Wheel motor
First Claim
1. A wheel motor, comprising:
- a stator adapted to be coupled to a vehicle structure, the stator including a body portion and a core, said core extending radially outward from said body portion;
a rotor disposed about said stator and having a portion positioned radially outboard of and around said stator core, said rotor portion having a plurality of magnets aligned with said stator core, and said rotor adapted to be coupled to a rotatable vehicle component so as to be rotatable relative to the stator;
at least one winding element disposed circumferentially around said stator core; and
a controller positioned in a pocket integrally formed in the body portion of said stator;
said controller coupled to said at least one winding element and arranged to selectively provide a supply of current to said at least one winding element to generate a magnetic flux to rotate said rotor relative to said stator;
wherein said stator core comprises a U-shaped stator core, said U-shaped stator core having axially inboard an outboard radial surfaces spaced apart from each other and connected by a radially outermost axial surface, and wherein the rotor portion comprises a corresponding U-shape configured so as to receive the U-shaped stator core substantially within the U-shape of the rotor portion, the rotor U-shape portion having axially inboard and outboard radial surfaces spaced apart from each other and connected by a radially outermost axial surface.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wheel motor can include a stator adapted to be coupled to a vehicle. The stator can include a body portion and a core extending radially outward from the body portion. A rotor can be disposed about the stator and can have a portion positioned radially outboard of and around the stator core. The rotor can include a plurality of magnets aligned with the stator core, and can be adapted to be coupled to a rotatable vehicle component. At least one winding element can be disposed circumferentially around the stator core, and a controller can be positioned in a pocket integrally formed in the stator body portion. The controller can be coupled to the at least one winding element and can be arranged to selectively provide a current supply to the at least one winding element to generate a magnetic flux to rotate the rotor relative to the stator.
57 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A wheel motor, comprising:
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a stator adapted to be coupled to a vehicle structure, the stator including a body portion and a core, said core extending radially outward from said body portion; a rotor disposed about said stator and having a portion positioned radially outboard of and around said stator core, said rotor portion having a plurality of magnets aligned with said stator core, and said rotor adapted to be coupled to a rotatable vehicle component so as to be rotatable relative to the stator; at least one winding element disposed circumferentially around said stator core; and a controller positioned in a pocket integrally formed in the body portion of said stator;
said controller coupled to said at least one winding element and arranged to selectively provide a supply of current to said at least one winding element to generate a magnetic flux to rotate said rotor relative to said stator;wherein said stator core comprises a U-shaped stator core, said U-shaped stator core having axially inboard an outboard radial surfaces spaced apart from each other and connected by a radially outermost axial surface, and wherein the rotor portion comprises a corresponding U-shape configured so as to receive the U-shaped stator core substantially within the U-shape of the rotor portion, the rotor U-shape portion having axially inboard and outboard radial surfaces spaced apart from each other and connected by a radially outermost axial surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A wheel motor, comprising:
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a stator adapted to be fixed to a wheel hub assembly, the stator including a body portion and a core formed from insulated powdered metal, the body portion having a mounting region adapted to engage the wheel hub assembly, the core having a U-shape and positioned radially outboard of the body portion, the U-shape including axially inboard and outboard radial surfaces spaced apart from each other and connected by a radially outermost axial surface, the radially outermost axial surface including a plurality of radial slots spaced apart from each other around a circumference of the stator core; a rotor disposed about said stator and having a U-shaped portion positioned radially outboard of and around said U-shaped stator core, said rotor having a plurality of magnets positioned in a U-shaped configuration on a radially inner surface of the rotor U-shaped portion, said rotor adapted to be coupled to a rotatable portion of said wheel hub assembly so as to be rotatable relative to said stator; a plurality of laminations positioned in the plurality of radial slots and arranged to extend radially outboard from the stator core outermost axial surface so as to form a plurality of lamination slots; at least one winding element disposed circumferentially about the stator core so as to be positioned in each lamination slot, said at least one winding element substantially conforming to the U-shape of the stator core; a controller positioned in a pocket integrally formed in the stator body portion, the pocket positioned radially inboard of the stator core and radially outboard of the mounting area, said controller coupled to the at least one winding element; wherein the rotor U-shaped portion is disposed about the stator core U-shaped portion such that the respective axially inboard and outboard surfaces and the radially outboard surfaces of the rotor and stator are opposed from each other and there is an air gap between the plurality of U-shaped rotor magnets and the at least one winding element, and wherein said controller is arranged to selectively provide a supply of current to the at least one winding element to generate a three dimensional magnetic flux to rotate the rotor relative to the stator. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification