Patents by Inventor Vaughn A. DeVorse

Vaughn A. DeVorse has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Apparatus and method for attaching a shaft to an electric motor rotor
    Patent number: 6417596
    Abstract: A rotor in which shaft portions are welded directly to the ends of a rotor stack by friction welding, which eliminates the need for a shaft hole in the rotor stack, thus providing a rotor in which each lamination has an unstamped, solid center, and the rotor has no other bores therein. As a result, no scrap is generated and motor efficiency is improved because the rotor has no bores therein. In addition, the amount of shaft material needed is also reduced because the shaft does not extend through the rotor stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Assignee: A. O. Smith Corporation
    Inventors: Robert M. Schurter, Robert J. Heideman, Vaughn A. DeVorse