WHEEL ASSEMBLY DEFINING A MOTOR/GENERATOR

• US 20140225550A1
• Filed: 07/13/2012
• Published: 08/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tidnab Innovations Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tidnab Innovations Inc.
• Inventors: Tchervenkov, Jean I., Crevier, Sylvain, Grenier, Stephane
• Granted Patent: US 9,139,081 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 318/473
• CPC Class Codes: B60B 21/00 Rims non-metallic B60B5/00; of high resiliency B60B9/00; capable of carrying more than one tyre B60B11/04; multiple rims on a single wheel body B60B11/06; of multi-part type B60B25/00; metal tyres B60C
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0092 the motor axle being coaxial to the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 7/0007 the motor being electric
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/44 Wheel Hub motors, i.e. integrated in the wheel hub
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/51 characterised by AC-motors
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 11/25 Devices for sensing temperature, or actuated thereby
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 11/33 Drive circuits, e.g. power electronics H02K11/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 16/04 Machines with one rotor and two stators
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 21/22 with magnets rotating around the armatures, e.g. flywheel magnetos
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 2213/06 Machines characterised by the presence of fail safe, back up, redundant or other similar emergency arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 2213/09 Machines characterised by the presence of elements which are subject to variation, e.g. adjustable bearings, reconfigurable windings, variable pitch ventilators
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 2213/12 Machines characterised by the modularity of some components
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 3/28 Layout of windings or of connections between windings windings for pole-changing H02K17/06, H02K17/14, H02K19/12, H02K19/32
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 7/14 Structural association with mechanical loads, e.g. with hand-held machine tools or fans with fan or impeller for cooling the machine H02K9/06
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 29/60 Controlling or determining the temperature of the motor or of the drive H02P29/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/72 Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction
• 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

Abstract

The present document describes a wheel assembly defining a motor/generator. The wheel assembly comprises a plurality of stator units coaxially provided within a rotor. The stator units comprise a plurality of spokes co-centrically provided around a hub/shaft and a coil provided around at least a portion of the spokes for generating an electrical field. The rotor comprises a plurality of magnets provided on an inner periphery of the rotor facing the spokes. The rotor is rotatably attached to the hub/shaft of the stator for rotating around the stator units when the coils are activated. The coils and/or the stator units may be selectively activated and deactivated to avoid overheating.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a chassis;

a power source;

at least one wheel assembly defining a motor, the wheel assembly being attached to the chassis and comprising;

two or more wheel shaped stator units, each stator unit having a plurality of spokes co-centrically provided around a hub/shaft, the hub/shaft being attached to the chassis of the vehicle;

a coil wrapped around at least some of the spokes for generating a magnetic field;

a wheel shaped rotor adapted to receive the stator units therein, the rotor being rotatably attached to the hub/shaft and comprising a plurality of magnets provided on an inner periphery of the rotor facing the spokes, wherein the magnets are arranged so that adjacent magnet poles have opposite magnetic polarities;

wherein interaction between magnetic fields generated by the coils and magnetic fields generated by the magnets cause the rotor to rotate around the stator

a driver control unit for receiving driving commands;

a computer operably connected to the driver control unit for controlling operation of the coils and an intensity of an electric current fed into the coils from the power source in accordance with the driving commands,

wherein the coils of each stator unit are activated or deactivated to avoid overheating.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the coils are controlled on a stator unit level, whereby all coils of the same stator unit are activated or deactivated simultaneously to avoid overheating.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein each coil is controlled separately, whereby selected coils of different stator units operate at the same time to avoid overheating.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein a space exists between adjacent stator units.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the stator units have different magnetic capacities.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the power source includes one or more of:

a battery, a solar panel, and a generator connected to a combustion engine.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein a spacing exists between the stator and the magnets of the rotor.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the magnets are permanent magnets.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the magnets are made of rare earth materials.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the magnets include neodymium magnets.

22. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising heat sensors provided on one or more of the stator units and connected to the computer for sensing temperature of the stator units, wherein the computer is adapted to activate idle coils and deactivate activated coils using data received from the heat sensors.

11. A wheel assembly for connecting to a vehicle, the wheel assembly comprising:

two or more wheel shaped stator units, each stator unit having a plurality of spokes co-centrically provided around a hub/shaft, the hub/shaft for attaching to a chassis of the vehicle;

a coil wrapped around at least some of the spokes for generating a magnetic field in response to an electric current fed in the coil;

a wheel shaped rotor adapted to receive the stator units therein, the rotor being rotatably attached to the hub/shaft and comprising a plurality of magnets provided on an inner periphery of the rotor facing the spokes, wherein the magnets are arranged so that adjacent magnet poles have opposite magnetic polarities, whereby magnetic fields generated by the coils and magnetic fields generated by the magnets cause the rotor to rotate around the stator;

a heat sensor provided on one or more of the stator units for sensing temperature of the stator units and sending sensor reading data to a computer;

wherein the coils of each stator unit are activated or deactivated based on the sensor reading data generated by the heat sensor to avoid overheating.

12. The wheel assembly of claim 11, wherein the coils in a single stator unit are wired together so that the coils are activated or deactivated simultaneously.

13. The wheel assembly of claim 11, wherein each coil has a separate wiring whereby selected coils of different stator units may operate at the same time.

14. The wheel assembly of claim 11, wherein a space exists between adjacent stator units.

15. The wheel assembly of claim 11, wherein the stator units have different magnetic capacities.

16. The wheel assembly of claim 11, wherein a space exists between the stator and the magnets of the rotor.

17. The wheel assembly of claim 11, wherein the magnets include one of:

permanent magnets, rare earth magnets, and neodymium magnets.

18. A method for generating electricity, the method comprising:

installing two or more wheel shaped stator units co-axially in a wheel shaped rotor adapted to receive the stator units therein, wherein each stator unit has a plurality of spokes co-centrically provided around a hub/shaft and a plurality of coils provided around at least a portion of the spokes, and wherein the rotor comprises a plurality of magnets provided on an inner periphery of the rotor facing the spokes, the magnets being arranged so that adjacent magnet poles have opposite magnetic polarities;

rotating the rotor around the stator to create an electric current in the coils;

collecting the electric current from a first set of coils of a first stator unit;

switching the collection of electric current from the first set of coils to a second set of coils of a second stator unit to avoid overheating in the first set of coils.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising sensing temperature of the stator units for performing the switching.

19. (canceled)

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24. (canceled)