Sound Abating Heat Sink and Motor Housing

• US 20110082021A1
• Filed: 09/30/2010
• Published: 04/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beckman Coulter Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Beckman Coulter Incorporated (Danaher Corporation)
• Inventors: Burns, Jeffrey H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,951,181 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 494/84
• CPC Class Codes: B04B 9/02 Electric motor drives dynamo-electric machines associated with centrifuges H02K7/16
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 5/18 with ribs or fins for improving heat transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 5/24 specially adapted for suppression or reduction of noise or vibrations

Abstract

A centrifuge includes a rotor configured to receive sample containers; a drive shaft operatively coupled to the rotor; and a motor. The motor includes a housing; a plurality of substantially parallel fins integral with the housing, each fin having a free end spaced from the housing, wherein the free ends of the plurality of fins are disposed in a common cylindrical plane; and a plurality of substantially parallel grooves, each groove disposed between a pair of adjacent fins and having a groove depth defined by a distance between the common cylindrical plane and the housing. Wherein the plurality of grooves includes a first multitude of grooves having a common groove depth and a second multitude of grooves having a groove depth that is not the same as the common groove depth, wherein the first and second multitude of grooves are interleaved.

Claims

1. A centrifuge, comprising:

a rotor configured to receive sample containers;

a drive shaft operatively coupled to the rotor; and

a motor operatively coupled to the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft and the rotor during a centrifugal operation, herein the motor comprises;

(i) a housing;

(ii) a plurality of substantially parallel fins integral with the housing, each fin having a free end spaced from the housing, wherein the free ends of the plurality of fins are disposed in a common cylindrical plane; and

(iii) a plurality of substantially parallel grooves, each groove disposed between a pair of adjacent fins and having a groove depth defined by a distance between the common cylindrical plane and the housing,

wherein the plurality of grooves comprises a first multitude of grooves having a common groove depth and a second multitude of grooves having a groove depth that is not the same as the common groove depth, wherein the first and second multitude of grooves are interleaved.

2. The centrifuge of claim 1, wherein at least two of the second multitude of grooves have a different groove depth.

3. The centrifuge of claim 1, wherein each of the second multitude of grooves have a different groove depth.

4. The centrifuge of claim 1, wherein every other groove has the common groove depth.

5. The centrifuge of claim 1, wherein the common groove depth is greater than the groove depth of each of the second multitude of grooves.

6. A centrifuge, comprising:

a rotor configured to receive sample containers;

a drive shaft operatively coupled to the rotor; and

a motor operatively coupled to the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft and the rotor during a centrifugal operation, wherein the motor comprises;

(i) a housing;

(ii) a plurality of substantially parallel fins integral with the housing, each fin having a free end spaced from the housing, wherein the free ends of the plurality of fins are disposed in a common cylindrical plane; and

(iii) a plurality of substantially parallel grooves, each groove disposed between a pair of adjacent fins and having a groove depth defined by a distance between the common cylindrical plane and the housing,

wherein each groove has a groove depth that is different than the groove depth of an adjacent groove.

7. The centrifuge of claim 6, wherein the groove depth of at least three of the plurality of grooves are different.

8. The centrifuge of claim 7, wherein the depth of the different groove depths are randomly selected.

9. The centrifuge of claim 6, wherein at least two of the groove depths are the same.

10. The centrifuge of claim 9, wherein at least two of the groove depths are different, wherein the grooves having the same groove depth and the grooves having different groove depths are interleaved.

11. The centrifuge of claim 10, wherein the grooves having the same groove depth are every other groove.

12. The centrifuge of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of fins has a fin thickness and wherein at least two of the fins have a fin thickness that is not the same.

13. A centrifuge, comprising:

a rotor configured to receive sample containers;

a drive shaft operatively coupled to the rotor; and

a motor operatively coupled to the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft and the rotor during a centrifugal operation, wherein the motor comprises a housing and a plurality of substantially parallel fins extending from the housing,

wherein the housing comprises a body portion and a plurality of protrusions integral with the body portion, the plurality of protrusions disposed between pairs of adjacent fins, each protrusion having a radial dimension defined by a distance that the protrusion extends away from the body portion,

wherein each protrusion has a radial dimension that is not the same as the radial dimension of an adjacent protrusion.

14. The centrifuge of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of protrusions has a different radial dimension.

15. The centrifuge of claim 14, wherein protrusions of different radial dimension are randomly distributed along the housing.

16. The centrifuge of claim 13, wherein the plurality of protrusions are disposed in a regular period between pairs of adjacent fins.

17. The centrifuge of claim 16, wherein the plurality of protrusions are disposed between every other pair of adjacent fins.

18. The centrifuge of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of fins has a free end spaced from the housing, wherein the free ends of the plurality of fins are disposed in a common cylindrical plane.

19. The centrifuge of claim 13, wherein the plurality of protrusions comprises a first, second, and third consecutive protrusion, wherein the second consecutive protrusion is between the first and third consecutive protrusions, wherein the radial dimension of the second consecutive protrusion is greater than the radial dimensions of the first and third consecutive protrusions.

20. The centrifuge of claim 13, wherein the plurality of protrusions comprises a first, second, and third consecutive protrusion, wherein the second consecutive protrusion is between the first and third consecutive protrusions, wherein the radial dimension of the second consecutive protrusion is less than the radial dimensions of the first and third consecutive protrusions.