NO20211451A1 - Electric motor with integrated cooling - Google Patents

Electric motor with integrated cooling Download PDF

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Publication number
NO20211451A1
NO20211451A1 NO20211451A NO20211451A NO20211451A1 NO 20211451 A1 NO20211451 A1 NO 20211451A1 NO 20211451 A NO20211451 A NO 20211451A NO 20211451 A NO20211451 A NO 20211451A NO 20211451 A1 NO20211451 A1 NO 20211451A1
Authority
NO
Norway
Prior art keywords
electric motor
rotor
housing
fan
impeller
Prior art date
Application number
NO20211451A
Other versions
NO347274B1 (en
Inventor
Anton Franzén
William Hawkins
Alexander Cordes
Original Assignee
Alva Ind As
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Alva Ind As filed Critical Alva Ind As
Priority to NO20211451A priority Critical patent/NO347274B1/en
Publication of NO20211451A1 publication Critical patent/NO20211451A1/en
Publication of NO347274B1 publication Critical patent/NO347274B1/en

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Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02KDYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
    • H02K9/00Arrangements for cooling or ventilating
    • H02K9/02Arrangements for cooling or ventilating by ambient air flowing through the machine
    • H02K9/04Arrangements for cooling or ventilating by ambient air flowing through the machine having means for generating a flow of cooling medium
    • H02K9/06Arrangements for cooling or ventilating by ambient air flowing through the machine having means for generating a flow of cooling medium with fans or impellers driven by the machine shaft
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02KDYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
    • H02K1/00Details of the magnetic circuit
    • H02K1/06Details of the magnetic circuit characterised by the shape, form or construction
    • H02K1/12Stationary parts of the magnetic circuit
    • H02K1/20Stationary parts of the magnetic circuit with channels or ducts for flow of cooling medium
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02KDYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
    • H02K9/00Arrangements for cooling or ventilating
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02KDYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
    • H02K9/00Arrangements for cooling or ventilating
    • H02K9/02Arrangements for cooling or ventilating by ambient air flowing through the machine
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H02GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02KDYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES
    • H02K9/00Arrangements for cooling or ventilating
    • H02K9/22Arrangements for cooling or ventilating by solid heat conducting material embedded in, or arranged in contact with, the stator or rotor, e.g. heat bridges
    • H02K9/227Heat sinks

Description

Electric motor with integrated cooling
The present invention is related to an electric motor with integrated cooling, according to the preamble of claim 1.
More particularly, the present invention is related to an electric motor having a cooling plate and a 5 fan or impeller and more than one air flow path through the electric motor.
Background
Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, fly by generating lift force with propellers driven by electric motors. Majority of the electric motors for drones are synchronous 10 motors with permanent magnets. Some of the electric motors have iron-cored stators, some of them have ironless or coreless stators.
In drone applications, the electric motors are subject to heavy dynamic loads with heat generated in the winding, the cores and the magnets due to the respective losses. The heat leads to increased temperature of the winding increasing the resistance of the conductors, reducing efficiency of the 15 electric motors and thus shortening the flight time. Moreover, elevated temperature of the winding and the magnets result in ageing, failures, reduction of material performance, etc. Sometimes mechanical structures, such as bearings and shaft, can be negatively affected as well, resulting in a reduction in mechanical efficiency and failures. Drones can operate in regions with high environmental temperatures, where the problems get even more aggravated.
20 For all the above reasons, the drone motors have structures for removal of generated heat from the active parts.
Another challenge of the drone motor design is protection of the active parts from external factors, such as penetration of solid particles and moisture.
There exist many cooling methods. For example, it is well known in electric motor industry to use 25 cooling ribs or fins on the motor housing to increase the effective cooling area. It is also known to direct the air flow along the ribs on the motor housing by using fans and shrouds.
Drone motors are often installed and operated with axis orientation close to vertical. Some drone motor providers protect the inner space of the electric motor from the rain by placing a top cover on the stator, in inner-rotor motors, or the rotor, in outer-rotor motors.
From KR102104565B1 is known a solution with outer-rotor motor having such a top cover mechanically connected to the rotor. A similar solution is disclosed in US10819187B2. In these examples there is used a fan connected to the rotor which creates a pressure difference and forces the air to flow through the motor so that the air is sucked from the bottom of the motor, close to 5 the centre of the motor, goes axially through the centre of the motor and is then casted sideways through an air outlet.
The downside of this cooling concept is that the air outlet is located close to the active parts of the electric motor, thus making penetration of solid particles and water into the active parts relatively easy, and that the main air flow goes closer to the motor centre than to the active parts where the 10 heat is generated.
The solutions with using blades for air circulation like in the above-mentioned concepts are well known in industry and can be found e.g. in US2010231066A1.
The prior art solutions fail to disclose an electric motor with integrated cooling providing intensive cooling of the active parts at the same time providing sufficient protection from penetration of the 15 water drops, moisture and solid particles to the active parts of the electric motor.
Sufficient cooling of active parts is critical for long lifetime and efficiency of the electric motors. At the same time, electric motors operating in open air should be weather and ingress protected. Thus, there is a need for an electric motor with integrated cooling providing the combination of efficient cooling and weather protection. This is especially relevant for drone applications.
20 There is further a need for an electric motor with integrated cooling enabling intensive cooling of motor windings to improve efficiency and prevent failures due to overheating. This is especially important for ironless and coreless electric motors where the losses present more in the winding than in the permanent magnets.
For electric motors employing permanent magnets there is further a need for an electric motor with 25 integrated cooling enabling intensive cooling of the permanent magnets to reduce the risk of demagnetization, preventing ageing and extending their lifetime.
There is further a need for an electric motor with integrated cooling minimizing penetration of water drops, moisture and solid particles to the active parts of the electric motor.
There is further a need for an electric motor with integrated cooling that is simple, not expensive, 30 not requiring extra components and having low weight.
Object
The main object of the present invention is to provide an electric motor with integrated cooling partly or entirely solving the above-mentioned drawbacks of prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electric motor with integrated cooling preventing 5 or minimizing penetration of water drops, moisture and solid particles to active parts of the electric motor.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an electric motor with integrated cooling enabling intensive cooling of windings to improve efficiency and prevent failures due to overheating.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electric motor with integrated cooling enabling 10 intensive cooling of permanent magnets to reduce the risk of demagnetization, keeping the remanence of the permanent magnets unchanged, preventing ageing and extending their lifetime.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric motor with integrated cooling that is simple, not expensive, not requiring extra components and having low weight.
Further objects of the present invention will appear from the following description, claims and 15 attached drawings.
The invention
An electric motor according to the present invention is defined by the technical features of claim 1. Preferable features of the electric motor are described in the dependent claims.
20 An electric motor according to the present invention comprises integrated cooling means.
The electric motor according to the present invention comprises a housing accommodating a stator and a rotor, as well as a rotation shaft.
The stator according to the present invention comprises at least one winding and at least one laminated core, wherein the stator is enclosing the rotor with an air gap therebetween.
25 The rotor according to the present invention comprises a rotor carrying structure and a plurality of permanent magnets. The rotor carrying structure is further provided with ventilation holes.
The rotation shaft is fixed to the rotor carrying structure.
The integrated cooling means of the electric motor according to the present invention comprises a fan or impeller connected to the rotor or the rotor shaft and at least one air outlet protected by a mesh surrounding the mentioned fan or impeller and enabling air to flow from interior of the electric 5 motor to exterior of the electric motor.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the fan or impeller is provided with blades at a lower side thereof.
The cooling means according to the present invention further comprises a cooling plate arranged or fixed to the stator and the housing and located in axial direction between the rotor and the fan or 10 impeller.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cooling plate is preferably arranged with good thermal contact with the mentioned stator and/or housing.
The housing is further at lower part thereof provided with one or more openings protected by a mesh allowing air flow between the exterior of the electric machine and into the interior of the 15 electric machine.
Integrated cooling is according to the present invention achieved by that, when the rotor rotates, the fan or impeller connected to the rotor directly or via the rotation shaft also rotates. As the fan or impeller rotates, this will create a pressure difference between upper and lower interior parts of the electric machine. The mentioned pressure difference will create a suction from lower part to 20 upper part of the electric machine resulting in that cooling air from the environment is sucked into the one or more openings at lower part of the housing and into the electric machine.
The cooling air flows through the internal parts of the electric motor by that a part of the air flow goes through the air gap between the stator and the outer surface of the rotor and another part of the air flow goes inside the rotor and then through the ventilation holes.
25 The mentioned air flows are joined to a common air flow in a spacing between the rotor carrying structure and the cooling plate flowing towards the centre of the electric motor, wherein the air flow is reversed to flow along the fan or impeller towards the periphery of the electric motor and exit the electric motor through the at least one air outlet.
By the integrated cooling according to the present invention both the active parts of the stator and the active parts of the rotor are cooled from more than one side, thus achieving the most intensive cooling. Heat from the at least one winding goes to the periphery (housing), axially to the cooling plate and to the air gap. Heat from the permanent magnets and rotor back iron goes to the air gap 5 and towards the centre of the motor.
In one of the embodiments the cooling plate are provided with one or more fins, ribs, pins or similar on one or both sides thereof, i.e. the side facing the rotor and/or on the opposite side.
The present invention according to such an embodiment comprises using cooling fins, ribs or similar inside the electric motor and not only outside, on the electric motor housing, which is typical for 10 conventional motor cooling solutions.
The axial fan’s (centrifugal impeller’s) blades mix the air and create a spiral flow path both increasing the cooling of the cooling plate. Turbulent air flow leaking over the blades also adds to cooling of the cooling plate.
In addition to the cooling feature, the cooling plate also forms a mechanical barrier between the air 15 outlet/mesh and the active parts thus protecting the active parts from all kinds of environmental factors.
Further preferable features and advantageous details of the present invention will appear from the following example description, claims and attached drawings.
20 Example
Certain embodiments of the present invention will below be described by way of example only with references to the attached drawings, where:
Fig.1 is a principle drawing of an electric motor according to prior art solution,
Fig.2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of an electric motor provided with a cooling arrangement 25 according to the present invention,
Fig.3 is a cross-sectional principle drawing of the electric motor in Fig.2, and
Fig.4 is a cross-sectional principle drawing of the electric motor in Fig.2 showing flows of cooling air inside the electric motor.
Reference is now made to Figure 1 which is a principle drawing of an electric motor 10 for a drone 5 according to prior art KR102104565B1.
Reference is now made to Figure 2 showing a cross-sectional exploded view of an electric motor 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The electric motor 10 comprises a housing 20, a stator 30 and rotor 40 accommodated in the housing 20, wherein the stator 30 encloses the rotor 40 with an air gap therebetween. The rotor 40 comprises a rotor carrying structure 41.
10 The electric motor 10 further comprises a rotation shaft 50 extending along rotary axis of the electric motor 10 and wherein the fixed to the mentioned rotor carrying structure 41. The rotor 40 and rotation shaft 50 are rotatably arranged in the housing 20 by means of bearings 100 (Fig.3).
The electric motor 10 according to the present invention is further provided with means for integrated cooling. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means from 15 integrated cooling comprises a fan or impeller 60, which are connected to the mentioned rotor 40 or rotation shaft 50, accordingly making the fan or impeller 60 rotationally arranged in upper part of the housing 20. The fan or impeller 60 is in the shown embodiment provided with blades 61 at lower side thereof.
The integrated cooling means further comprises a cooling plate 70 arranged or fixed to the 20 mentioned stator 30 and housing 20, and located in axial direction of the electric motor 10 between the rotor 40 and the fan or impeller 60. The cooling plate 70 is preferably arranged with good thermal contact with the mentioned stator 30 and housing 20.
The mentioned fan or impeller 60 is enclosed by a circumferentially extending mesh 80 enabling air flow between the interior of the electric motor 10 and the environment, i.e. exterior of the electric 25 motor 10. The mesh 80 thus protects an air outlet for the electric motor 10.
The housing 20 is at upper end provided with a detachable top cover 90 enabling access to the interior of the electric motor 10 and parts thereof, connected to the mentioned stator 30.
Reference is now made to Figure 3, which is a cross-sectional principle drawing of the electric motor 10 according to the present invention, revealing further details of the electric motor 10. The housing is at suitable positions, e.g. at lower side thereof, provided with fastening means 21 for arranging/fixation of the housing 20 and thus the electric motor 10 to other external mechanical structures of an object (not shown) to be driven by the electric motor 10, such as structural elements of a drone.
5 According to the present invention, the mentioned stator 30 comprises at least one winding 31 and at least one laminated core 32. The mentioned stator 30 can further be slotless or coreless.
The rotor 40 further comprises a plurality of permanent magnets 42 arranged to/installed on the rotor carrying structure 41, which permanent magnets 42 are interacting with the at least one winding 31.
10 The mentioned rotor carrying structure 41 is according to the present invention provided with ventilation holes 43 in air flow communication with the mentioned fan or impeller 60.
Accordingly, the rotor carrying structure 41 is in air flow communication with fan or impeller 60 via the mentioned ventilation holes 43 and the fan or impeller 60 is in air flow communication with the environment exterior of the electric motor via the air outlet protected by the mesh 80.
15 Reference is now made to Figure 4 showing a cross-sectional principle drawing of the electric motor 10 according to the present invention, showing the flows of the cooling air inside the electric motor 10 and how the integrated cooling of the electric motor 10 according to the present invention is achieved.
When the rotor 40 spins, the fan or impeller 60 with blades 61 also rotates due to being connected 20 to the rotor 40 or rotation shaft 50. When the fan or impeller 60 rotates, a pressure difference is created between the upper and lower part of the housing 20, i.e. above the cooling plate 70 and below the cooling plate 70, respectively. The created pressure difference above the cooling plate 70 results in a suction in the electric motor 10 causing air to flow through the internal parts of the electric motor 10 and sucking cooling air 101, 102 from the exterior of the electric motor 10 and 25 into the housing 20 through one or more openings in lower part thereof preferably protected by at least one mesh 22.
According to the present invention, one part of the air flow 102, 103 goes through the air gap between the stator winding 31 and the permanent magnets 42 and another part of the air flow 101, 104 goes through the ventilation holes 43 of the rotor carrying structure 40. The mentioned air flows 30 103, 104 are according to the present invention joined to a common air flow 105, 106 flowing within the space formed between the rotor carrying structure 41 and the cooling plate 70 towards the centre of the electric motor 10, and then the air flow is reversed 107 to flow 108 along the blades 61 of the axial fan or impeller 60 towards the periphery of the electric motor 10 and finally pass through an air outlet protected by the mesh 80.
5 The above-described embodiments can be modified to form other embodiments, which are within the scope of the attached claims.
Modifications
The present invention is also applicable for other applications than drones.
10 In one modification there is used an inlet mesh mechanically and thermally connected the stator to filter the incoming air and provide some cooling of the stator.
In a further modification, the fan or impeller can be made of conducting material to help cool the rotor.
In a further modification, the outlet mesh can also be mechanically and thermally connected to the 15 cooling plate to increase cooling.
In another modification, the fan or impeller can be of any shape, for example consisting only of the blades.
20
List of designations
10 – electric motor
20 – housing
21 – fastening means
5 22 – mesh over one or more openings at lower part of the housing 30 – stator
31 – winding
32 –laminated core
40 – rotor
10 41 – rotor carrying structure
42 – permanent magnets
43 – ventilation holes
50 – shaft
60 – fan or impeller
15 61 – blades of fan
70 – cooling plate
71 - fins of cooling plate
80 – mesh
90 – top cover
20 100 – bearings
101 – air flow at intake
102 – air flow in going to the air gap
103 – air flow in the air gap between stator and rotor
104 – parts of the air flow going through the ventilation holes
25 105 – air flow from the air gap towards the centre of the electric motor 106 – air flow towards the centre of the electric motor
107 – air flow in axial direction (reversing the direction)
108 – air flow towards the periphery of the electric motor

Claims (4)

Claims
1. Electric motor (10) having a housing (20), a stator (30) comprising at least one winding (31) and at least one laminated core (32) accommodated in the housing (20), a rotor (40) comprising a rotor 5 carrying structure (41) and a plurality of permanent magnets (42) interacting with the at least one winding (31), wherein the rotor carrying structure (41) is provided with ventilation holes (43), and a rotation shaft (50) extending along rotary axis of the electric motor (10) and fixed to the rotor carrying structure (41), wherein the electric motor (10) comprises integrated cooling means formed by
10 a fan or impeller (60) connected to the rotor (40) or the rotation shaft (50), rotationally arranged in upper part of the housing (20), and
a cooling plate (70) connected to the stator (30) and located in axial direction between the rotor (40) and fan or impeller (60),
wherein the fan or impeller (60) is arranged to rotate with the rotor (40) to create a pressure 15 difference between upper and lower part of the housing (20) creating a suction in the electric motor (10) causing air to flow through internal parts of the electric motor (10) and sucking cooling air (101, 102) from exterior of the housing (20) and into the housing through one or more openings (20) in lower part of the housing (20),
wherein part (102, 103) of the air flow goes through an air gap between the at least one stator 20 winding (31) and the permanent magnets (42) and another part (101, 104) of the air flow goes through the ventilation holes (43),
the air flows (103, 104) are joined to a common air flow (105, 106) in a spacing between the rotor carrying structure (41) and the cooling plate (70) and flowing towards the centre of the electric motor (10), wherein the air flow is reversed (107) to flow (108) along the fan or impeller (60) towards 25 the periphery of the electric motor (10) and exit the electric motor (10) through at least one air outlet protected by a mesh (80) enclosing the fan or impeller (60).
2. Electric motor (10) according to claim 1, wherein the cooling plate (70) is provided with fins, ribs or pins on one or both sides thereof.
3. Electric motor (10) according to claim 1, wherein the stator is slotless or coreless.
4. Electric motor (10) according to claim 1, wherein the electric motor (10) is a drone motor.
NO20211451A 2021-12-01 2021-12-01 Electric motor with integrated cooling NO347274B1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NO20211451A NO347274B1 (en) 2021-12-01 2021-12-01 Electric motor with integrated cooling

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NO20211451A NO347274B1 (en) 2021-12-01 2021-12-01 Electric motor with integrated cooling

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NO20211451A1 true NO20211451A1 (en) 2023-06-02
NO347274B1 NO347274B1 (en) 2023-08-21

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Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060022529A1 (en) * 2004-07-30 2006-02-02 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Cooling fan with electric motor
KR20170071575A (en) * 2014-11-21 2017-06-23 가부시끼가이샤 도시바 Rotary electric machine
US20180062471A1 (en) * 2016-03-03 2018-03-01 M-Link Co., Ltd. Coreless rotating electrical machine including stator comprising cylindrical coil and cooling method therefor
WO2019058647A1 (en) * 2017-09-20 2019-03-28 シナノケンシ株式会社 All-weather motor
CN110138106A (en) * 2019-06-14 2019-08-16 莫力达瓦达斡尔族自治旗安信安全防范技术服务有限公司 Unmanned plane motor
KR102104565B1 (en) * 2018-11-14 2020-04-24 네덱(주) Cooling structure of motor for drone
CN111181274A (en) * 2020-01-10 2020-05-19 洛阳市鑫隆科技发展有限公司 Permanent magnet coreless unmanned aerial vehicle motor
JP2021170877A (en) * 2020-04-16 2021-10-28 三菱電機株式会社 Rotary electric machine

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060022529A1 (en) * 2004-07-30 2006-02-02 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Cooling fan with electric motor
KR20170071575A (en) * 2014-11-21 2017-06-23 가부시끼가이샤 도시바 Rotary electric machine
US20180062471A1 (en) * 2016-03-03 2018-03-01 M-Link Co., Ltd. Coreless rotating electrical machine including stator comprising cylindrical coil and cooling method therefor
WO2019058647A1 (en) * 2017-09-20 2019-03-28 シナノケンシ株式会社 All-weather motor
KR102104565B1 (en) * 2018-11-14 2020-04-24 네덱(주) Cooling structure of motor for drone
CN110138106A (en) * 2019-06-14 2019-08-16 莫力达瓦达斡尔族自治旗安信安全防范技术服务有限公司 Unmanned plane motor
CN111181274A (en) * 2020-01-10 2020-05-19 洛阳市鑫隆科技发展有限公司 Permanent magnet coreless unmanned aerial vehicle motor
JP2021170877A (en) * 2020-04-16 2021-10-28 三菱電機株式会社 Rotary electric machine

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Publication number Publication date
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