Overheat preventing apparatus for electric motor

Abstract

The present invention includes temperature transition estimating means 24, 25 for estimating a temperature transition of an electric motor 1 caused by the passage of electric current through the electric motor 1, an electric pump 8 as coolant supplying means for supplying a coolant to the electric motor, and coolant supply control means 26 to 28 for controlling the pump 8 according to the temperature transition of the electric motor 1 and the coolant temperature. The amount of operation of the electric pump 8 is determined from the temperature transition and the coolant temperature. This structure makes it possible to prevent overheating o the electric motor properly using the coolant while minimizing the energy consumption involved in using the coolant.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.