Electric Motor Mounting Hub with Radial Offset Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric motor designs for mounting to combustion engines lack efficient structural configurations that ensure precise positioning and secure attachment, leading to potential misalignment and instability during operation.
Innovation Solution
The electric motor design includes a hub, two plates, a rotor, and a method of mounting that utilizes a fastener system with an annular flange and cylindrical protrusions to radially position components, along with a resolver system for determining rotational position, ensuring secure attachment to the crankshaft and engine block, and includes a stud and nut for additional fixation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional mounting structure is used, then the electric motor can be attached to the combustion engine, but misalignment and instability occur during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mounting structure with a hub, first plate, and second plate as intermediary components between the electric motor and combustion engine crankshaft. The hub receives the rotor and connects to the first plate, which in turn connects to the second plate that attaches to the crankshaft. This multi-component intermediary system provides adjustment capabilities and precise positioning features that eliminate misalignment and instability issues present in conventional direct mounting approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting structure is segmented into multiple independent components: a hub for rotor mounting, a first plate connecting the hub to the second plate, and a second plate for crankshaft attachment. This segmentation allows each component to be independently manufactured, positioned, and adjusted, enabling precise alignment control and eliminating the misalignment problems that occur in conventional unified mounting structures.
2Manufacturing precision
If the mounting structure is simplified, then manufacturing becomes easier, but positioning precision and secure attachment are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The hub includes pre-formed cylindrical protrusions that extend radially outward, and the first plate includes corresponding cylindrical recesses. These preliminary structural features are built into the components during manufacturing, enabling precise radial positioning to be achieved simply by assembling the components together without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms or additional positioning operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional flat mounting surfaces to three-dimensional cylindrical positioning features. The cylindrical protrusions on the hub fit into cylindrical recesses in the first plate, creating precise radial positioning in multiple dimensions simultaneously. This dimensional approach achieves high positioning accuracy without increasing overall structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An electric motor arranged for mounting to a combustion engine includes an axis of rotation, a hub, a first plate, a second plate, and a rotor. The first plate is fixed to the hub at a first radially inner diameter, the second plate is fixed to the first plate at a radially outer diameter and arranged for fixing directly to a crankshaft of the combustion engine at a second radially inner diameter, and the rotor is fixed to the hub at the first radially inner diameter. In an example embodiment, the first radially inner diameter is radially offset from the second radially inner diameter.