Propulsor system with integrated passive cooling
AssigneeAurora Flight Sciences Corporation
InventorDaniel B. Cottrell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Propulsors (e.g., an electric motor mechanically coupled to a rotor) are described that passively cool the electric motors via an airflow path through the electric motor and out of the rotors. One embodiment comprises a method of cooling an electric motor. The method comprises operating the electric motor of a propulsor for an aircraft to rotate a rotor of the propulsor, where the rotor has one or more air outlets, and where the electric motor has a housing that includes one or more air inlets in fluid communication with the one or more air inlets. The method further comprises generating, by rotating the rotor using the electric motor, an airflow through the electric motor from the one or more air inlets to the one or more air outlets to cool the electric motor.
Claims20
A method of cooling an electric motor, comprising:
- operating the electric motor of a propulsor to rotate a rotor disposed outside a housing of the electric motor to propel the propulsor through an environment, the rotor having one or more air outlets, and the housing of the electric motor having one or more air inlets in fluid communication with the one or more air outlets;
- and
- generating, by rotating the rotor using the electric motor, an airflow through the electric motor from the one or more air inlets to the one or more air outlets to cool the electric motor.
A propulsor to cool an electric motor, the propulsor comprising:
- a rotor including blades extending radially from a hub that rotates to propel the propulsor with the blades, one or more of the blades having a first interior passage extending from the hub to one or more air outlets;
- and
- the electric motor, comprising:
- a housing including one or more air inlets;
- and
- a shaft mechanically coupled to the hub, wherein the shaft includes a second interior passage that provides a flow path for an airflow through the electric motor from the one or more air inlets to the first interior passage to cool the electric motor.
An aircraft equipped with one or more propulsors for cooling an electric motor, the one or more propulsors comprising:
- a rotor including blades extending radially from a hub that rotates to propel the aircraft with the blades, one or more of the blades having an interior passage extending from the hub to one or more air outlets;
- and
- the electric motor, comprising:
- one or more air inlets;
- and
- a hollow shaft mechanically coupled to the rotor and open to the interior passage that provides a flow path for an airflow through the electric motor from the one or more air inlets to the one or more air outlets to cool the electric motor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.