Heat sink for an electric machine and method for producing said heat sink

Abstract

The invention relates to a heat sink (1) for an electric machine, which heat sink has at least one cooling channel (7), which adjoins an interior (3) surrounded by the heat sink (1). The heat sink (1) is characterized in that the heat sink (1) is designed as a single-piece plate (5) bent into a closed ring, in the case of which plate two opposite abutting surfaces (19, 21) are connected to each other in a fluid-tight manner in the region of a joint (17), wherein a plurality of closed channels (7) extend in the plate (5), which channels extend at an angle to the circumferential direction of the ring in such a way that adjacent channels (7) lead into each other in the region of the joint (17) and thus form a continuous, spiral channel, which extends in a plurality of spiral turns from an axially front end (22) to an axially rear end (24) of the annular heat sink (1). In particular, the plate (5) of the heat sink (1) can be economically extruded and then brought into a shape suitable for the heat sink (1) by means of bending and axial offsetting. The heat sink (1) can be produced in a simple and economical manner and enables efficient cooling of an electric machine while requiring a minimal installation space.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.