Helical Cooling Jacket Groove Geometry for Easy Mold Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotary machine designs face challenges in efficiently manufacturing inner body parts with helical grooves due to interference with molds during demolding, leading to difficulties in releasing the parts and increasing manufacturing costs and time.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates helical grooves with draft angles calculated using specific formulas to prevent undercut formation, allowing for smooth demolding and reducing manufacturing complexity by ensuring the groove sides are inclined in opposite directions relative to the release direction, facilitating the use of molds with fewer parts and potentially reducing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If helical grooves are formed on the inner body part, then cooling efficiency is improved, but mold interference during demolding occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The groove side surfaces are designed with asymmetric draft angles relative to the release direction, where one side has a positive draft angle and the other has a negative draft angle. This asymmetric configuration prevents undercut formation while maintaining the helical groove structure for effective cooling, thereby resolving the contradiction between cooling efficiency and demolding ease.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional machining processes are used to form grooves, then manufacturing precision is achieved, but manufacturing time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The draft angles are pre-calculated and incorporated into the groove design before manufacturing, allowing the inner body part to be directly molded with the final groove geometry. This preliminary design action eliminates the need for subsequent machining operations, achieving both high precision and improved productivity through integrated molding.
3Device complexity
If grooves with vertical sides are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but undercut formation occurs during demolding
Solution Approach 1:
The groove side surfaces are designed with specific draft angle parameters (positive and negative angles relative to the release direction) instead of vertical sides. This parameter change prevents undercut formation while maintaining relative structural simplicity, allowing successful mold demolding without complex groove geometries.
Data Source
AI summary
An example rotary machine includes a motor including a rotor and a stator, and a cooling jacket disposed around the stator. The cooling jacket includes an inner body part being cylindrical and in contact with the stator, an outer body part being cylindrical and surrounding the inner body part, and a groove through which a cooling medium passes, the groove circling helically around an outer circumference of the inner body part at least once. The groove has a pair of side surfaces opposed in a direction of an axis of rotation of the rotor, and a bottom surface connected to each of the pair of side surfaces. Each of the pair of side surfaces is formed having a draft angle inclined away from each other, the draft angle inclined relative to a release direction orthogonal to the axis of rotation.