Housing for machine, machine having housing, and motor vehicle having machine

Abstract

The invention relates to a housing (1) for a machine (2) and to a machine (2) having the housing (1) and to a motor vehicle having the machine (2). The housing (1) comprises a first shaft chamber (4) and a hollow housing interior (6) having a control chamber region (7) with a first tank seat (8). The housing interior (6) and the first shaft chamber (4) are fluidically sealed from each other and the housing interior wall (9) has a cylindrical shaft chamber outer wall (10). The lubricant tank (3) of the housing (1) has a first tank part (12) which engages in the first tank seat (8) and which rests in a contour-precise manner on a first outer wall portion (10a) of the outer wall (10) of the axle chamber facing the control chamber region (7). Thus, a particularly space-saving (i.e. Particularly compact) solution is achieved for particularly efficient lubrication and / or cooling of the machine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a housing for a machine, a machine having such a housing, and a motor vehicle having such a machine. Background Art

[0002] In order for a machine, especially an electric motor, to operate as efficiently as possible, it needs to be cooled or temperature-controlled, and lubricated. In the automotive sector, electric motors serve as drive or traction machines. Designing the drive machine with the most efficient cooling and lubrication possible is difficult because, due to predefined packaging constraints, the structural space available for coolant and / or lubricant circuit components is limited. This means, for example, that only very small coolant / lubricant tanks can be installed in the housing of the electric drive machine, necessitating the installation of another coolant / lubricant tank elsewhere, as proposed in DE 1020200076356A1. In order to integrate the two tanks into the coolant or lubricant circuit, and in particular to connect them to each other, it is necessary to create a corresponding pipe and / or hose system, possibly in combination with a valve arrangement. However, this is very complex and requires additional structural space, further exacerbating the packaging problem. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide a particularly space-efficient, ie, a particularly compact, solution for particularly efficient lubrication and / or cooling of a machine.

[0004] This object is achieved by the technical solutions of the independent claims. Other possible embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings. Within the scope of the description, the features, advantages, and possible embodiments described for one of the technical solutions of the independent claims may be considered, at least analogously, across all types and embodiments, as the features, advantages, and possible embodiments of the corresponding technical solutions of the other independent claims, as well as any possible combination of the technical solutions of the independent claims, if necessary in combination with one or more dependent claims.

[0005] According to the present invention, a housing for a machine, a machine having the housing according to the invention, and a motor vehicle having the machine according to the invention are provided. In the proper installation position, the housing forms a component of the machine, which is in particular an electric machine. The electric machine is, for example, a traction machine for a motor vehicle. When the machine or traction machine is installed in the motor vehicle in the proper installation position, it forms a component of the motor vehicle. The motor vehicle is therefore in particular a motor vehicle that can be driven purely electrically or with a hybrid electric drive.

[0006] The housing has a first shaft chamber, through which the first shaft of the machine coaxially extends. The first shaft is, for example, a traction machine's first rotor shaft. In this case, the first stator is non-rotatably disposed in the first shaft chamber, and the first rotor shaft coaxially extends through the first stator and, therefore, the first shaft chamber. The housing also includes a hollow interior space, which contains a control chamber area for the machine's electronic control system. In the case of the machine, the electronic control system is housed in the control chamber area, particularly in its control unit housing. The control unit is, in particular, an inverter circuit. In addition to the control unit housing, the control chamber area includes a first reservoir housing. Furthermore, the housing interior and the shaft chamber are fluid-tight. Because the first shaft chamber has an annular cylindrical shape, its shaft chamber outer wall is cylindrical. The shaft chamber outer wall extends into the hollow housing interior, meaning that the housing interior wall surrounds or is partially formed by the cylindrical shaft chamber outer wall. Furthermore, the housing includes a lubricant reservoir for the machine's lubricant circuit. The lubricant tank is therefore part of the lubricant circuit in the machine or is fluidically integrated in the lubricant circuit. The lubricant tank has a first tank portion, which fits into a first tank seat in the control chamber area and rests with precise contours on a first outer wall portion of the outer wall of the cylindrical shaft chamber facing the control chamber area.

[0007] This makes optimal use of the available space in the machine housing to ensure efficient lubrication of the machine. Here, a previously unused or unused space in the machine housing is utilized for the lubricant circuit: the inverter or control compartment, where both the electronic components of the control or inverter unit and the first reservoir section of the lubricant reservoir are housed. This ensures that the overall volume of the machine housing, which is predetermined, in particular by the packaging constraints, remains unchanged, while significantly increasing the amount of lubricant used in the housing.

[0008] According to one possible embodiment, the first tank portion has a first tank opening, and the lubricant tank includes a second tank portion with a second tank opening. This means that the lubricant tank is composed of a first and a second tank portion, which together determine the total volume of the lubricant tank. The second tank portion is arranged outside the control chamber area, i.e., in a second tank receptacle within the housing interior, and rests precisely against a second outer wall portion of the axle chamber outer wall facing away from the control chamber area. The tank openings are fluid-tightly connected to one another, in particular, directly, i.e., without hoses, pipes, or the like connecting the two tank openings. In particular, the tank openings are fluid-tightly connected to one another by correctly inserting the tank portions into the respective tank receptacles. This two-piece design of the lubricant tank allows for particularly efficient use of inaccessible space in the housing for lubricating or cooling the machine.

[0009] To ensure a particularly reliable sealing connection between the tank parts at the tank openings, another possible embodiment provides that the first and second tank openings have corresponding sealing ring seats, in which corresponding sealing rings of the lubricant tank are arranged. In particular, the sealing rings engaged in the sealing ring seats are clamped at the tank openings between the tank parts. This advantageously prevents undesired leakage of lubricant and / or coolant from the lubricant tanks. The sealing rings are, in particular, standard parts, which allows for a particularly simple design of the lubrication circuit.

[0010] In another possible design, the housing includes a second shaft chamber for the machine's second shaft. The shaft chambers are separated from each other in the transverse direction (y) of the housing by a first reservoir receptacle and / or a second reservoir receptacle, with the lubricant reservoir extending precisely between the two shaft chambers along the vertical axis (z) of the housing. In this case, according to another possible embodiment, the machine can be configured as a twin machine, in particular a twin motor, having a second shaft disposed in the second shaft chamber. The second shaft is, for example, configured as the second rotor shaft of the twin machine. In this case, the second stator is disposed in a rotationally fixed manner in the second shaft chamber, and the second rotor shaft extends coaxially through the second stator and, therefore, through the second shaft chamber. Twin motors are characterized by having a control device configured to control the two rotor shafts. Due to the combination of two rotor shafts and two stators, twin motors have higher cooling / lubrication requirements than motors with only a single stator-rotor unit. A housing with a two-part lubricant reservoir makes particularly efficient use of the available space in the twin machine housing, thereby advantageously allowing for a significantly higher amount of lubricant to be used in the housing.

[0011] In another possible embodiment, the housing has a first fastening device, by means of which the first tank part is fastened in the first tank receptacle. A first fastening element of the first fastening device is fastened to the housing interior wall and to the first tank part, whereby the first tank part is held particularly securely in position on the housing interior wall, in particular in the first tank receptacle, by means of the first fastening element.

[0012] If the lubricant tank of the housing has a second tank part, according to another possible embodiment, the housing has a second fastening device, by means of which the second tank part is fastened in the second tank receptacle. The second fastening element of the second fastening device is fastened to the housing interior wall and to the second tank part, whereby the second tank part is held particularly securely in position on the housing interior wall, in particular in the second tank receptacle, by means of the second fastening element.

[0013] Due to the fixing devices, the lubricant tank is particularly securely fixed in the housing interior. Furthermore, the fixing devices are particularly designed to clamp the tank parts together in the vertical direction (z) of the housing, thereby—particularly in cooperation with the sealing ring—bringing the tank openings to bear against each other in a particularly secure and leak-tight manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Further features of the invention can be derived from the claims, the drawings and the description of the drawings. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description and the features and feature combinations shown below in the description of the drawings and / or in the drawings can be used not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in other combinations or alone without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0015] The attached pictures are as follows:

[0016] Figure 1 shows a cutaway exploded view of a machine including a housing with an integrated lubricant reservoir; and

[0017] Figure 2 Show Figure 1 A cross-sectional view of the machine. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The housing 1 for the machine 2, the machine 2 and a motor vehicle (not shown) having the machine 2 are described together below. In the figures, identical and functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

[0019] The motor vehicle is designed here, for example, as a purely electrically or hybrid-electrically driven vehicle and has a machine 2 designed as a traction motor. In the present case, the machine 2 or traction motor is designed as a dual motor, whose rotor-stator unit (not shown) can be controlled by means of a common control device (not shown) of the machine 2.

[0020] Figure 1 The sectional exploded view of a twin motor 2 is shown, which comprises a housing 1 with an integrated lubricant reservoir 3, which is fluidically integrated in the lubricant circuit of the machine 2. In the present case, the housing 1 has a first shaft chamber 4 and a second shaft chamber 5, in each of which one of the rotor-stator units of the machine 2 is arranged. The housing 1 also has a hollow housing interior 6, which has a control chamber area 7 and a first reservoir seat 8 or is at least partially formed by these. The housing interior 6 and the shaft chambers 4, 5 are fluidically sealed from one another. Figure 1It can also be seen that the housing interior wall 9 has cylindrical shaft chamber outer walls 10 and 11, which are separated from each other in the transverse direction y of the housing 1 by a first tank receptacle 8. In this example, the lubricant tank 3 is formed or composed of a first tank portion 12 and a second tank portion 13, each having a tank opening 14 and 15 that correspond in shape and size. In this example, the tank portions 12 and 13 have corresponding sealing ring seats 16 and 17 at the respective tank openings 14 and 15, which correspond in shape and size to the sealing ring 18 of the lubricant tank. The first tank receptacle 8 and the first tank portion 12 are matched to each other, while the second tank receptacle 19 and the second tank portion 13 are matched to each other. The second tank receptacle 19 is arranged outside the control chamber area 7, for example, in another area 20 of the housing interior 6. Furthermore, the housing 1 in this embodiment has a first fixing device 21 and a second fixing device 22. By means of the corresponding fixing elements 23, 24 of the fixing devices 21, 22, the respectively matched tank parts 12, 13 can be fixed in position in the corresponding tank seats 8, 19. Figure 1 A cover 25 of the housing 1 is shown, by means of which the housing interior 6 can be closed at the top.

[0021] Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a correctly assembled machine 2 is shown, in which it can be seen that the first reservoir section 12, by virtue of its engagement in the first reservoir receptacle 8 in the control chamber region 7, rests precisely against the first outer wall section 10a, 11a of the respective cylindrical shaft chamber outer wall 10, 11, which faces the control chamber region 7. The second reservoir section 13, by virtue of its engagement in the second reservoir receptacle 19 outside the control chamber region 7, rests against the second outer wall section 10b, 11b of the respective shaft chamber outer wall 10, 11, which faces away from the control chamber region 7. The reservoir sections 12, 13 are thus designed to correspond to the shape of the housing interior 6, in particular to the shape of the shaft chamber outer walls 10, 11.

[0022] In addition, from Figure 2 As can be seen in the figure, the tank openings 14, 15 abut one another, and no hoses, pipes, or the like facilitate a fluid connection between the tank sections 12, 13 between the tank openings 14, 15. Instead, the tank sections 12, 13 are fluidically connected to one another purely by being inserted into their respective tank seats 8, 19. Thus, the tank sections 12, 13 together form the total volume of the lubricant tank 3. Between the tank openings 14, 15, a sealing ring 18 is inserted into a corresponding sealing ring seat and clamped between the tank sections 12, 13 or between the tank openings 14, 15.

[0023] The first tank part 12 is fixed in position in the first tank seat 8 and in particular clamped in the first tank seat 8 by means of a first fixing device 21. For this purpose, a first fixing element 23, such as a fixing washer, is fixed both to the housing interior space wall 9 and to the first tank part. It can also be provided that the first fixing element 23 is only fixed, in particular screwed, to the housing interior space wall 9 and overlaps the first tank part 12. A similar situation also applies to the second fixing device 22 that interacts with the second tank part or the second tank seat 19: the second fixing element 24 is fixed, for example, to the housing interior space wall 9 and the second tank part 13. Alternatively, the second fixing element 24 can be only fixed, in particular screwed, to the housing interior space wall 9 and overlaps the second tank part 13. In particular, the tank parts 12, 13 are clamped to each other by means of the fixing devices 21, 23, so that the connection between the tank parts 12, 13 at the tank openings 14, 15 is particularly reliable and sealed. In general, from Figure 2 It can be seen that the lubricant reservoir 3 extends along the vertical axis z of the housing 1 between the two shaft chambers 4 , 5 with exact contours, as the reservoir sections 12 , 13 each extend between the two shaft chambers 4 , 5 .

[0024] The housing 1, machine 2, and motor vehicle illustrate how corresponding options for cooling / lubricating machine 2 can be implemented in a particularly space-saving or compact manner. The core concept of the present invention is to expand the oil or lubricant volume into the interior of machine 2 and, in particular, utilize unused space in the inverter of machine 2. To avoid complex sealing, reservoir sections 12, 14 are sealed internally and externally by simple radially and axially acting seals and interconnected, preferably constructed as standard parts. Furthermore, the two-part design of lubricant reservoir 3 makes the manufacture or assembly of machine 2 or housing 1 particularly simple: first reservoir section 12 is inserted into inverter chamber or first reservoir holder 8 and screwed in. The reservoir opening 14 of the first reservoir section faces downward, specifically toward second reservoir holder 19. Second reservoir section 13 (which can be constructed as or include an oil module) is inserted from below into second reservoir holder 19. Reservoir sections 12, 13 are connected to each other at reservoir openings 14, 15 and sealed externally by sealing ring 18 (standard component). In this case, no sealing toward the inverter chamber is necessary, since the tank sections 12 , 13 form a fluid-closed system.

[0025] Reference Signs List

[0026] 1 shell

[0027] 2 machines

[0028] 3 Lubricant tank

[0029] 4First axis room

[0030] 5 Second axis room

[0031] 6Inner space of the shell

[0032] 7Control Room Area

[0033] 8First storage tank seat

[0034] 9 Shell internal space wall

[0035] 10 Outer wall of the first axis chamber

[0036] 10a First outer wall portion

[0037] 10b Second outer wall portion

[0038] 11 Outer wall of the second axis chamber

[0039] 11a First outer wall portion

[0040] 11b Second outer wall portion

[0041] 12 First Storage Tank Department

[0042] 13 Second Storage Tank Department

[0043] 14 First tank opening

[0044] 15 Second tank opening

[0045] 16 First sealing ring seat

[0046] 17 Second sealing ring seat

[0047] 18 Sealing ring

[0048] 19 Second tank seat

[0049] 20 Another area

[0050] 21 First Fixing Device

[0051] 22 Second fixing device

[0052] 23 First fixing element

[0053] 24 Second fixing element

[0054] 25 Cover

Claims

1. A housing (1) for a machine (2), comprising: First shaft chamber (4), a hollow housing interior (6) having a control chamber region (7) with a first tank receptacle (8), the housing interior (6) and the first shaft chamber (4) being fluid-tightly sealed from one another, and the housing interior wall (9) having a cylindrical shaft chamber outer wall (10), A lubricant reservoir (3) has a first reservoir portion (12) which fits into a first reservoir seat (8) and rests with precise contour on a first outer wall portion (10a) of the shaft chamber outer wall (10) facing the control chamber area (7).

2. The housing (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that The first tank portion (12) has a first tank opening (14), and the lubricant tank (3) includes a second tank portion (13) with a second tank opening (15). The second tank portion is arranged in a second tank seat (19) in the housing interior (6) outside the control chamber area (7) and rests with a contour-accurate contact on a second outer wall portion (10b) of the shaft chamber outer wall (10) facing away from the control chamber area (7), so that the tank openings (14, 15) are connected to each other in a fluid-tight manner.

3. The housing (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that The first tank opening (14) and the second tank opening (15) have corresponding sealing ring seats (16, 17), in which corresponding sealing rings (18) of the lubricant tank (3) are arranged.

4. Housing (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that A second shaft chamber (5) is provided, the shaft chambers (4, 5) are spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction (y) of the housing (1) by a first tank seat (8), and the lubricant tank (3) extends precisely between the two shaft chambers (4, 5) along the vertical axis (z) of the housing (1).

5. Housing (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that A first fixing device (21) is provided, by means of which the first tank part (12) is fixed in the first tank seat (8).

6. The housing (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that A second fixing device (22) is provided, by means of which the second tank part (13) is fixed in the second tank seat (19).

7. A machine (2), in particular an electric motor (2), comprising: - a housing (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, - a first shaft, which is coaxially arranged in the first shaft chamber (4), - a control device, which is arranged in the control room area (7), A lubricant circuit into which the lubricant tank (3) is integrated.

8. The machine (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that The housing (1) has the features given in claim 4, the machine (2) is constructed as a twin motor, the first shaft of the twin motor is constructed as a first rotor shaft, and the second rotor shaft of the twin motor is arranged in a second shaft chamber (5), and the control device is configured to control these two rotor shafts.

9. A motor vehicle comprising a machine (2) according to claim 7 or 8.

Images