Drive arrangement for an electric drive with an inductively energizable drive motor, wheel carrier arrangement, and motor vehicle

• US 10,286,797 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2018
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Original Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Inventors: Klinger, Thomas, Brandstaetter, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): Shriver, II, James A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Triggs, James J
• Application Number:
  US16/136,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20190084430A1
• Time in Patent Office: 236 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/44 Wheel Hub motors, i.e. integrated in the wheel hub
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/50 Structural details of electrical machines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/32 by charging in short intervals along the itinerary, e.g. during short stops
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/30 fed from different kinds of power-supply lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/263 Multiple coils at either side
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/64 Electric machine technologies in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

A drive arrangement with an inductively energizable drive motor, having a wheel, a wheel carrier, at least one receiver coil that is arranged in the circumferential direction of the wheel, a stator, and a rotor arranged in a rotationally resistant manner on the wheel having at least one rotor winding that is electrically connected to the at least one receiver coil. The rotor can be magnetically coupled to the stator. In this case, the drive arrangement is configured such that a current can be induced by an underground base providing a magnetic field in the at least one receiver coil, by which the at least one rotor winding is energized to generate a magnetic field.

Claims

1. A drive arrangement with an inductively energizable drive motor, comprising:

a wheel for a motor vehicle;

a wheel carrier, on which the wheel is rotatably mountable;

at least one receiver coil, which is arranged in the circumferential direction of the wheel;

a stator of the drive motor;

a rotor of the drive motor, arranged in a rotationally resistant manner on the wheel, having at least one rotor winding, which is electrically connected to the at least one receiver coil, wherein the rotor is magnetically coupled to the stator of the drive motor;

wherein the drive arrangement is configured such that a current is induced by an underground base providing a magnetic field in the at least one receiver coil, by which the at least one rotor winding is energized to generate a magnetic field, so that the rotor and the stator are magnetically coupled.

2. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive arrangement is designed such that, when the wheel rolls along on an underground base providing a magnetic field, a current is induced in the at least one receiver coil, by which the at least one rotor winding is energized to generate a magnetic field, so that the rotor and the stator are magnetically coupled in such a way that the wheel experiences an accelerating force due to the magnetic coupling between rotor and stator in the current direction of rotation of the wheel as it rolls along.

3. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stator of the drive motor is arranged in a rotationally resistant manner on the wheel carrier.

4. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver coil is arranged on a carrier material in a tire of the wheel or it is vulcanized in the tire of the wheel or is arranged outside the tire of the wheel.

5. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein a ferrite bridge is arranged between the at least one receiver coil and a rim of the wheel.

6. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver coil is arranged in the circumferential direction on the wheel in such a way that, when the wheel rolls along on an underground base providing a magnetic field, a current is induced in the at least one receiver coil, whose amplitude has a sinusoidal envelope in its course over time.

7. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver coil is arranged in the circumferential direction on the wheel in such a way that, when the wheel rolls along on an underground base providing a magnetic field, a current is induced in the at least one receiver coil, whose amplitude has an envelope that has a time course differing from a sine shape, especially one that is constant over time.

8. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive arrangement has multiple receiver coils with respective windings arranged in the circumferential direction of the wheel, wherein the windings of the respective receiver coils are offset from one another in the wheel circumferential direction, so that when the wheel rolls along on an underground base providing a magnetic field, a current is induced in the respective receiver coils, whose amplitude has a sinusoidal envelope in its time course, so that the respective envelopes are shifted by a predetermined phase from one another.

9. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotor comprises at least three rotor windings and the drive arrangement comprises three receiver coils, which are arranged in a star circuit, so that first terminals of the respective receiver coils are electrically connected together at a first star point, and respective second terminals of the receiver coils are connected at least indirectly to respective second terminals of the at least three rotor windings, and respective first terminals of the at least three rotor windings are electrically connected together at a second star point.

10. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive arrangement comprises a circuit by way of which the at least one receiver coil is connected to the at least one rotor winding, wherein the circuit is designed to alter at least one characteristic of a current induced in the at least one receiver coil, especially wherein the circuit comprises a switching device, by which the amplitude of the current induced in the at least one receiver coil is at least one of scalable and temporarily interruptible, and the circuit is designed to measure and transmit at least one wheel parameter, the at least one wheel parameter being at least one of a tire pressure and a tire temperature.

11. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive motor:

is designed as a synchronous motor, wherein the stator comprises at least one magnet, especially at least one electromagnet, for providing a magnetic field for the magnetic coupling with the rotor, wherein especially an acceleration of the wheel is controllable as a function of an energizing of the electromagnet;

or

is designed as an asynchronous or induction motor, wherein the stator is designed as a squirrel cage for the magnetic coupling with the rotor.

12. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein a transmission is arranged between the rotor and the wheel.

14. A motor vehicle having a drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motor vehicle furthermore comprises a drive mechanism different from the drive motor, which is designed to accelerate the motor vehicle independently of whether a magnetic field is provided by an underground base being driven over.

15. The motor vehicle as claimed in claim 14, wherein the motor vehicle is designed to determine, when driving over an underground base that provides a magnetic field in a specific driving region, whether the wheel is located in the specific driving region as a function of the current power available from the drive motor.

16. The drive arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drive arrangement comprises a circuit by way of which the at least one receiver coil is connected to the at least one rotor winding, wherein the circuit is designed to alter at least one characteristic of a current induced in the at least one receiver coil, especially wherein the circuit comprises a switching device, by which the amplitude of the current induced in the at least one receiver coil is at least one of scalable and temporarily interruptible, or the circuit is designed to measure and transmit at least one wheel parameter, the at least one wheel parameter being at least one of a tire pressure and a tire temperature.

13. A wheel carrier arrangement having a wheel carrier, comprising:

a stator for a drive motor, and wherein upon coupling of the wheel carrier arrangement with a rotor arrangement that has

a wheel, which is rotatably mounted on the wheel carrier;

at least one receiver coil, which is arranged in the circumferential direction of the wheel;

a rotor arranged in a rotationally resistant manner on the wheel having at least one rotor winding, which is electrically connected to the at least one receiver coil;

the wheel carrier arrangement is designed to exert an accelerating force on the wheel by a magnetic coupling of the stator and the rotor if, when the wheel rolls along on an underground base providing a magnetic field, a current is induced in the at least one receiver coil, by which the at least one rotor winding is energized to generate the magnetic coupling with the stator.