Liquid Cooled Rotor Assembly
First Claim
1. A method of cooling an electric motor in an electric vehicle, said method comprising of the steps of:
- rotating a rotor shaft of the electric motor at a shaft rotation rate, said rotor shaft comprised of an open end located at a first end of said rotor shaft and a closed end located at a second end of said rotor shaft;
rotating a coolant feed tube extending through said open end of said rotor shaft and positioned within a hollow portion of said rotor shaft at a tube rotation rate, wherein said tube rotation rate is equivalent to said shaft rotation rate; and
pumping a coolant through a coolant inlet located at a first end of said coolant feed tube, through said coolant feed tube, out of a coolant outlet located at a second end of said coolant feed tube, through a coolant flow region between an outer surface of said coolant feed tube and an inner surface of said hollow portion of said rotor shaft, and through said open end of said rotor shaft.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rotor assembly cooling system (100) and method of using same are provided. A portion of the rotor shaft (103) is hollow, the rotor shaft including an open end (107) and a closed end (105). A coolant feed tube (109) is rigidly attached to the rotor shaft (103) using one or more support members (111), thus causing the shaft and the feed tube to rotate at the same rate. Coolant is pumped through the feed tube until it exits the end of the feed tube and flows against the inside surface of the closed end of the rotor shaft causing the coolant to change direction and flow back through the coolant flow region, this region being defined as the space between the outer surface of the feed tube and the inner surface of the hollow rotor shaft.
-
Citations
10 Claims
-
1. A method of cooling an electric motor in an electric vehicle, said method comprising of the steps of:
-
rotating a rotor shaft of the electric motor at a shaft rotation rate, said rotor shaft comprised of an open end located at a first end of said rotor shaft and a closed end located at a second end of said rotor shaft; rotating a coolant feed tube extending through said open end of said rotor shaft and positioned within a hollow portion of said rotor shaft at a tube rotation rate, wherein said tube rotation rate is equivalent to said shaft rotation rate; and pumping a coolant through a coolant inlet located at a first end of said coolant feed tube, through said coolant feed tube, out of a coolant outlet located at a second end of said coolant feed tube, through a coolant flow region between an outer surface of said coolant feed tube and an inner surface of said hollow portion of said rotor shaft, and through said open end of said rotor shaft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
Specification