Actuator for Air Vent

The BLDC motor-driven air vent actuator addresses the manual operation and gear train issues of conventional systems by providing automatic airflow direction adjustment with reduced friction and assembly complexity, enhancing safety and efficiency.

KR103044089B1Active Publication Date: 2026-11-05AMOTECH CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
KR1020250057355
Authority / Receiving Office
KR · KR
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2024-05-22
Filing Date
2025-04-30
Publication Date
2026-11-05
Estimated Expiration
2045-04-30

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional air vent systems require manual operation to adjust airflow direction, increasing the risk of accidents and are cumbersome, and existing electric actuators use complex gear trains that increase production costs and noise.

Method used

An actuator using a BLDC motor with an eccentric structure and a hollow output shaft drives the wind direction adjustment wing without a gear train, incorporating a semi-cylindrical housing and a printed circuit board for motor control, with Hall sensors to limit rotation.

Benefits of technology

The actuator enables automatic adjustment of airflow direction with minimal friction and reduced assembly complexity, eliminating the need for multiple gears and bearings, thus enhancing safety and efficiency.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The present invention relates to an actuator for an air vent that can drive the wind direction adjustment wing of the air vent to pivot in the left / right horizontal direction or the up / down vertical direction using only a driving motor, without using a gear train composed of a plurality of gears. An actuator for an air vent according to the present invention comprises: a semi-cylindrical housing; an eccentric drive motor comprising an axial gap type BLDC motor installed inside the housing, which generates rotational power necessary to pivotally drive an operating lever connected to a wind direction control wing of the air vent according to a motor drive signal; and a hollow output shaft that generates rotational output in synchronization with the rotational power of the drive motor to pivotally drive the operating lever; wherein the eccentric drive motor comprises: an eccentric stator in which U, V, and W three-phase coils are wound on a plurality of segmented cores installed in a band shape on the inner bottom of the housing, and which generates a rotating magnetic field when the motor drive signal is applied; and an eccentric rotor in which an inner end is coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft and pivotally driven according to the rotating magnetic field.
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Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an actuator for an air vent, and more specifically, to an actuator for an air vent capable of driving a wind direction adjustment wing of the air vent to pivot in the left / right horizontal direction or the up / down vertical direction by an electric motor. Background Technology

[0002] Generally, air vents, such as those located on the instrument panel at the front of the vehicle's interior, are primarily applied to heating and cooling systems to allow cooling and heating airflow generated from air conditioners or heaters to flow into the vehicle's interior; they are installed at the end of the air duct facing the vehicle's interior.

[0003] Here, the air vent includes a casing formed on the outer periphery and provided in the duct, a wind direction control wing provided inside the casing, and a wing knob assembly for rotating the wind direction control wing.

[0004] At this time, the wind direction control wings are provided in the horizontal and vertical directions, and typically, regardless of the order of the horizontal and vertical directions, a pair of vertical and horizontal wind direction control wings are provided in the forward and backward directions, and through this, the wind can be blown in the up and down and left and right directions.

[0005] The wind direction control wing is equipped with a plurality of vertical wind direction control wings and horizontal wind direction control wings arranged in the up-down and left-right directions.

[0006] The air vent system allows the user to adjust the wind direction by rotating the vertical wind direction control wing and the horizontal wind direction control wing through manual operation of the wing knob assembly installed on the vertical wind direction control wing.

[0007] These conventional manual vehicle air vents have the inconvenience of requiring the user to manually operate the airflow control knobs to change the airflow direction and volume, even when the indoor temperature changes due to the operation of the air conditioner.

[0008] In addition, in conventional air vents, in order to change the direction of the vertical and horizontal air direction control wings, the passenger or driver must manually operate the knob to change the direction, which increases the risk of accidents.

[0009] Furthermore, in order to continuously move the wind direction back and forth, a very cumbersome task is required, in which the user must manually hold and operate the knob.

[0010] To address these issues, air vent systems use electric actuators that utilize small motors as the driving source.

[0011] Since these electric actuators use small motors as the driving source, multiple spur gear trains are used to increase the driving torque, which results in poor mass production assembly and is a cause of noise generation.

[0012] Korean Published Patent Application No. 10-2022-0114995 (Patent Document 1) discloses an air vent device for a vehicle, characterized by comprising: a duct section having an inlet and an outlet of an air passage connected to a vehicle air conditioner; a cover section that opens and closes the outlet of the duct section by a tilting operation; a vent section capable of sliding in the forward and backward directions between the inlet and outlet of the duct section in conjunction with the tilting operation of the cover section; a driving section that switches the positions of the cover section and the vent section; and a control section that controls the driving section according to a preset logic including a direct air mode in which the vent section moves to the outlet of the duct section and an indirect air mode in which the cover section moves to the outlet of the duct section, wherein a spacer having a guide groove that assists the tilting operation of the cover section is located on the inner side of the outlet side of the duct section.

[0013] In this case, since the drive unit includes a pair of actuators, a main gear, a sub-gear, a side gear, a connecting pin, a pinion gear, and a protective cover located at each of the outer ends of the duct section, there is a problem of using a multiple gear train structure to increase the torque of the output rotation shaft, and there are factors contributing to increased costs due to the complex assembly structure and the use of a dedicated controller.

[0014] The above air vent device controls the mode of the air vent device by having the control unit detect the vehicle status, determine whether the air conditioner is operating while the vehicle is driving.

[0015] In addition, conventionally, since the air vent actuator is configured by combining a stepping motor and a worm gear, a pair of bearings are used at each end of the motor, and there is a problem that a bracket must be additionally used to prevent shaking of the gear and motor assembly. Prior art literature

[0016] Korean Published Patent Application No. 10-2022-0114995 The problem to be solved

[0017] The present invention was devised in consideration of these conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide an actuator for an air vent that can drive the wind direction adjustment wing of the air vent to pivot in the left / right horizontal direction or the up / down vertical direction using only a driving motor, without using a gear train composed of multiple gears.

[0018] Another objective of the present invention is to provide an actuator for an air vent that implements the driving of an operating lever, which pivots and rotates by a preset angle in the up-down or left-right direction from a reference point, using a BLDC drive motor having an eccentric structure of an axial gap type in which an arc-shaped stator and an arc-shaped rotor are arranged facing each other.

[0019] Another objective of the present invention is to provide an air vent actuator capable of eliminating a shaft support bearing by combining an output shaft for driving an operating lever, in which a plurality of protrusions are formed on the outer circumference inside a hollow shaft. means of solving the problem

[0020] According to one embodiment of the present invention, an actuator for an air vent comprises: a semi-cylindrical housing; an eccentric drive motor comprising an axial gap type BLDC motor installed inside the housing, which generates rotational power necessary to pivotally drive an operating lever connected to a wind direction control wing of the air vent according to a motor drive signal; and a hollow output shaft that generates rotational output in synchronization with the rotational power of the drive motor to pivotally drive the operating lever; wherein the eccentric drive motor comprises: an eccentric stator in which U, V, and W three-phase coils are wound on a plurality of segmented cores installed in a band shape on the inner bottom of the housing, and which generates a rotating magnetic field when the motor drive signal is applied; and an eccentric rotor in which an inner end is coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft and pivotally driven according to the rotating magnetic field.

[0021] The above-described eccentric stator may include: a plurality of segmented cores, each having an upper portion formed in an arc shape at the top and a body bent from one side of the upper portion and extended downward; a plurality of bobbins integrally formed on the outer circumference of each body of the plurality of segmented cores and having a coil winding area; a coil wound in the coil winding area of ​​the bobbin; and a band-shaped back yoke in which the lower portion of each body of the plurality of segmented cores is assembled into one of a plurality of coupling holes and functions as a magnetic circuit.

[0022] The air vent actuator of the present invention may further include: a plurality of first and second contact protrusions formed protruding along an arc on the inner and outer sides of each of the plurality of bobbins; and first and second sliding bars formed on the outer and inner sides of the rotor, which sequentially contact the plurality of first and second contact protrusions when the rotor rotates.

[0023] Additionally, the eccentric rotor may include a back yoke formed in an arc shape, the inner end of which is coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft; and an arc-shaped magnet fixedly installed on the lower surface of the back yoke opposite the stator, with the N pole and S pole alternately magnetized.

[0024] In this case, the eccentric stator is set to a center angle in the range of 80 to 200 degrees, and the eccentric rotor is set to a center angle smaller than the center angle of the eccentric stator, and pivoting drive can be performed in both directions around a reference point.

[0025] Additionally, the housing comprises a lower case having a semi-cylindrical shape; and an upper cover covering the upper part of the lower case; wherein the lower case includes a semicircular curved portion and a planar connecting portion connecting both ends of the curved portion, and the planar connecting portion has a curved protrusion protruding in a curved shape to accommodate the hollow output shaft inside; and the upper cover is provided with a plate-shaped body consisting of a semicircular curved portion and a straight portion connecting both ends of the curved portion to cover the upper part of the lower case, and the plate-shaped body may have a curved protrusion corresponding to the curved protrusion of the lower case in the middle part of the straight portion.

[0026] In this case, the hollow output shaft may be rotatably supported at its lower end by a cylindrical lower support protruding from the bottom of the lower case, and may be rotatably supported at its upper end by an upper support bent at a right angle to the inside of the curved protrusion of the upper cover.

[0027] The operating lever shaft connected to the above hollow output shaft and the above wind direction control wing may be connected via an asymmetric spline structure.

[0028] In addition, the air vent actuator of the present invention may further include a printed circuit board (PCB) on which a motor driving circuit is mounted, which generates a motor driving signal upon receiving a control signal from an air conditioning control device (CCM), and which is installed on the lower side of the driving motor.

[0029] Furthermore, the air vent actuator of the present invention may further include first and second Hall sensors, each mounted on both ends of the upper surface of the printed circuit board, for detecting the magnet of the rotor when the rotor rotates in the left / right direction and limiting the rotation range of the rotor.

[0030] According to another embodiment of the present invention, an actuator for an air vent comprises: a semicylindrical housing having a semicylindrical lower case and an upper cover covering the upper part of the lower case; an eccentric drive motor installed inside the housing and generating rotational power according to a motor drive signal; and a hollow output shaft having a lower end and an upper end rotatably supported on the lower case and the upper cover and pivotally driving an operating lever connected to a wind direction control wing of the air vent in synchronization with the rotational power of the drive motor; wherein the eccentric drive motor comprises: an eccentric stator in which a plurality of segmented cores are press-fitted into a plurality of coupling holes formed radially through a band-shaped back yoke, and U, V, and W three-phase coils are wound on the plurality of segmented cores to generate a rotating magnetic field; and an eccentric rotor having an inner end coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft and pivotally driven according to the rotating magnetic field.

[0031] The above eccentric drive motor may be composed of an axial gap type BLDC motor in which the eccentric stator and the eccentric rotor are installed facing each other.

[0032] The air vent actuator of the present invention may further include: a plurality of first and second contact protrusions formed protruding along an arc on the inner and outer sides of the upper part of the stator, respectively; and first and second sliding bars formed on the outer and inner sides of the rotor, which sequentially contact the plurality of first and second contact protrusions when the rotor rotates. Effects of the invention

[0033] As described above, the present invention provides an actuator for an air vent equipped with a driving motor capable of driving the wind direction adjustment wing of the air vent in a left / right horizontal direction or up / down vertical direction in an electric manner without using a gear train composed of a plurality of gears.

[0034] As a result, in the present invention, a gear train composed of multiple gears can be omitted by replacing the rotation axis of the operating lever that rotates the vertical or horizontal wind direction control wing of the air vent with the output axis of the actuator.

[0035] In the present invention, the airflow direction of the air vent can be driven to rotate in the left / right horizontal direction or the up / down vertical direction in automatic or manual mode, and as a result, air circulation within the vehicle can be achieved automatically.

[0036] In addition, the driving of an operating lever that pivots and rotates by a preset angle in the up-down or left-right direction from a reference point can be implemented using a BLDC drive motor having an eccentric structure of an axial gap type, for example, in which a stator with a center angle in the range of 80 to 200 degrees and a rotor with a center angle in the range of about 60 degrees are arranged facing each other in an arc shape.

[0037] Moreover, in conventional actuators, when the output shaft RPM is 5 RPM, if the minimum RPM of the drive motor is 1000 or lower, control is not effective, so the gear ratio of the gear train must be configured to a minimum of 200:1, which presents a problem in that a gear train structure with many gears combined must be adopted to implement this.

[0038] In consideration of these problems, the present invention provides an actuator capable of driving an output shaft for driving an operating lever solely by the power of a driving motor, without using a gear train composed of multiple gears. Additionally, in the present invention, a bearing for supporting the shaft can be eliminated by combining an output shaft for driving an operating lever, in which a plurality of protrusions are formed on the outer circumference inside a bearing housing.

[0039] Furthermore, in the drive motor according to the present invention, when the rotor and the stator are configured as an axial gap type BLDC (Brushless DC) motor facing each other, a plurality of bobbins formed integrally on the outside of the body of a plurality of divided cores each have a pair of contact protrusions protruding from the upper inner and outer sides to make contact with the first and second sliding bars of the rotor.

[0040] Accordingly, when the rotor rotates, the first and second sliding bars rotate while sliding with a pair of contact protrusions, so that rotation can be achieved in a state of minimum friction.

[0041] As described above, the mutual contact structure in which the first and second sliding bars slide with a pair of contact protrusions of the stator during rotation of the rotor can maximize motor efficiency by maintaining a minimum air gap between the rotor's magnet and the stator's split core while avoiding friction caused by surface contact between the rotor's magnet and the stator's split core.

[0042] Furthermore, the drive motor according to the present invention incorporates a printed circuit board (PCB) in the lower part of the stator, on which a motor drive circuit is mounted to generate a motor drive signal upon receiving a control signal from an air conditioning control device (CCM) of an HVAC system.

[0043] The above printed circuit board is formed in a roughly curved band shape, and the motor drive circuit can be safely mounted on the lower surface of the printed circuit board. In this case, a pair of Hall sensors connected to the motor drive circuit are mounted on both ends of the upper surface of the printed circuit board, and the pair of Hall sensors can function as stopper sensors that limit the rotation range of the rotor by detecting the rotor's magnet when the rotor rotates in the left / right direction. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0044] FIGS. 1a and FIGS. 1b are perspective views showing the front and inverted states, respectively, of an actuator for an air vent according to the present invention. FIGS. 2a and FIGS. 2b are a front view showing an inverted state of an air vent actuator according to the present invention and a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2a, respectively. FIGS. 3a and FIGS. 3b are a plan view and a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3a, respectively, showing an actuator for an air vent according to the present invention. FIG. 3c is a plan view showing a semicylindrical lower case according to the present invention. FIGS. 4a and FIGS. 4b are an exploded perspective view and an exploded cross-sectional view, respectively, showing an actuator for an air vent according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a fully exploded perspective view showing an actuator for an air vent according to the present invention. FIGS. 6a and FIGS. 6b are a perspective view and an exploded perspective view, respectively, of a driving motor with the housing removed from an air vent actuator according to the present invention. FIGS. 7a to 7c are a perspective view, a radial cross-sectional view, and an exploded perspective view, respectively, of a rotor according to the present invention. FIGS. 8a to 8c are a perspective view, a longitudinal cross-sectional view, and an exploded perspective view, respectively, of a divided core according to the present invention. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0045] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

[0046] In this process, the size or shape of components depicted in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. Additionally, terms specifically defined in consideration of the configuration and operation of the present invention may vary depending on the intent or convention of the user or operator. Definitions of such terms should be based on the content throughout this specification.

[0047] The air vent system to which the present invention is applied may include, for example, a vertical wind direction control wing and a horizontal wind direction control wing installed on an instrument panel or the like to form an air vent, first and second operating levers respectively connected to the vertical wind direction control wing and the horizontal wind direction control wing, and a first actuator for vertical wind direction control and wind closing and a second actuator for horizontal wind direction control for driving the first and second operating levers in an electric manner.

[0048] The first and second actuators are installed on the side and top of the air vent, respectively, and as part of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system, can be connected to a Climate Control Module (CCM) via a CAN (controller area network), LIN (Local Interconnect Network), or UART communication network inside the vehicle.

[0049] The above-mentioned first and second actuators each receive a control signal from the air conditioning control unit (CCM) according to the user's mode setting and pivot the first and second operating levers, thereby pivoting the airflow direction of the air vent in the left / right horizontal direction or the up / down vertical direction in automatic or manual mode, so that air circulation within the vehicle can be automatically achieved.

[0050] Referring to FIGS. 1a to 5, the air vent actuator (100) according to the present invention comprises a housing (10) having a roughly semi-cylindrical shape, a printed circuit board (PCB) (40) installed inside the housing (10) and having a motor driving circuit that generates a motor driving signal in response to receiving a control signal from an air conditioning control device (CCM) of an HVAC system, an eccentric driving motor (200) that generates rotational power required for the actuator in response to the motor driving signal of the motor driving circuit, and a hollow output shaft (50) that generates rotational output of the eccentric driving motor (200).

[0051] In the present invention, the hollow output shaft (50) is driven by rotational force of the eccentric drive motor (200) purely by the rotational force of the eccentric drive motor (200) without using a gear train to reduce the rotational speed of the eccentric drive motor (200), and the shaft (not shown) coupled to the hollow portion (50a) of the hollow output shaft (50) can pivotally drive the operating lever connected to the vertical wind direction control wing or the horizontal wind direction control wing, respectively.

[0052] The above housing (10) is formed in a semi-cylindrical shape overall and includes a semi-cylindrical lower case (12) and an upper cover (11) that covers the upper part of the lower case (12).

[0053] The lower case (12) includes a semicircular curved portion (12a) and a planar connecting portion (12f) connecting both ends of the curved portion (12a). In this case, the planar connecting portion (12f) may have a curved protrusion (12d) protruding in a curved shape to accommodate a hollow output shaft (50) inside.

[0054] The lower case (12) is provided with a cylindrical lower support member (12b) that protrudes to a certain height from the bottom (12e) of the curved protrusion (12d) and rotatably supports the lower end (52) of the hollow output shaft (50). On the bottom (12e) of the lower case (12), a plurality of fixing protrusions (12c) are respectively protruded on the inner and outer sides to fix and support the printed circuit board (40) and the back yoke (33) of the stator (30) to be described later.

[0055] The upper cover (11) also has a plate-shaped body (11a) composed of a semicircular curved portion (11e) and a straight portion (11f) to cover the upper part of the lower case (12).

[0056] Additionally, the plate-shaped body (11a) has a curved protrusion (11d) corresponding to the curved protrusion (12d) of the lower case (12) in the middle part of the straight section (11f), and a semicylindrical upper support section (11c) is extended and formed on the inner side of the curved protrusion (11d) to be bent at a right angle and rotatably support the upper end of the hollow output shaft (50), and a through hole (11b) is formed on the inner side of the upper support section (11c).

[0057] The above printed circuit board (40) is formed in a roughly curved band shape, and a plurality of through holes (41) are spaced apart on the outer side, and a plurality of grooves (42) are formed on the inner side and are fixedly supported at a distance from the bottom (12e) by a plurality of fixing protrusions (12c) protruding from the bottom (12e) of the lower case (12).

[0058] Accordingly, the motor drive circuit can be safely mounted on the lower surface of the printed circuit board (40). However, a pair of Hall sensors (S1, S2) of the motor drive circuit can be mounted on both ends of the upper surface of the printed circuit board (40) and can serve as stopper sensors that limit the rotation range of the rotor (20) when the rotor (20) rotates in the left / right direction.

[0059] The eccentric drive motor (200) that generates rotational power in the above actuator (100) is installed inside the housing (10) and is composed of an axial gap type BLDC (Brushless DC) motor in which a rotor (20) and a stator (30) with an eccentric structure are installed facing each other.

[0060] The eccentric drive motor (200) according to the present invention may be configured as an axial gap type motor in which a stator (30) with an arc shape, for example, a center angle in the range of 80 to 180 degrees, and a rotor (20) with a center angle in the range of about 60 degrees are arranged facing each other.

[0061] In this case, the center angle range of the stator (30) can be expanded to a range of 80 to 200 degrees by adding a split core (31) and a back yoke (33) in proportion to the pivoting angle of the operating lever, as described below.

[0062] It is preferable that the center angle of the rotor (20) be set smaller than the center angle of the stator (30).

[0063] Referring to FIGS. 4a to 6b, the eccentric stator (30) comprises a plurality of segmented cores (31) in the shape of an "ㄱ", a plurality of bobbins (32) formed integrally on the outer circumference of the segmented cores (31), a coil (34) wound in the coil winding area of ​​the plurality of bobbins (32), and a curved band-shaped back yoke (33) in which the lower end of each of the plurality of segmented cores (31) is assembled into a plurality of coupling holes (33a) and acts as a magnetic circuit.

[0064] The above-mentioned eccentric stator (30) is formed in the shape of a curved band overall and is set in proportion to the pivoting angle of the operating lever, and the center angle can be formed in the range of approximately 80 to 200 degrees, for example, 100 degrees.

[0065] As illustrated in FIGS. 8a to 8c, the plurality of segmented cores (31) are each formed in an "L" shape and consist of an upper part (31b) formed in an arc shape at the top and a body (31a) that is bent from one side of the upper part (31b) and extended downward.

[0066] Each of the above-mentioned multiple divided cores (31) can form a magnetic path by shaping silicon steel or ordinary steel plate into an "L" shape, and this can be designed and assembled more easily than a conventional laminated core structure.

[0067] The plurality of bobbins (32) are integrally formed on the outer circumference of the body of each of the plurality of divided cores (31) by an insert molding method, and flanges (32d) are protruded on the upper and lower sides, respectively, to form a coil winding area (32a) in the center of the bobbin (32).

[0068] When the plurality of bobbins (32) are integrally formed on the outer circumference of each body of the plurality of divided cores (31) by an insert molding method, for example, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), which is a thermoplastic plastic, may be used.

[0069] In this case, the plurality of bobbins (32), which are integrally formed on the outer circumference of each body (31a) of the plurality of divided cores (31), may be formed so that the lower end of the body (31a) protrudes and is exposed.

[0070] Furthermore, the plurality of bobbins (32) can be manufactured by first forming each of them to have a through hole (32c), and then assembling the body (31a) of the split core (31) into the through hole (32c).

[0071] Additionally, each of the plurality of bobbins (32) has a pair of contact protrusions (32b) protruding from the upper inner and outer sides, which come into contact with the first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) of the rotor (20) described later.

[0072] Each of the above-mentioned plurality of divided cores (31) has a bobbin (32) formed on the outside of the body (31a) and a coil (34) wound in the coil winding area (32a). Then, each of the above-mentioned plurality of divided cores (31) is press-fitted into a plurality of coupling holes (33a) formed radially through the lower end of the body (31a) in a band-shaped back yoke (33), so that the eccentric stator (30) forms an overall arc shape.

[0073] In addition, the back yoke (33) has a plurality of coupling grooves (33b, 33c) formed on the inner and outer sides, respectively, which are coupled with a plurality of fixing protrusions (12c) protruding on the inner and outer sides of the bottom (12e) of the lower case (12).

[0074] As shown in FIG. 4b and FIG. 6a, the hollow output shaft (50) has stepped portions (53a, 53b) formed on the lower and upper sides of the body (51), respectively, and a pair of fixed protrusions (54a, 54b) protrude from the upper stepped portion (53b).

[0075] Additionally, the hollow output shaft (50) is rotatably supported at the lower end (52) and the upper end (53) of the upper cover (11) by a cylindrical lower support (12b) protruding from the bottom (12e) of the lower case (12) and a curved protrusion (11c).

[0076] In this case, the hollow output shaft (50), the cylindrical lower support (12b) and upper support (11c) that come into contact with the lower part (52) and upper part (53) of the hollow output shaft (50) are all formed of a thermoplastic plastic such as, for example, polyoxymethylene (POM) (also known as acetal), and since the rotational speed of the rotor (20) is about 5 RPM and the friction load is small, the hollow output shaft (50) that rotates together with the rotor (20) does not need to use a separate bearing.

[0077] Furthermore, when an operating lever or an operating lever shaft capable of pivoting the operating lever, which is respectively connected to the vertical wind direction control wing or the horizontal wind direction control wing, is coupled to the hollow portion (50a) of the hollow output shaft (50), for example, a spline coupling may be formed to prevent slipping.

[0078] The above operating lever shaft is machined into a spline shape, and the hollow portion (50a) of the above hollow output shaft (50) can be machined into a spline hole, and the above spline coupling structure can be formed into an asymmetric structure.

[0079] In addition, the connection between the operating lever shaft and the hollow output shaft (50) may employ various connection structures such as set screws, keys, pins, and D-cuts, in addition to the spline connection described above.

[0080] Referring to FIGS. 4a to 7c, the eccentric rotor (20) comprises a back yoke (21) formed in an arc shape and an arc-shaped magnet (22) that is attached and fixed to a groove provided on the lower side of the back yoke (21) and has an N pole and a S pole alternately magnetized.

[0081] In the illustrated embodiment, the magnet (22) is formed in the shape of an arc at an angle of 60 degrees, for example, and has N and S poles alternately magnetized on six poles.

[0082] The magnet (22) is usually configured to have a circular structure when configuring the rotor, but in the present invention, it is designed to move according to the direction of rotation and rotational speed by using an eccentric magnet with a center angle that is a preset angle, for example, an arc shape of 60 degrees.

[0083] A pair of coupling holes (24a, 24b) are formed on the inner side of the back yoke (21) to be coupled to a pair of fixing protrusions (54a, 54b) protruding from the upper stepped portion (53b) of the hollow output shaft (50).

[0084] As the back yoke (21) is coupled and fixed to a pair of fixed protrusions (54a, 54b) of the hollow output shaft (50), the hollow output shaft (50) also rotates simultaneously when the rotor (20) rotates.

[0085] In addition, a plurality of through holes (25, 26) are formed at intervals on the outer and inner sides of the back yoke (21), and first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) made of plastic are formed on the upper and lower sides of the plurality of through holes (25, 26).

[0086] In this case, the first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) are formed on the lower and upper surfaces of the back yoke (21), respectively, and can be fixed to the back yoke (21) by being interconnected through a plurality of through holes (25, 26).

[0087] To this end, the first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) may be integrally formed on the upper and lower parts of the back yoke (21), for example, by an insert molding method, or the bar-shaped first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) formed on the upper and lower parts of the back yoke (21), respectively, may be combined by an assembly method.

[0088] When the drive motor (200) according to the present invention is configured as an axial gap type BLDC (Brushless DC) motor in which the rotor (20) and the stator (30) face each other, a plurality of bobbins (32) formed integrally on the outside of the body (31a) of the plurality of segmented cores (31) each have a pair of contact protrusions (32b) protruding from the upper inner and outer sides to make contact with the first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) of the rotor (20).

[0089] Accordingly, when the rotor (20) rotates, the first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) rotate while sliding with a pair of contact protrusions (32b), so that rotation can be achieved in a state of minimal friction.

[0090] As described above, the mutual contact structure in which the first and second sliding bars (23a, 23b) slide with a pair of contact protrusions (32b) of the stator (30) during rotation of the rotor (20) is intended to maximize motor efficiency by minimizing the air gap between the magnet (22) of the rotor (20) and the split core (31) of the stator (30) while avoiding friction caused by surface contact between the magnet (22) of the rotor (20) and the split core (31) of the stator (30).

[0091] The above-mentioned eccentric drive motor (200) receives a control signal from the air conditioning control unit (CCM) according to the user's automatic or manual mode setting and drives the operating lever of the air vent to pivot within a preset range, thereby pivoting the direction of the airflow of the cooling and heating air supplied to the interior through the air vent in the left / right horizontal direction or the up / down vertical direction, and as a result, the circulation of air inside the vehicle can be automatically achieved.

[0092] The above-described eccentric drive motor (200) exemplifies an axial gap type BLDC (Brushless DC) motor in which an arc-shaped rotor (20) and a stator (30) are arranged to face each other, for example, having a 6-pole-12-slot structure, and in this case, coils (34) are wound in a U, V, W three-phase drive method on 12 divided cores (31) of the stator (30).

[0093] Three coils (U1-U3, V1-V3, W1-W3) are sequentially wound in each of the 12 split cores (31) for each of the U, V, and W phases, and when a motor driving signal is sequentially applied to the U, V, and W three-phase coils (34) from the inverter circuit of the motor driving circuit mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB) (40), a rotating magnetic field is generated to rotate the arc-shaped rotor (20).

[0094] In this case, the rotor (20) is formed in an arc shape with a center angle of about 60 degrees, and after being rotated about 35 degrees to the left or right from a reference point set in the center, when a pair of Hall sensors (S1, S2) installed at both ends of the upper surface of the printed circuit board (40) detect the magnet (22) of the rotor (20), the motor drive circuit stops the rotation of the rotor (20) and reverses the rotation direction of the rotor (20) to the opposite direction so that rotational driving is performed in the opposite direction.

[0095] The drive motor (200) according to the present invention may be configured as an axial gap type BLDC (Brushless DC) motor consisting of a stator (30) and a rotor (20) of various structures such as 36 slots-12 poles, 27 slots-30 poles, in addition to 12 slots-6 poles, corresponding to the size of the actuator.

[0096] The rotor (20) can be driven to pivot in both directions around a reference point within a preset angle range, for example, a range of 90 degrees, and the stator (40) can be formed in an arc shape with a center angle in the range of about 80 to 200 degrees to drive the rotor (20) to pivot.

[0097] The air vent actuator (100) according to the present invention can circulate air inside the vehicle by driving an operating lever fixedly installed on the air vent body to pivot in the left / right direction according to the automatic mode setting, and can adjust the direction of internal air circulation in the direction desired by the user by setting the operating lever according to the manual mode setting. Industrial applicability

[0098] The present invention can be applied to an actuator for an air vent that can electrically drive the air direction adjustment wing of the air vent according to the indoor temperature. Explanation of the symbols

[0099] 10: Housing 11: Top cover 11a: Body 11b, 25, 26, 32c, 33a, 41: Through hole 11c: Upper support 11d: Curved protrusion 11e: Curved section 11f: Planar connection section 12: Lower case 12a: Curved part 12b: Lower support part 12c: Fixing projection 12d: Curved protrusion 12e: Bottom 12f: Planar connection 20: Rotor 21: Back York 22: Magnet 23a, 23b: Sliding bar 24a, 24b: Connecting hole 30: Status 31: Split Core 31a: Top part 31b: Body 32: Bobbin 32a: Coil winding area 32b: Contact projection 32d: Flange 33: Back yoke 33b, 33c: Connecting groove 34: Coil 40: PCB 42: Home 50: Output shaft 51: Body 52: Bottom part 53: Upper part 53a, 53b: Stepped part 54a, 54b: Fixed projection 100: Actuator 200: Drive motor

Claims

Claim 1 A semi-cylindrical housing; an eccentric drive motor comprising an axial gap type BLDC motor installed inside the housing, which generates rotational power necessary to pivotally drive an operating lever connected to a wind direction control wing of an air vent according to a motor drive signal; and a hollow output shaft that generates rotational output in synchronization with the rotational power of the drive motor to pivotally drive the operating lever; wherein the eccentric drive motor comprises an eccentric stator in which U, V, and W three-phase coils are wound on a plurality of segmented cores installed in a band shape on the inner bottom of the housing, and which generates a rotating magnetic field when the motor drive signal is applied; An air vent actuator comprising: an eccentric rotor in which an inner end is coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft and pivotally driven according to the rotating magnetic field; wherein the eccentric stator comprises: a plurality of segmented cores each having an upper end formed in an arc shape at the top and a body bent from one side of the upper end and extended downward; a plurality of bobbins integrally formed on the outer circumference of each body of the plurality of segmented cores and having a coil winding area; a coil wound in the coil winding area of ​​the bobbin; and a band-shaped back yoke in which the lower end of each body of the plurality of segmented cores is assembled to one of a plurality of coupling holes and acts as a magnetic circuit; wherein each of the plurality of bobbins has first and second contact protrusions formed protruding along an arc on its inner and outer sides, and first and second sliding bars formed on the outer and inner sides of the rotor that sequentially contact the first and second contact protrusions when the rotor rotates. Claim 2 delete Claim 3 delete Claim 4 An actuator for an air vent according to claim 1, comprising: a back yoke having an arc shape and an inner end coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft, wherein the eccentric rotor is formed in an arc shape; and an arc-shaped magnet fixedly installed on the lower surface of the back yoke opposite to the stator and having alternating N and S poles magnetized. Claim 5 An actuator for an air vent according to claim 1, wherein the eccentric stator has a center angle set in the range of 80 to 200 degrees, the eccentric rotor has a center angle set smaller than the center angle of the eccentric stator, and pivoting is performed in both directions around a reference point. Claim 6 An air vent actuator according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a lower case having a semi-cylindrical shape; and an upper cover covering the upper part of the lower case; wherein the lower case comprises a semicircular curved portion and a planar connecting portion connecting both ends of the curved portion, and the planar connecting portion has a curved protrusion protruding in a curved shape to accommodate the hollow output shaft inside; and the upper cover comprises a plate-shaped body consisting of a semicircular curved portion and a straight portion connecting both ends of the curved portion to cover the upper part of the lower case, and the plate-shaped body has a curved protrusion corresponding to the curved protrusion of the lower case in the middle part of the straight portion. Claim 7 In claim 6, the above-mentioned hollow output shaft is an air vent actuator in which the lower end is rotatably supported on a cylindrical lower support protruding from the bottom of the lower case, and the upper end is rotatably supported on an upper support bent at a right angle to the inside of the curved protrusion of the upper cover. Claim 8 In claim 1, the operating lever shaft connected to the hollow output shaft and the wind direction control wing is an actuator for an air vent in which an asymmetric spline connection is formed. Claim 9 An air vent actuator according to claim 1, further comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) on which a motor driving circuit is mounted, which generates a motor driving signal upon receiving a control signal from an air conditioning control device (CCM). Claim 10 An air vent actuator according to claim 9, further comprising first and second Hall sensors mounted on each end of the upper surface of the printed circuit board to detect the magnet of the rotor when the rotor rotates in the left / right direction and to limit the rotation range of the rotor. Claim 11 A semicylindrical housing having a semicylindrical lower case and an upper cover covering the upper part of the lower case; an eccentric drive motor installed inside the housing and generating rotational power according to a motor drive signal; and a hollow output shaft having a lower end and an upper end rotatably supported by the lower case and the upper cover and pivotally driving an operating lever connected to a wind direction control wing of an air vent in synchronization with the rotational power of the drive motor; wherein the eccentric drive motor comprises an eccentric stator in which a plurality of segmented cores are press-fitted into a plurality of coupling holes formed radially through a band-shaped back yoke, and U, V, and W three-phase coils are wound on the plurality of segmented cores to generate a rotating magnetic field; and an eccentric rotor having an inner end coupled to the outer circumference of the hollow output shaft and pivotally driven according to the rotating magnetic field; and first and second contact protrusions formed protruding along an arc on the inner and outer sides of each of a plurality of bobbins formed on the outer circumference of the plurality of segmented cores. An actuator for an air vent further comprising: first and second sliding bars formed on the outer and inner sides of the eccentric rotor and sequentially contacting the first and second contact protrusions when the eccentric rotor rotates. Claim 12 In claim 11, the eccentric drive motor is an air vent actuator comprising an axial gap type BLDC motor in which the eccentric stator and the eccentric rotor are installed facing each other. Claim 13 An air vent actuator according to claim 11, further comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) on which a motor driving circuit is mounted, which is installed on the lower side of the driving motor and generates a motor driving signal in response to receiving a control signal from an air conditioning control device (CCM). Claim 14 An air vent actuator according to claim 13, further comprising first and second Hall sensors mounted on each end of the upper surface of the printed circuit board to detect the magnet of the rotor when the rotor rotates in the left / right direction and to limit the rotation range of the rotor. Claim 15 delete

Citation Information

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