Rotary Electric Machine Sensor Track Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotating electrical machines for vehicles, particularly those with externally excited synchronous motors, face complexity and manufacturing challenges due to the need for multiple components in rotor position sensors, leading to increased costs and installation tolerances.
Innovation Solution
A rotating electrical machine design that integrates a sensor track directly onto the end winding cover of the rotor laminated core, eliminating the need for a separate sensor wheel, using either the cold gas spraying process or deep-drawing to apply the sensor track, which can be made from materials like copper, aluminum, or specific stainless steel alloys to reduce magnetizability and eddy current losses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate sensor wheel with multiple individual components is used, then the sensor can detect rotor position, but the device complexity and manufacturing/installation tolerances increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor track is integrated directly onto the end winding cover of the rotor, merging the sensor mounting surface with an existing structural component. This eliminates the separate sensor wheel and its associated spacer elements and holding elements, reducing component count while maintaining sensor detection functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The end winding cover serves dual purposes: it provides structural support for the rotor windings and simultaneously serves as the mounting surface for the sensor track. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional dedicated sensor components
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple individual components are used in the sensor arrangement, then the sensor can be assembled, but manufacturing and installation tolerances accumulate
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the sensor track directly onto the end winding cover, the patent eliminates multiple intermediate components (spacer elements, holding elements, sensor wheel). This reduction in component count directly reduces the accumulation of manufacturing and installation tolerances, improving overall precision
3Reliability
If the sensor track is applied using cold gas spraying process, then the sensor track adheres firmly to the substrate, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cold gas spraying process changes the physical state and properties of the coating material by accelerating powder particles to high speeds that cause them to form a dense, firmly adhering layer upon impact without melting. This parameter change (velocity, temperature control) achieves strong adhesion while maintaining material integrity
4Ease of manufacture
If the sensor track is embossed during deep-drawing process, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but the sensor track material options are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor track is embossed directly onto the end winding cover during the deep-drawing process, merging the sensor track manufacturing with the existing cover manufacturing. This integration simplifies the overall manufacturing process while allowing the sensor track to be made from the same material as the cover (copper, aluminum, or stainless steel alloys)
Solution Approach 2:
The end winding cover can be made from various materials including copper, aluminum, or stainless steel alloys with specific compositions (Fe rest Cr 18-19% Ni 12-13%). The sensor track, being embossed from the same material, benefits from these material properties including non-magnetizability and reduced eddy current losses
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
The simplified design reduces component count, manufacturing complexity, and installation tolerances, while maintaining robustness and suitability for high-speed applications, and allows for efficient production methods, enhancing the machine's reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
the sensor track is applied using the cold gas spraying process. With this coating process, the coating material is applied in powder form to a substrate at high speed. The powder particles are accelerated to such a high speed that they form a dense and firmly adhering layer when they hit the substrate without first melting.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Disclosed is a rotary electric machine comprising: - a rotor (1) that includes a laminated core (2) arranged on a rotor shaft (7); - the rotor (1) has at least one end-winding cover (4) that encloses the laminated core (2) in the axial direction of the rotor shaft (7); - the end-winding cover (4) has an outer face (15); - a sensor track (8) of a sensor (13) is arranged on the outer face (15) of the end-winding cover (4).