Electric motor having improved cooling

An electric motor, in particular an external rotor motor, comprises:

• a stator with a stator core, a non-rotatably mounted shaft, that extends in the axial direction (A) of the motor, and a rotor bell arranged rotatably with respect to the non-rotatable shaft;
• the rotor bell incudes cooling blades in an open, spoke-like design, the rotor bell is rotatably mounted on the shaft by at least one first stator-side bearing shield;
• a cooling device is arranged between and connects the shaft and the stator core, the cooling device has a plurality of axial flow openings arranged in the circumferential direction that causes cooling when the motor rotates during operation;
• the cooling device has an inner ring connecting the shaft and an outer ring connecting the stator core, and web-shaped connecting portions, extending in the radial direction, are formed integrally with the inner ring and the outer ring;
• and
• the connecting portions have a central middle portion that is wider in the circumferential direction compared to the width in the adjacent web portions adjoining the middle portion on both sides.