Rotating Rectifier Fastening Assembly with Inhibiting Tool
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical machine assemblies, particularly in aircraft, face challenges in securely fastening rotating rectifiers to prevent inward radial movement during assembly, which can lead to instability and maintenance issues.
Innovation Solution
A method and assembly that includes a rotating rectifier with radially spaced bus bars and a fastener system, where an inhibiting tool with radially sloped surfaces is used to prevent inward radial movement of the bus bars, ensuring secure fastening to the rotor or shaft while allowing for axial alignment and partial securing during assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional fastening methods are used without an inhibiting tool, then the assembly process is simpler, but the bus bars cannot be effectively prevented from inward radial movement during fastening
Solution Approach 1:
An inhibiting tool is introduced as an intermediary device during the fastening process. This tool includes inhibiting surfaces that contact the bus bars to prevent their inward radial movement while fasteners are being installed. The inhibiting tool acts as a temporary mediator that ensures proper positioning and prevents harmful movement during the critical fastening operation, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
2Ease of operation
If the bus bars are allowed to move radially during assembly, then the assembly process is more flexible, but instability and maintenance issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The inhibiting tool applies preliminary anti-action by preventing inward radial movement of the bus bars before the fastening is complete. The inhibiting surfaces contact the bus bars and oppose any inward radial displacement that would occur during the fastening process. This preliminary counteraction ensures stability throughout the assembly operation, resolving the contradiction between operational flexibility and assembly stability.
3Reliability
If heavier fastening components are used to prevent radial movement, then stability is improved, but weight and size of the assembly increase
Solution Approach 1:
The inhibiting tool serves as a lightweight intermediary mechanism that provides radial constraint during fastening without requiring heavy fastening components. By using the inhibiting surfaces to prevent inward radial movement, the system achieves fastening stability through a relatively lightweight tool rather than through heavier fasteners or structural components, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and weight.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of assembling a rotating rectifier having multiple radially spaced bus bars with a corresponding fastener to an electrical machine having at least one machine with a stator and a rotor mounted on a rotating shaft, the method includes inserting the rotating rectifier into a hollow portion of the rotating shaft, axially aligning the fasteners with a corresponding radial opening in the rotating shaft, inhibiting an inward radial movement of the fasteners by inserting an inhibiting tool into an interior defined by the multiple radially spaced bus bars, and at least partially securing the fasteners to a corresponding fastener on at least one of the rotor and rotating shaft while the inhibiting tool resides in the interior.