MOTOR
A motor including a stator including a plurality of stator slots having stator coils disposed therein, and a rotor rotatable within the stator about a central axis. The stator includes a plurality of stator channel formed adjacent to the stator slots and extending in the axial direction of the central axis.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/181,831, filed Jun. 19, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure relates generally to electric machines and, more particularly, to high power density electric machines.
BACKGROUNDMotors may be used to convert electric energy into mechanical energy for a wide variety of applications such as, for example, industrial applications. During operation of alternating current (“AC”) induction and direct current (“DC”) motors, efficiency of the motor may be lost at least in part due to heat generation as thermal energy. The accumulation of thermal energy in an AC induction or DC motor may also cause degradation of its materials and, thus, loss of integrity of the motor, particularly in a high power density motor, which has reduced size and/or weight relative to the horsepower output by the motor.
SUMMARYAccording to the present disclosure, a motor comprises a motor housing, a stator mounted within the motor housing and having a plurality of stator slots formed therein, a plurality of stator coils disposed in at least one of the stator slots, and a rotor having a rotor core and a shaft being rotatable within the stator about a central axis, wherein the stator forms at least one stator channel, wherein the stator channels are located between the stator coils and the rotor.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent in light of the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Before the various embodiments are described in further detail, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments described. It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the devices described herein may be adapted and modified as is appropriate for the application being addressed and that the devices described herein may be employed in other suitable applications, and that such other additions and modifications will not depart from the scope thereof
Although various features have been shown in different figures for simplicity, it should be readily apparent to one of skill in the art that the various features may be combined without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The motor 10 comprises a motor assembly 100, motor housing 200, terminal box assembly 300 and a fan module assembly 400. The motor assembly 100 is mounted within motor housing 200. The terminal box assembly 300 is mounted on a bottom side of the motor housing 200. The fan module assembly 400 is mounted on a top side of the motor housing 200. It should be understood, however, that the motor 10 can be designed in various other configurations such that the terminal box assembly 300 and fan module assembly 400 are mounted on various other locations of the motor housing 200 than as shown depending upon intended applications for the motor 10. For example, the terminal box assembly 300 could be mounted on a side of the motor housing 200, the fan module assembly 400 could be mounted on the bottom of the motor housing 200, or the terminal box assembly 300 and fan module assembly 400 could be mounted on any other suitable surface of the motor housing 200. Additionally, as shown in
The motor housing 200 includes at least one air inlet 202 to allow air to pass between an exterior of the motor housing 200 and an interior of the motor housing 200. The motor housing 200 of the exemplary motor 10 shown in
With reference to
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The type of quick change connections 128 employed in the motor 10 may be similar to various known quick change connection mechanisms and may include, for example, a circular component, bending and moving components, adjustable force amplifying components and interfacing components. The quick change connections 128 provide a removable anti-rotational force and anti-lateral movement force between the rotor core 124 and the shaft 126 by applying multiple small movements that increase or decrease stress of flexible members, or interlocking distances between movable members associated with the rotor core 124 and the shaft 126. Alternatively, the quick change connections 128 may include threaded components that are located at different positions when the quick change connections 128 provide anti-rotation force and the anti-lateral force versus when the quick change connections 128 provide no force. Through the use of quick change connections 128, the present disclosure advantageously allows for the rotor core 124 to be connected and/or disconnected from the shaft 126 without the need to apply heat to parts of the motor 10.
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The rotor vents 150 with holes 156 formed as the entry and/or exits provide improved airflow during operation of the motor 10. The holes 156 being formed with chamfered or sloped edges in the rotor core 124 advantageously minimizes turbulence of cooling air entering the rotor vents 150 thereby reducing entrance and exit fluid drag.
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The rotor core 124, shown in
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The balance slugs 166 may advantageously be disposed in rotor vents 150 that are more closely located to an inner radius of the rotor core 124 than other rotor vents 150. This may require more balance slugs 166 to be used in order to properly balance the rotor 102, but may also provide an advantage as the motor 10 heats up during operation because there will be less of a change in balance of the rotor 102 since the moments generated by the balance slugs 166 on the rotor 102 will be located closer to the central axis 106 when compared to other balancing techniques. Since a significant number of rotor vents 150 may be formed in the rotor 102, the addition of the vent slugs 166 to some of the rotor vents will not impair cooling of the motor 10. Additionally, the balance slugs 166 may advantageously be inserted into the rotor vents 150 that will provide the least amount of cooling reduction so as to minimize a drop in cooling efficiency due to the addition of the vent slugs 166. The use of balance slugs 166 advantageously allows for balancing of the rotor 102 without the need to use fasteners to attach weights to the rotor 102 and/or the need to remove material from the rotor 102.
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The latches 406 advantageously allow the fan module assembly 400 to be quickly assembled or disassembled from the motor housing 200 without the use of tools by actuating the latches 406 from a secured position to an unsecured position and vice versa. When the latches 406 are in the secured position, the fan module assembly 400 is secured to the motor housing 200 and when the latches are in the unsecured position, the fan module assembly 400 may be removed from the motor housing 200. Thus, by removing the fan module assembly 400, access to the motor assembly 100 is readily attainable through the air outlet 204 of the motor housing 200, both shown in
In operation of the motor 10, the motor assembly 100 runs and is controlled in the same manner as any typically known motor including variable speed devices (i.e. VFDs). During operation, the blowers 408 may be configured to use negative pressure to cool the motor assembly 100 by pulling air out of the motor housing 200, as shown in
The motor 10 has at least three separate cooling paths that air passes through to cool the motor 10. The first cooling path 500, shown in
The present disclosure advantageously provides a motor 10 with improved cooling of not only the rotor 102, but also its stator 104 by increasing a quantity and/or rate of air that contacts the stator 104 during operation, and by providing stator channels 120 in close proximity to heat generating components of the stator 104. For example, since the coils 116 are disposed in the vicinity of the stator channels 120, the stator channels 120 are able to provide an increased amount of cooling air near the coils 116, thereby increasing efficacy of available cooling air flow.
The present disclosure advantageously provides a negative pressure cooling system and method that minimizes acoustic noise usually generated at blower inlets at the expense of reduced air mass flow and mass flow sensitivity to motor outlet air temperature. While negative pressure pulling air through the motor 10 may be advantageous for noise reduction purposes, one skilled in the art should readily understand that, in accordance with principles of the present disclosure, the blowers 408 may be configured to instead use positive pressure to push air through the motor 10, as shown in
Using negative pressure to cool the motor 10 by generating a vacuum that pulls air out of the motor housing 200, as opposed to using positive pressure to pump air into the motor housing 200, advantageously provides for more efficient cooling having better flow characteristics. Additionally, the implementation of negative pressure advantageously provides a much quieter cooling system. Further, in accordance with principles of the present disclosure, the superior heat removal aspects of a motor 10 also allow the blowers 408 of the fan module assembly 400 to operate at lower speeds and, thus, lower air velocity and/or quantities, which thereby provides further noise dampening advantages.
The present disclosure advantageously describes a motor 10 that can be suitably modified for a wide range of sizes and/or motor capacities due to the improved airflow, cooling and stability discussed above. Thus, embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure are advantageously scalable in size to achieve a variety of different applications. The various structural and cooling aspects discussed above advantageously allow the motor 10 to be provided at a much smaller size and weight as compared to comparably powered devices by trading-off, for example, efficiency for size, weight and material. High power density motors are advantageous for applications where size and/or weight requirements of the motor must be kept low, but power output requirements of the motor are high.
While the present disclosure has been illustrated and described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, it should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications to this disclosure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For example, while the present disclosure shows and describes an AC induction motor well-suited for high power density motor applications, it should be readily understood that principles of the present disclosure can be applied to other motor applications such as DC motor applications and also applications where, for example, space constraints are not a significant consideration.
Claims
1. A motor comprising:
- a stator; and
- a rotor rotatable within the stator about a central axis, the rotor comprising: a shaft having a key feature formed along at least a portion of an axial length thereof; and a rotor core comprising a plurality of stacked laminations, each lamination of the plurality of stacked laminations including a central opening for passage of the shaft therethrough, the central opening having at least two keyways formed therein with a shape corresponding to the at least one key feature of the shaft, the at least two keyways being evenly spaced angularly about the central axis;
- wherein each lamination is arranged with one of the at least two keyways accommodating the key feature of the shaft.
2. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor core further comprises:
- a plurality of rotor bars extending parallel to the central axis and disposed at an outer surface of the plurality of laminations; and
- two end rings positioned at opposing axial ends of the rotor core, the two end rings being connected to the plurality of rotor bars;
- wherein each end ring includes a dovetail connection with the rotor core.
3. The motor according to claim 2, wherein the dovetail connection includes one or more recesses formed in the end ring and configured to mate with a corresponding one or more mating bosses of the rotor core.
4. The motor according to claim 2, wherein the dovetail connection includes one or more mating bosses formed on the end ring and configured to mate with one or more corresponding recesses of the rotor core.
5. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor core further comprises:
- a plurality of rotor bars extending parallel to the central axis and disposed at an outer surface of the plurality of laminations; and
- two end rings positioned at opposing axial ends of the rotor core, the two end rings being connected to the plurality of rotor bars;
- the motor further comprising a heat sink connected to one or more of the end rings or rotor bars of the rotor.
6. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor core includes a plurality of rotor vents that are formed by holes in the laminations distributed about the central axis in relation to the at least two keyways.
7. The motor according to claim 6, further comprising at least one balance slug positionable in rotor vents of the plurality of rotor vents for balancing the rotor.
8. The motor according to claim 6, wherein at least one rotor vent of the plurality of rotor vents has an entrance or exit hole formed with at least one chamfered edge.
9. The motor according to claim 6, wherein at least one rotor vent of the plurality of rotor vents has an entrance or exit hole formed with a curved edge.
10. The motor according to claim 6, wherein a turbulator is disposed in at least one rotor vent.
11. The motor according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustable deflector plate attached to an axial end of the rotor core and configured to move axially in and out relative to the rotor core.
12. The motor according to claim 11, wherein movement of the adjustable deflector plate changes a size of a flow passage between the adjustable deflector plate and the axial end of the rotor core.
13. The motor according to claim 11, wherein the adjustable deflector plate has at least one air vent formed at an inner portion thereof adjacent the shaft.
14. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the rotor further comprises at least one quick-change connection releasably coupling the rotor core to the shaft.
15. The motor according to claim 1, wherein the motor is an AC induction motor.
16. A motor comprising:
- a stator; and
- a rotor rotatable within the stator about a central axis, the rotor comprising: a shaft; and a rotor core comprising a plurality of rotor bars extending parallel to the central axis, and two end rings positioned at opposing axial ends of the rotor core, the two end rings being connected to the plurality of rotor bars;
- wherein each end ring includes a dovetail connection with the rotor core.
17. The motor according to claim 16, wherein the dovetail connection includes one or more recesses formed in the end ring and configured to mate with a corresponding one or more mating bosses of the rotor core.
18. The motor according to claim 16, wherein the dovetail connection includes one or more mating bosses formed on the end ring and configured to mate with one or more corresponding recesses of the rotor core.
19. A motor comprising:
- a stator;
- a rotor rotatable within the stator about a central axis, the rotor comprising: a shaft; and a rotor core comprising a plurality of rotor bars extending parallel to the central axis, and two end rings positioned at opposing axial ends of the rotor core and connected to the plurality of rotor bars; and
- a heat sink connected to one or more of the end rings or rotor bars of the rotor.
20. A motor comprising:
- a stator; and
- a rotor rotatable within the stator about a central axis, the rotor comprising: a shaft; and a rotor core, the rotor core including a plurality of rotor vents that are formed by holes extending parallel to the central axis and distributed about the central axis.
21. The motor according to claim 20, further comprising at least one balance slug positionable in rotor vents of the plurality of rotor vents for balancing the rotor.
22. The motor according to claim 20, wherein at least one rotor vent of the plurality of rotor vents has an entrance or exit hole formed with at least one chamfered edge.
23. The motor according to claim 20, wherein at least one rotor vent of the plurality of rotor vents has an entrance or exit hole formed with a curved edge.
24. The motor according to claim 20, wherein a turbulator is disposed in at least one rotor vent.
25. A motor comprising:
- a stator;
- a rotor rotatable within the stator about a central axis, the rotor comprising: a shaft; and a rotor core, the rotor core including a plurality of rotor vents extending through the rotor core parallel to the central axis and distributed around the shaft; and
- an adjustable deflector plate attached to an axial end of the rotor core and configured to move axially in and out relative to the rotor core.
26. The motor according to claim 25, wherein movement of the adjustable deflector plate changes a size of a flow passage between the adjustable deflector plate and the axial end of the rotor core.
27. The motor according to claim 25, wherein the adjustable deflector plate has at least one air vent formed at an inner portion thereof adjacent the shaft.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 17, 2016
Publication Date: Dec 22, 2016
Inventors: Eric Sailor (Fort Wayne, IN), Daniel Cook (Terryville, CT), Alexander Gimmel (Hamden, CT), Alex Bridgemohan (Farmington, CT), Paul Matthews (Waterbury, CT), Myron Moroz (Burlington, CT)
Application Number: 15/186,038