Electric Motor Commutator Segment Grouping for Brush Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric motors face challenges in reducing size and cost while achieving high performance, particularly due to issues with brush arrangement, winding complexity, and manufacturing costs associated with large numbers of segments and equalizers.
Innovation Solution
The electric motor design incorporates a yoke with six magnetic poles, an armature core with evenly spaced teeth and slots, single wave winding, and a commutator with segments connected by brushes, allowing for reduced voltage between segments, simplified winding, and the use of a typical two-pole brush arrangement, enabling smaller size and lower manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a large number of segments and equalizers are used to reduce brush installations, then the number of brushes is reduced, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The commutator is divided into a specific number of segments (12, 14, 16, or 18) that corresponds to the slot configuration, allowing for optimized brush placement. The segments are grouped into sets where each set includes segments connected to adjacent coils, enabling reduced brush installations while maintaining proper electrical connections.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple segments that are connected to adjacent coils are electrically connected together to form segment sets. This merging of segments allows a reduced number of brushes to serve multiple coils simultaneously, reducing the total number of brush installations while maintaining proper electrical connections to all coils.
2Power
If multiple winding methods are used to achieve high performance, then motor performance is improved, but the winding complexity and manufacturing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The winding method is optimized for each specific motor configuration (12-slot, 14-slot, 16-slot, or 18-slot) with corresponding segment arrangements. Each configuration has tailored winding patterns that achieve high performance while simplifying the winding process for that specific configuration, rather than using a universal complex winding method.
Solution Approach 2:
The segments are pre-configured and connected in specific patterns before the winding process begins. The segment sets are prepared in advance with predetermined electrical connections, which simplifies the subsequent winding operation and reduces manufacturing time while maintaining high performance characteristics.
3Quantity of substance
If equalizers are added to connect segments at the same potential, then the number of brushes can be reduced, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Segments that would require equalizers to connect are instead directly grouped into segment sets that are electrically connected through the winding structure itself. This merging approach eliminates the need for separate equalizer components while achieving the same effect of reducing brush installations.
Solution Approach 2:
The function of equalizers is extracted and integrated directly into the segment set configuration and winding structure. Rather than adding separate equalizer components, the electrical connections between segments are built into the fundamental structure of the commutator and winding arrangement, simplifying manufacturing.
4Power
If a non-typical brush arrangement is used for 6-pole motors, then the motor design is optimized, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The brush arrangement and segment configuration are designed to be universal across multiple motor types (12-slot, 14-slot, 16-slot, and 18-slot configurations). This universality allows the same basic design principles to be applied to different motor specifications, reducing development and manufacturing costs while maintaining optimized performance for each configuration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration reduces voltage between segments, simplifies winding, and eliminates the need for equalizers, resulting in a more compact, cost-effective motor with improved rectification characteristics and reduced cogging torque and torque ripple.
Implementation Method 1
an electric motor in which a plurality of permanent magnets is disposed on an inner circumferential surface of a bottomed cylindrical yoke, and an armature is rotatably provided radially inward from the permanent magnets
Implementation Method 2
Current is supplied to the windings via the brush
Data Source
AI summary
An electric motor includes a yoke having six magnetic poles; a rotary shaft which is provided inside the yoke in a freely rotatable manner; an armature core (6) which has teeth (36) attached to the rotary shaft, radially extending in a radial direction and set in an arrangement of an even number, and an even number of slots (37) formed between the teeth; an armature coil (7) which is wound around the teeth in a single wave winding; and a commutator (13) which is provided in the rotary shaft to be adjacent to the armature core (6) and has a plurality of circumferentially disposed segments (41) to which the armature coil (7) is connected.