the rotation of the field element that rotates in synchronization with the rotating magnetic field is a pinion Is transmitted to the engine ring gear to start the engine.

Japanese Patent No. 4001330

By the way, in the engine starter described above, a cooling fan is attached to a disc portion of a flywheel attached to the tip of the crankshaft, and the cooling fan is covered with a fan case. This fan case forms an air guide path for cooling air from the side of the flywheel to the engine, and does not guide cooling air generated by rotation of the cooling fan to the inverter. That is, the prior art according to Patent Document 1 does not disclose an inverter cooling method and does not show a cooling fan for cooling the inverter.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electromechanically integrated engine equipped with a cooling fan driven by an AC motor and cooling the inverter by the rotation of the cooling fan. It is to provide a starting device.

This onset Ming applies the polyphase alternating current to the armature windings to generate a rotating magnetic field, the rotation thereof in the rotating magnetic field are synchronized or induced has an AC motor the rotor rotates, generated in the AC motor A starter that transmits power from the pinion to the ring gear of the engine to start the engine, an inverter that is directly or indirectly attached to the starter and that varies the AC frequency applied to the armature winding, and heat generated by the inverter and a heat radiation fin for releasing the starter is equipped with a cooling fan that is rotationally driven by an AC motor, intends row cooling of the inverter by passing a flow of air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan to the heat radiation fins feeding circuit a unitary engine starting device, a starter, while transmitting the forward rotation of the AC motor to the pinion at the start of the engine, an AC motor It includes a one-way clutch idles during reverse rotation, reversely rotates the AC motor after the engine is started, characterized in that the cooling fan is rotationally driven.

The mechanical / electric integrated engine starter described in claim 1 is equipped with a cooling fan driven by an AC motor, so that the cooling fan rotates when the AC motor rotates, and the air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan. The inverter can be cooled by passing the current through the heat dissipating fins. That is, since the cooling fan is rotated by the AC motor driven by the inverter, the inverter can be cooled by rotating the cooling fan by the AC motor only when the inverter is operated. In other words, when the inverter does not operate, the cooling fan does not rotate, so that the inverter can be effectively and efficiently cooled.
Further, since it is not necessary to use a dedicated motor for driving the cooling fan, it goes without saying that the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where a dedicated motor is used, and the mountability to the vehicle is also improved.

1 is a half sectional view of an engine starter according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a half sectional view of an engine starter according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is the rear view which looked at the engine starting device which concerns on Example 1 from the cooling fan side of the axial direction. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a starter according to a second embodiment. 6 is a timing chart showing the number of rotations and the direction of rotation of an AC motor according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a half sectional view of an engine starter according to a third embodiment. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an engine starter according to Embodiment 4. FIG. FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of an engine starting device according to a fifth embodiment.

  The mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following examples.

[Example 1]
As shown in FIG. 1, the engine starter of Embodiment 1 is configured by integrally mounting an inverter 3 and a cooling fan 4 on a starter 1 having an AC motor 2.
The starter 1 includes an AC motor 2 driven through an inverter 3, an output shaft 5 to which the rotational force of the AC motor 2 is transmitted, a pinion 6 disposed on the output shaft 5, and a shift lever 7. And an electromagnetic solenoid 8 for pushing the pinion 6 to the ring gear side of the engine.

The AC motor 2 includes, for example, a stator 9 having a three-phase armature winding 9a and a rotor 11 that is serrated and fitted to the outer periphery of the rotor shaft 10, and the armature winding 9a has a three-phase AC. To generate a rotating magnetic field, the rotor 11 rotates in synchronization with the rotating magnetic field. The rotor 11 is, for example, a magnet-embedded rotor 11 in which a permanent magnet is embedded in a rotor iron core, and a reluctance squelch can be used in addition to magnet torque.
The AC motor 2 shown in FIG. 1 has a structure called an inner rotor type in which a stator 9 is arranged on the outer diameter side of the rotor 11, but for example, on the outer diameter side of the stator 9 as shown in FIG. A structure called an outer rotor type in which an annular rotor 11 is arranged can also be adopted.

The output shaft 5 is connected to the rotor shaft 10 of the AC motor 2 via the speed reducer 12, and the motor torque is amplified by the speed reducer 12 and transmitted to the output shaft 5. The speed reducer 12 shown in FIG. 1 is a known planetary gear speed reducer.
On the shaft of the output shaft 5, a clutch 13 for transmitting the rotation of the output shaft 5 to the pinion 6 is disposed in a helical spline fit. The clutch 13 is configured as a one-way clutch that transmits the forward rotation of the AC motor 2, which is the rotation direction at the time of starting the engine, to the pinion 6 while idling when the AC motor 2 rotates in the reverse direction.
The pinion 6 is configured integrally with the clutch 13 and is disposed so as to be movable integrally with the clutch 13 on the shaft of the output shaft 5.
The electromagnetic solenoid 8 forms an electromagnet by energizing a built-in coil (not shown), drives the shift lever 7 using the attraction force of the electromagnet, and connects the pinion 6 to the ring gear side via the shift lever 7. Push out (to the left in the figure).

The inverter 3 is a well-known power converter that converts DC power into AC power by the ON / OFF operation of a switching element 3a (see FIG. 3) such as IGBT or MOS-FET and applies it to the armature winding 9a of the AC motor 2. Device. As shown in FIG. 3, the inverter 3 is disposed outside the outer range of the electromagnetic solenoid 8 when the starter 1 is viewed from the axial direction, and is directly or indirectly attached to the housing 14 of the starter 1.
On the heat radiating surface of the inverter 3, heat radiating fins 15 for releasing heat generated with the ON / OFF operation to the outside are attached. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat dissipating fin 15 has a plurality of long holes 15a that are opened in parallel with a predetermined interval, and an air flow generated by the rotation of the cooling fan 4 (hereinafter referred to as cooling air). Radiates heat by passing through the long hole 15a. In addition, the white arrow shown in the figure of FIGS. 1-3 shows the flow of the cooling air.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cooling fan 4 is disposed outside the end frame 16 that closes the rear end portion of the AC motor 2, and is driven by the AC motor 2. The AC motor 2 has a shaft end whose rear end portion of the rotor shaft 10 is rotatably supported by the end frame 16 via a bearing 17 and extends further to the anti-pinion side than the rear end portion of the rotor shaft 10. The shaft end portion 10a protrudes to the outside (right side in the drawing) of the end frame 16.
The cooling fan 4 is attached to the shaft end portion 10 a of the rotor shaft 10 and rotates integrally with the rotor shaft 10. The cooling fan 4 is, for example, a radial fan in which a plurality of plate-shaped blades are arranged radially with respect to the axis center.
Between the cooling fan 4 and the radiating fin 15, an air guide duct 18 that guides the cooling air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan 4 to the radiating fin 15 is disposed. The air guide duct 18 is provided integrally with a fan case 19 that covers the outer periphery of the cooling fan 4, and is fixed to the end face of the radiating fin 15 with screws 20 or the like as shown in FIG. 3.

[Operation and Effect of Example 1]
Since the starter 1 of the first embodiment includes the cooling fan 4 driven by the AC motor 2, the cooling fan 4 rotates as the AC motor 2 rotates, and the cooling air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan 4. The inverter 3 can be cooled by passing through the long holes 15a of the heat radiating fins 15.
Further, since the radiating fin 15 is not a general I type but a long hole type, the cooling air does not leak from the radiating fin 15 and reliably passes through the long hole 15a, thereby improving the heat dissipation.
Further, since the air guide duct 18 is disposed between the cooling fan 4 and the heat radiating fins 15, the cooling air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan 4 is effectively removed from the heat radiating fins 15 as indicated by arrows in FIG. 1. It can flow to the long hole 15a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the inverter 3 can be cooled more effectively by disposing the heat radiating fin 15 side of the air guide duct 18 in the vicinity of the device (switching element 3 a) mounting of the inverter 3.
Since the cooling fan 4 is rotated by the AC motor 2 driven by the inverter 3 as described above, the inverter 3 can be cooled by rotating the cooling fan 4 by the AC motor 2 only when the inverter 3 is operated. In other words, when the inverter 3 does not operate, the cooling fan 4 does not rotate, so that the inverter 3 can be cooled effectively and efficiently.
Further, since it is not necessary to use a dedicated motor for driving the cooling fan 4, it is needless to say that the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where a dedicated motor is used.

Hereinafter, other embodiments according to the present invention will be described.
In addition, the same code | symbol as Example 1 is provided to the part which has the same function as Example 1, or the same function, The detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
[Example 2]
The second embodiment is an example in which the cooling fan 4 is driven by rotating the AC motor 2 reversely after the engine is started. A specific operation will be described with reference to FIGS.
4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an ECU (not shown) that controls the operation of the starter 1, and FIG. 5 shows a time axis on the horizontal axis and a rotational speed and a rotational direction of the AC motor 2 on the vertical axis. It is a timing chart.

When the IG switch (not shown) is turned on, the ECU controls the operation of the starter 1 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the IG switch is turned on, a coil of the electromagnetic solenoid 8 is energized to form an electromagnet, and the pinion 6 is integrated with the clutch 13 via the shift lever 7 by the attraction force of the electromagnet (counterclockwise in FIG. 1). (S1).
Subsequently, it is determined whether or not an AC motor 2 start command has been input (S2).
If the determination result in S2 is NO, this process ends.
When the start command is input in S2 (determination result YES), the operation of the inverter 3 is controlled to start the AC motor 2 in the normal rotation (S3). When the AC motor 2 rotates forward, the pinion 6 meshes with the ring gear of the engine and cranks the engine.

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the rotational speed of the AC motor 2 is equal to or higher than the determination speed (S4).
When it is determined that the rotational speed of the AC motor 2 is equal to or higher than the determination speed (determination result YES), it is determined that the engine is started and the excitation circuit of the electromagnetic solenoid 8 is turned off (S5).
Subsequently, the rotational speed of the AC motor 2 is decelerated (brake control) (S6).
It is determined whether or not the rotation of the AC motor 2 is stopped by the brake control (S7).
After the rotation of the AC motor 2 is stopped, the temperature of the inverter 3 is measured (S8).
It is determined whether or not the measured temperature of the inverter 3 is equal to or higher than the determination temperature (S9).
When the temperature of the inverter 3 is lower than the determination temperature (determination result NO), this process ends.
When the temperature of the inverter 3 is equal to or higher than the determination temperature (determination result YES), the operation of the inverter 3 is controlled to start the AC motor 2 in reverse rotation at a constant speed (S10).

Again, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the inverter 3 is equal to or higher than the determination temperature (S11).
While the temperature of the inverter 3 is higher than the determination temperature, the reverse rotation of the AC motor 2 is continued. After the temperature becomes lower than the determination temperature, the operation of the AC motor 2 is stopped and the present process is terminated.
According to the above control, the cooling fan 4 is driven by rotating the AC motor 2 in the reverse direction after the engine is started, so that the cooling air can flow through the radiation fins 15. As a result, since the temperature rise of the inverter 3 is suppressed, the inverter 3 can be cooled quickly to a judgment temperature or lower. Since the starter 1 is equipped with a one-way clutch 13 that rotates idly when the AC motor 2 rotates in reverse, the pinion 6 does not mesh with the ring gear even if the AC motor 2 starts rotating in reverse after the engine is started.

Example 3
As shown in FIG. 6, the third embodiment is an example in which a vent hole 21 that communicates the inside (inside the motor) and the outside is formed in the end frame 16. In this case, rotation of the cooling fan 4 causes an air flow (indicated by an arrow in the figure) inside the motor through the vent hole 21, so that the inverter 3 is not only cooled but also the AC motor 2 (mainly the armature winding). 9a) can also be cooled. The white arrows shown in FIG. 6 indicate the flow of cooling air.
In addition, the cooling fan 4 can flow cooling air into the motor efficiently by using a double-sided intake type in which plate-like blades are attached to both sides.

Example 4
The fourth embodiment is an example in which the air guide duct 18 is provided separately from the fan case 19 as shown in FIG. In this case, since the fan case 19 and the air guide duct 18 are formed separately, the fan case 19 and the air guide duct 18 can be easily manufactured. In particular, even when the inverter 3 is attached to the starter 1 at different positions, the fan case 19 can be made common, so that it can be dealt with only by changing the shape of the air duct 18.

Example 5
The fourth embodiment is an example in which the inverter 3 is arranged in series along the axial direction of the starter 1 as shown in FIG. In this case, it is not necessary to connect the cooling fan 4 and the heat radiating fin 15 with the air guide duct 18, and the cooling air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan 4 can be directly flowed into the elongated holes 15 a of the heat radiating fin 15. Therefore, the cooling efficiency is improved.

[Modification]
In the first embodiment, the rotor 11 of the AC motor 2 is described as a magnet-embedded type. However, a salient pole-type rotor 11 in which a physical salient pole is provided on the rotor core without using a permanent magnet may be used. The AC motor 2 described in the first embodiment is a synchronous motor in which the rotor 11 rotates in synchronization with the rotating magnetic field generated in the armature winding 9a. However, the AC motor 2 is not necessarily a synchronous motor, and is an induction motor. Asynchronous motors such as these can also be used.

1 Starter
2 AC motor 3 Inverter 4 Cooling fan 6 Pinion 8 Electromagnetic solenoid 9a Armature winding 10a Shaft end 11 of rotor shaft Rotor 13 Clutch (one-way clutch)
15 Radiation fin 16 End frame 18 Air guide duct

Claims (7)

This AC motor has an AC motor (2) in which a rotating magnetic field is generated by applying a multiphase AC to the armature winding (9a), and the rotor (11) rotates in synchronization or induction with the rotating magnetic field. A starter (1) for transmitting the rotational force generated in (2) from the pinion (6) to the ring gear of the engine to start the engine;
An inverter (3) that is directly or indirectly attached to the starter (1) and varies the AC frequency applied to the armature winding (9a) ;
A radiation fin (15) for releasing heat generated from the inverter (3) ,
The starter (1) is equipped with a cooling fan (4) that is rotationally driven by the AC motor (2), and the flow of air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan (4) is passed through the radiating fin (15). the inverter (3) a line power sale machine electrostatic integrated engine starting device cooling by,
The starter (1) transmits a forward rotation of the AC motor (2) to the pinion (6) when the engine is started, and idles when the AC motor (2) rotates backward. An electromechanically integrated engine starter comprising: rotating the AC motor (2) reversely after the engine is started to rotationally drive the cooling fan (4) . In the electromechanically integrated engine starting device according to claim 1,
In the AC motor (2), a rear end portion of the rotor shaft (10) on the side opposite to the pinion in the axial direction is rotatably supported by an end frame (16) via a bearing (17), and the rotation A shaft end (10a) extending from the rear end of the child shaft (10) to the anti-pinion side and projecting to the outside of the end frame (16);
The electromechanically integrated engine starting device, wherein the cooling fan (4) is disposed outside the end frame (16) and attached to the shaft end (10a). In the electromechanically integrated engine starting device according to claim 2,
The end frame (16) is formed with a vent hole (21) that communicates the inside and the outside of the end frame (16), and passes through the vent hole (21) by the rotation of the cooling fan (4). An electromechanically integrated engine starter characterized in that air flows from the inside to the outside of the end frame (16). The electromechanically integrated engine starting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The heat radiating fin (15) has a plurality of long holes (15a) opened in parallel at a predetermined interval, and the flow of air generated by the rotation of the cooling fan (4) is the long hole (15a). ), An electromechanically integrated engine starting device. In the electromechanically integrated engine starter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An electromechanically integrated engine starter comprising an air guide duct (18) for guiding an air flow generated by the rotation of the cooling fan (4) to the heat dissipating fins (15). In the electromechanically integrated engine starting device according to claim 5,
An electromechanically integrated engine start having a fan case (19) covering the outer periphery of the cooling fan (4), and the fan case (19) is formed integrally with the air duct (18). apparatus. In the electromechanically integrated engine starter according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
The starter (1) includes an electromagnetic solenoid (8) that forms an electromagnet by energizing a built-in coil, and pushes the pinion (6) toward the ring gear by using the attractive force of the electromagnet.
The inverter (3) and the heat dissipating fin (15) are arranged outside the external range of the electromagnetic solenoid (8) when the starter (1) is viewed from the axial direction. Starter.

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