US 2021/0175772 A1 · TECHNIQUES FOR SUB-MICRON RADIAL ALIGNMENT OF ELECTRIC MOTOR COMPONENTS AND AIR FLOW MANAGEMENT TO EXTEND MOTOR LIFESPAN

Abstract

The present disclosure is generally directed to techniques for radial alignment of motor components relative to each other to achieve a motor with a rotor bore having sub-micron end-to-end deviation. In an embodiment, a rotor bore alignment tool is disclosed herein that can be inserted between motor components, and more particularly, apertures/through holes defined by each of the motor components such as housing sections and a stator assembly. The rotor bore alignment tool includes expandable members that can be selectively transitioned to an extended position to cause each of the motor components to be radially aligned prior to securely coupling the same in a so-called “stack” to form a motor. Once the motor components are coupled together, the resulting motor includes a rotor shaft extending from end-to-end that preferably includes a sub-micron deviation of less than 10 microns, and more preferably less than or equal to 5 microns, for example.

Claims30

Dependent claims

An electric motor, the electric motor comprising:

a first housing portion defining a first rotor receptacle to receive and couple to a first end of a rotor assembly;
a second housing portion defining a second rotor receptacle to receive and couple to a second end of the rotor assembly, the first and second housing portions configured to couple together and collectively provide a rotor bore to receive the rotor assembly;
and
a rotor assembly disposed within the rotor bore, the rotor assembly comprising a shaft and at least a first bearing coupled concentrically along the shaft, the first bearing being disposed within the first rotor receptacle of the first housing portion or within the second rotor receptacle of the second housing portion, and wherein the shaft and first bearing are radially aligned with each other based on the rotor bore collectively provided by the first and second housing portions having an end-to-end offset deviation of less than 10 microns.

1 more element

A rotor bore alignment device for radial alignment of a bore collectively provided by a plurality of housing portions of an electric motor, the rotor bore alignment device comprising:

a shaft, the shaft having at least one extendable member disposed at a predefined location along the shaft, the at least one extendable member to selectively transition from a retracted orientation to an extended orientation, the retracted orientation causing the at least one extendable member to radially extend from the shaft to a first distance D1, and the extended orientation causing the at least one extendable member to radially extend from the shaft to a second distance D2, the second distance D2 being greater than the first distance D1;
and
wherein the shaft is configured to slidably couple into the bore to a predefined position, the predefined position to align the at least one extendable member with at least a first motor component of the electric motor such that transitioning of the at least one extendable member to the extended orientation causes radial alignment of the first motor component with a second motor component of the electric motor.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Techniques for sub-micron radial alignment of electric motor components and air flow management to extend motor lifespan

Life of this patent

Techniques for sub-micron radial alignment of electric motor components and air flow management to extend motor lifespan

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30