Super-conductive electrical machine having an improved system for maintaining vacuum in the stator/rotor space

Abstract

A super-conductive cryogen-cooled electrical machine comprises a rotor disposed within a hollow stator with an annular gap which is evacuated and kept under vacuum by means of at least two shells furnished with ports and position concentrically with a clearance or gap therebetween. One of said shells is supported in a cantilevered fashion by the rotor on the end face thereof to be coaxial therewith and the other being supported in a cantilevered fashion by the stator on the end face thereof opposite said end face of the rotor. The ports in the rotor-supported shells are made so that their axes form an acute angle .alpha. with tangent lines drawn to the shell periphery from the points where the port axes intersect the shell envelope in the direction of the rotor rotation, while the ports in the stator supported shells are made so as to form, in a similar way, an angle .beta.=180.degree.-.alpha.. The proposed construction of the electrical machine permits increasing the reliability and efficiency of the vacuum heat insulation of the rotor and reducing manufacture and operating costs.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.