Turbocharger Brake
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A turbocharger for providing boost to an engine, comprising:
- a rotatable shaft;
one or more permanent magnet braking rotors arranged to be driven by the rotatable shaft;
one or more braking stators positioned relative to the one or more braking rotors, such that rotation of the rotatable shaft induces eddy currents in the one or more braking stators to extract energy from the rotatable shaft thereby; and
a controller, arranged to receive an input parameter, and in response to said input parameter, to adjust a distance between the one or more braking rotors and the one or more braking stators to vary the level of generation of eddy currents and control braking of the rotatable shaft thereby.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Exhaust gases can bypass a turbocharger to reduce its speed, but energy in the gases is then lost. A brake for a turbocharger can be implemented using at least one rotor driven by the turbocharger rotatable shaft and at least one stator. Either the rotor or stator are magnetic, the other being ferrous, such that rotation of the shaft induces eddy currents in the ferrous part, thereby extracting energy from the shaft. The magnetic field experienced by the ferrous part can be adjusted in response to an input parameter to control the level of braking.
9 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A turbocharger for providing boost to an engine, comprising:
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a rotatable shaft; one or more permanent magnet braking rotors arranged to be driven by the rotatable shaft; one or more braking stators positioned relative to the one or more braking rotors, such that rotation of the rotatable shaft induces eddy currents in the one or more braking stators to extract energy from the rotatable shaft thereby; and a controller, arranged to receive an input parameter, and in response to said input parameter, to adjust a distance between the one or more braking rotors and the one or more braking stators to vary the level of generation of eddy currents and control braking of the rotatable shaft thereby. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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2. A turbocharger for providing boost to an engine, comprising:
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a rotatable shaft; one or more braking rotors arranged to be driven by the rotatable shaft; one or more magnetic braking stators positioned relative to the one or more braking rotors, such that rotation of the rotatable shaft induces eddy currents in the one or more braking rotors to extract energy from the rotatable shaft thereby; and a controller, arranged to receive an input parameter, and in response to said input parameter, to adjust the magnetic field strength at the one or more braking rotors to vary the level of generation of eddy currents and control braking of the rotatable shaft thereby. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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14. A method of operating a turbocharger, the turbocharger comprising a rotatable shaft and a braking arrangement comprising one or more permanent magnet braking rotors and one or more braking stators, the method comprising:
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rotating the rotatable shaft during operation of the turbocharger to generate boost, thereby driving rotation of the one or more braking rotors relative to the braking stator; receiving an input parameter of the turbocharger; and adjusting a distance between the one or more braking rotors and the one or more braking stators in response to said input parameter, to control the level of generation of eddy currents in the one or more braking stators and thereby control the rate of energy extraction from the rotatable shaft and braking of the rotatable shaft.
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15. A method of operating a turbocharger, the turbocharger comprising a rotatable shaft and a braking arrangement comprising one or more braking rotors and one or more magnetic braking stators, the method comprising:
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rotating the rotatable shaft during operation of the turbocharger to generate boost, thereby driving rotation of the one or more braking rotors relative to the braking stator; receiving an input parameter of the turbocharger; and adjusting the magnetic field strength at the one or more braking rotors in response to said input parameter, to control the level of generation of eddy currents in the one or more braking rotors and thereby control the rate of energy extraction from the rotatable shaft and braking of the rotatable shaft.
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Specification