Electronically commutated motor

• US 4,668,898 A
• Filed: 04/21/1986
• Issued: 05/26/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Regal Beloit Electronic Motors Incorporated
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Lytle, Peter B., Harms, Harold B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shoop, Jr., William M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ro, Bentsu
• Application Number:
  US06/853,889
• Time in Patent Office: 400 Days
• Field of Search: 318/138, 318/254, 318/439, 310/52, 310/68 R, 310/227, 310/68 D, 310/62, 310/63, 310/67 R
• US Class Current: 318/400.21
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 11/33 Drive circuits, e.g. power electronics H02K11/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 29/06 with position sensing devices H02K29/03 takes precedence

Abstract

An electronically commutated motor has a printed circuit board with opposite sides and a heat dissipating means arranged in spaced apart relation at least in part in the path of at least some of the cooling circulated in the electronically commutated motor by the rotatable assembly thereof. A plurality of insulated gate transistors are located on the heat dissipating means in heat transfer relation therewith adjacent one opposite side of the printed circuit board and are operable to commutate power supplied to the winding stages of the electronically commutated motor. Other solid state components for controlling the conductivity of the insulated gate transistors are located on the other opposite side of the printed circuit board, and the insulated gate transistors and the other solid state components are connected in circuit relation with the printed circuit board.

Claims

1. An electronically commutated motor adapted for energization from a source of power to drive a load, the electronically commutated motor comprising:

a housing having at least one end shield with at least one opening therethrough;

a stator disposed in said housing;

a multi-stage winding arrangement associated with said stator and including a plurality of winding stages adapted to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence;

permanent magnet rotor means associated with said stator and arranged in selective magnetic coupling relation with said winding stages and rotatable for driving the load and for effecting a circulation of cooling air through at least a part of said housing and said at least one opening in said at least one end shield upon the electronic commutation of at least some of said winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence;

solid state electronic circuitry connected in circuit relation with said multi-stage winding arrangement and including a plurality of insulated gate transistors operable to commutate the power supplied from the source thereof to said multi-stage winding arrangement upon the energization of the electronically commutated motor, and solid state circuit means operable generally for controlling the magnitude of the power supplied to said winding stages and the conductivity of said insulated gate transistors thereby to effect the electronic commutation of said at least some winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence and the rotation of said permanent magnet rotor means to drive the load, the heat generated by said insulated gate transistors, said circuit means, said winding stages, said permanent magnet rotor means and said stator upon the energization of the electronically commutated motor being a function of the load driven by said permanent magnet rotor means;

an enclosure mounted to said at least one end shield and formed of a thermally conductive material so as to dissipate at least some of the heat generated upon the energization of the electronically commutated motor, said enclosure including a plurality of wall means for defining therein a chamber communicated with said at least one opening in said at least one end shield so as to receive at least some of the cooling air circulated by said permanent magnet rotor means through said at least one opening;

a support formed of a thermally conductive material and mounted in heat sink relation to one of said wall means of said enclosure within said chamber thereof thereby to be disposed at least in part in the path of the circulated cooling air received in said chamber;

a printed circuit board mounted to said support within said chamber and connecting said solid state circuit means and said insulated gate transistors in circuit relation, said printed circuit board including a pair of generally opposite sides, one of said opposite sides being arranged at least in part generally in facing and spaced apart relation with said support and the other of said opposite sides supporting thereon said circuit means, and said printed circuit board and said circuit means being at least in part disposed in the path of the circulated cooling air received in said chamber; and

a casing formed of a thermally conductive material and encasing in heat transfer relation therein at least said insulated gate transistors, said casing being engaged in heat sink relation with said support and arranged at least generally adjacent said one opposite face of said printed circuit board so as to be disposed at least in part in the path of the circulated cooling air received in said chamber.

2. An electronically commutated motor adapted for energization from a source of power to drive a load, the electronically commutated motor comprising:

a housing including at least one end;

a stator disposed in said housing;

a multi-stage winding arrangement associated with said stator and having a plurality of winding stages adapted to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence;

permanent magnet rotor means associated with said stator so as to be arranged in selective magnetic coupling relation with said winding stages and rotatable for driving the load and for effecting a circulation of cooling air in at least a part of said housing upon the electronic commutation of at least some of said winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence;

a solid state electronic circuit connected in circuit relation with said multi-stage winding arrangement and including a plurality of solid state switching devices operable generally for commutating the power supplied from the source thereof to said multi-stage winding arrangement upon the energization of the electronically commutated motor, and solid state circuit means operable generally for controlling the magnitude of the power supplied to said multi-stage winding arrangement and for controlling the conductivity of said switching devices thereby to effect the electronic commutation of said at least some winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence and the rotation of said permanent magnet rotor means to drive the load and circulate the cooling air, the heat generated by said switching devices, said circuit means, said winding stages, said permanent magnet rotor means and said stator upon the energization of the electronically commutated motor being a function of the load driven by said permanent magnet rotor means;

said housing further including heat dissipating enclosure means mounted thereto for enclosing said at least one end of said housing, and a chamber in said heat dissipating enclosure means subjected to at least some of the cooling air circulated by said permanent magnet rotor means;

heat dissipating support means mounted in heat sink relation to said heat dissipating enclosure means within said chamber and subjected to the at least some cooling air therein, and said switching devices being arranged on said heat dissipating support means in heat transfer relation therewith, respectively;

a printed circuit board connecting said switching devices and circuit means in circuit relation and mounted adjacent said heat dissipating support means within said chamber so as to be subjected to the at least some cooling air therein, and said circuit means being arranged on said printed circuit board with said printed circuit board being interposed between said circuit means and said switching devices arranged on said heat dissipating support means.

3. An electronically commutated motor comprising:

a housing;

a stator in said housing;

a multi-stage winding arrangement associated with said stator and including a plurality of winding stages adapted to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence;

a permanent magnet rotor associated with said stator and arranged in selective magnetic coupling relation with said winding stages so as to be rotatably driven in response to the electronic commutation of at least some of said winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence;

solid state electronic circuitry connected in circuit relation with said multi-stage winding arrangement and including a plurality of solid state switching devices operable generally for commutating power supplied to said winding stages, and solid state circuit means for controlling the power supplied to said winding stages and the conductivity of said switching devices, said switching devices, said circuit means, said permanent magnet rotor, said stator and said multi-stage winding arrangement being operable to generate heat upon the electronic commutation of said at least some winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence;

means for mounting said switching devices and said circuit means in heat dissipating relation to the electronically commutated motor, said mounting means including another housing of thermally conductive material and adapted to mate with said first named housing, a plurality of side walls and an end wall on said another housing defining therein a chamber in which said switching devices and said circuit means are mounted in heat exchange relation; and

a mounting assembly positioned within said another housing and including a printed circuit board supporting said circuit means and connecting said electronic circuitry in circuit relation, and heat dissipating means for supporting at least said switching devices in spaced apart relation from said printed circuit board, said heat dissipating means being arranged in heat transfer relation with said switching devices and said another housing and said switching devices being electrically insulated from said heat dissipating means, respectively.

4. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 3 wherein said another housing includes a plurality of means on an exterior surface thereof for radiating heat, respectively.

5. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 3 further comprising blower means associated with said another housing for effecting a forced air circulation over at least a part of said another housing exteriorly thereof.

6. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 3 wherein said switching devices comprise a plurality of insulated gate transistors.

7. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 3 further comprising means for encasing at least said switching devices, said encasing means being arranged in heat transfer relation between said switching devices and said heat dissipating means, respectively.

8. An electronically commutated motor comprising:

a housing including at least one end;

a stator in said housing;

a multi-stage winding arrangement associated with said stator and including a plurality of winding stages adapted to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence;

a permanent magnet rotatable assembly associated with said stator so as to be arranged in selective magnetic coupling relation with said winding stages and rotatable in response to the electronic commutation of at least some of said winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence to effect a circulation of cooling air through at least a part of said housing;

a thermally conductive enclosure mounted to said housing and enclosing said at least one end of said housing;

means for dissipating heat secured in heat sink relation to said thermally conductive enclosure therewithin and disposed at least in part in the path of at least some of the cooling air circulated by said permanent magnet rotatable assembly;

a printed circuit board mounted in adjacent spaced relation with said heat dissipating means and disposed at least in part in the path of the at least some cooling air circulated by said permanent magnet rotatable assembly, and said printed circuit board including a pair of generally opposite sides; and

means for controlling the electronic commutation of said winding stages and including a plurality of solid state components connected in circuit relation with said printed circuit board, some of said solid state components comprising a plurality of insulated gate transistors arranged on said heat dissipating means in heat transfer relation therewith and spaced adjacent one of said opposite sides of said printed circuit board, and the rest of said solid state components being mounted to the other of the opposite sides of said printed circuit board respectively.

9. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 8 further comprising means for encasing at least said insulated gate transistors, said encasing means being arranged in heat transfer relation with said insulated gate transistors and being engaged in heat sink relation with said heat dissipating means.

10. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 8 further comprising blower means mounted to an exterior part of said thermally conductive enclosure for effecting a forced air circulation over said thermally conductive enclosure exteriorly thereof.

11. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 10 wherein said thermally conductive enclosure includes a plurality of thermal radiating fins on said thermally conductive enclosure exteriorly thereof with at least some of said thermal radiating fins being oriented in a direction at least generally parallel to the direction of the flow of the forced air circulated by said blower means.

12. An electronically commutated motor comprising:

a stationary assembly including a multi-stage winding arrangement having a plurality of winding stages adapted to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence;

a rotatable assembly associated with said stationary assembly and arranged in selective magnetic coupling relation with said winding stages so as to be rotatably driven in response to the electronic commutation of at least some of said winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence to effect a circulation of cooling air in at least a part of the electronically commutated motor;

means for dissipating heat arranged at least in part in the path of at least some of the cooling air circulated by said rotatable assembly;

a printed circuit board arranged in adjacent spaced apart relation with said heat dissipating means and at least in part in the path of the at least some cooling air circulated by said rotatable assembly, said printed circuit board including a pair of generally opposite sides; and

means for controlling the electronic commutation of said winding stages in at least the at least one preselected sequence and including a plurality of solid state components connected in circuit relation with said printed circuit board, some of said solid state components comprising insulted gate transistors located on said heat dissipating means in heat transfer relation therewith and spaced adjacent one of the opposite sides of said printed circuit board and other ones of said solid state components being located on the other of said opposite sides of said printed circuit board, respectively.

13. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 12 further comprising means for encasing at least said insulated gate transistors, said encasing means being arranged in heat transfer relation with said insulated gate transistors and engaged in heat sink relation with said heat dissipating means, respectively.

14. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 12 further comprising means for mounting said heat dissipating means and said printed circuit board in the spaced apart relation thereof to said stationary assembly within the electronically commutated motor.

15. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 12 further comprising thermally conductive enclosure means for securement to the electronically commutated motor and having a chamber subjected to the at least some cooling air circulated by said rotatable assembly, and means for mounting said heat dissipating means and said printed circuit board in the spaced apart relation thereof to said thermally conductive enclosure means within said chamber thereof and for interconnecting said heat dissipating means in heat sink relation with said thermally conductive enclosure means.

16. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 15 further comprising blower means mounted to said thermally conductive enclosure means exteriorly thereof for effecting a forced air circulation over said thermally conductive enclosure means exteriorly thereof.

17. The electronically commutated motor as set forth in claim 16 wherein said thermally conductive enclosure means includes a plurality of thermal radiating fins extending externally thereof and with at least some of said thermal radiating fins being oriented in a direction at least generally parallel to the direction of the flow of the forced air circulated by said blower means, respectively.

18. An electronically commutated motor comprising:

a housing having at least one end;

an end shield mounted to said at least one end of said housing and including at least one opening therethrough;

a stationary assembly disposed in said housing and spaced apart from said end shield, said stationary assembly including a multi-stage winding arrangement having a plurality of winding stages adapted to be electronically commutated in at least one preselected sequence;

a rotatable assembly associated with said stationary assembly and arranged in selective magnetic coupling relation with said winding stages so as to be rotatably driven in response to the electronic commutation of at least some of said winding stages in the at least one preselected sequence to effect circulation of cooling air within said housing at least between said stationary assembly and said end shield;

means for dissipating heat;

a printed circuit board including a pair of generally opposite sides;

means for controlling the electronic commutation of said winding stages in at least the at least one preselected sequence and including a plurality of solid state components connected in circuit relation with said printed circuit board, some of said solid state components comprising a plurality of insulated gate transistors located on said heat dissipating means in heat transfer relation therewith and spaced adjacent one of said opposite sides of said printed circuit board and other ones of said solid state components being located on the other of said opposite sides of said printed circuit board; and

means for mounting said heat dissipating means in heat sink relation with said stationary assembly within said housing between said stationary assembly and said end shield and for retaining said heat dissipating means and said printed circuit board in spaced apart relation.