U.S. patent application number 17/324722 was filed with the patent office on 2022-08-18 for drive assembly.
This patent application is currently assigned to FTE AUTOMOTIVE GmbH. The applicant listed for this patent is FTE AUTOMOTIVE GmbH. Invention is credited to Roland STOESSEL.
Application Number | 20220263373 17/324722 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-08-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220263373 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
STOESSEL; Roland |
August 18, 2022 |
DRIVE ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A drive assembly having an electric motor, having a stator
housing, a stator accommodated therein and having at least one
winding, a stator insulation which has a lower part and an upper
part, wherein the lower part rests against at least one bearing
surface in the stator housing, terminal contacts for the winding,
wherein the terminal contacts are held in a contact carrier, which
is provided on the lower part of the stator insulation, and a
printed circuit board, which rests on at least one supporting
surface in the stator housing, wherein the terminal contacts are in
contact with associated conductor tracks of the printed circuit
board.
Inventors: |
STOESSEL; Roland; (Ebern,
DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
FTE AUTOMOTIVE GmbH |
Ebern |
|
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
FTE AUTOMOTIVE GmbH
Ebern
DE
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20210367475 A1 |
November 25, 2021 |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
17/324722 |
Filed: |
May 19, 2021 |
International
Class: |
H02K 3/52 20060101
H02K003/52; H02K 3/32 20060101 H02K003/32; H02K 11/33 20060101
H02K011/33; H02K 5/22 20060101 H02K005/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 19, 2020 |
DE |
10 2020 113 551.3 |
Claims
1. A drive assembly having an electric motor, having a stator
housing, a stator accommodated therein and having at least one
winding, a stator insulation which has a lower part and an upper
part, wherein the lower part rests against at least one bearing
surface in the stator housing, terminal contacts for the winding,
wherein the terminal contacts are held in a contact carrier, which
is provided on the lower part of the stator insulation, and a
printed circuit board, which rests on at least one supporting
surface in the stator housing, wherein the terminal contacts are in
contact with associated conductor tracks of the printed circuit
board.
2. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the upper part
and the lower part of the stator insulation are connected to one
another with a latching connection.
3. The drive assembly according to claim 2, wherein the latching
connection allows play of the upper part relative to the lower
part.
4. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the stator
housing has a base which forms the bearing surface for the lower
part.
5. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the stator
housing has a shoulder, on which the supporting surface for the
printed circuit board is arranged.
6. The drive assembly according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of
supporting surfaces is arranged on the shoulder, wherein a centring
pin is assigned to at least one of the supporting surfaces.
7. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the upper part
rests laterally against the contact carrier.
8. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the terminal
contacts are insulation displacement contacts and the contact
carrier has guide channels for the ends of the winding.
9. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the each
terminal contact has a press-in pin which is pressed into a contact
opening of the printed circuit board.
10. The drive assembly according to claim 1, wherein the electric
motor drives an oil pump which can supply a transmission actuator
or for cooling and/or lubricating a transmission.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a drive assembly having an electric
motor, which can be used in particular to provide a hydraulic oil
flow that can be used for a transmission actuator or for cooling
and/or lubricating a transmission of an automotive vehicle.
[0002] The electric motor of the drive assembly can have a stator
housing, in which the stator of the electric motor and a printed
circuit board are arranged, which is used for contacting the stator
windings. The stator windings themselves are wound onto a stator
insulation, within which the stator laminations are situated.
[0003] The stator insulation can be an injection moulding, which is
welded onto the assembly of stator laminations. However, in the
present case, the stator insulation consists of an upper part and a
lower part, which are assembled in such a way that the laminated
stator core is accommodated between them.
[0004] The problem with this mode of construction is that the
laminated stator core has a very large tolerance overall, and
therefore the overall height of the subassembly consisting of the
upper part and the lower part of the stator insulation and the
laminated stator core accommodated between them varies
considerably. A great effort is therefore required to make electric
contact with the stator windings, especially if this is supposed to
be accomplished by press-in contacts that have to be pressed into
the openings of the printed circuit board. The permitted positional
tolerance of the press-in pins is namely significantly smaller than
the height tolerance resulting from the tolerances of the laminated
stator core.
[0005] It is the object of the invention to provide a drive
assembly in which the coil windings can be electrically contacted
with little effort.
[0006] To achieve this object, the invention provides a drive
assembly having an electric motor, having a stator housing, a
stator accommodated therein and having at least one winding, a
stator insulation which has a lower part and an upper part, wherein
the lower part rests against at least one bearing surface in the
stator housing, terminal contacts for the winding, wherein the
terminal contacts are held in a contact carrier, which is provided
on the lower part of the stator insulation, and a printed circuit
board, which rests on at least one supporting surface in the stator
housing, wherein the terminal contacts are in contact with
associated conductor tracks of the printed circuit board. The
invention is based on the basic concept of defining the position of
the terminal contacts and of the printed circuit board within the
stator housing relative to one and the same component, namely the
stator housing. Since it is possible, in particular, for this to be
embodied as an injection moulding, the bearing surface and the
supporting surface are always arranged in an identical manner
relative to one another, and therefore the terminal contacts are
also arranged in an identical manner relative to the printed
circuit board. In particular, this avoids the formation of
tolerance chains.
[0007] According to one embodiment, it is envisaged that the upper
part and the lower part of the stator insulation are connected to
one another by means of a latching connection. This makes it
possible to mount the upper part and the lower part with little
effort on the laminated stator core.
[0008] The latching connection preferably allows play of the upper
part relative to the lower part, thus enabling tolerances of the
laminated stator core to be compensated or absorbed.
[0009] The stator housing preferably has a base which forms the
bearing surface for the lower part. As a result, the stator
insulation is supported over a large area within the stator
housing.
[0010] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the
stator housing has a shoulder on which the supporting surface for
the printed circuit board is arranged.
[0011] The printed circuit board can project laterally beyond the
stator insulation, thus enabling it to be placed on the shoulder of
the housing during assembly.
[0012] According to one embodiment of the invention, a plurality of
supporting surfaces is arranged on the shoulder, wherein a centring
pin is assigned to at least one of the supporting surfaces. By
means of the centring pin, the printed circuit board can also be
positioned precisely in the lateral direction, thus ensuring that
the terminal contacts are positioned precisely relative to the
printed circuit board not only in respect of height but also in
respect of the lateral position.
[0013] The upper part of the stator insulation can rest laterally
against the contact carrier, and therefore the upper part is guided
precisely relative to the lower part.
[0014] The terminal contacts can be embodied as insulation
displacement contacts, wherein the contact carrier has guide
channels for the ends of the winding. The ends of the windings can
then be arranged in the guide channels of the stator insulation,
ensuring that the ends of the windings are contacted automatically
during the installation of the terminal contacts.
[0015] Each terminal contact can have a press-in pin which is
pressed into a contact opening of the printed circuit board. By
this means, the terminal contacts can be connected electrically to
the conductor tracks of the printed circuit board in a low-cost
manner.
[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the drive assembly is used to
supply a transmission actuator, wherein the electric motor drives
an oil pump that can provide a hydraulic oil flow which can be used
for a transmission actuator or for cooling and/or lubricating a
transmission of an automotive vehicle.
[0017] The invention will be described below on the basis of an
embodiment which is illustrated in the appended drawings. In these
drawings:
[0018] FIG. 1 shows a drive assembly according to the invention in
an exploded view;
[0019] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the drive assembly with the
housing cover open, wherein the printed circuit board can be
seen;
[0020] FIG. 3 shows a section along the plane III-III of FIG.
2;
[0021] FIG. 4 shows a bottom view of the stator, wherein the stator
windings have been omitted for the sake of greater clarity;
[0022] FIG. 5 shows a section along the plane V-V in FIG. 4;
[0023] FIG. 6 shows a section along the plane VI-VI in FIG. 4;
[0024] FIG. 7 shows the detail VII in FIG. 6 on an enlarged
scale;
[0025] FIG. 8 shows a side view of the stator in FIG. 4;
[0026] FIG. 9 shows a plan view of the stator;
[0027] FIG. 10 shows a section along the plane X-X in FIG. 9;
[0028] FIG. 11 shows the stator housing of the drive assembly of
FIG. 1 in a perspective sectioned view;
[0029] FIG. 12 shows the stator housing in a perspective view;
and
[0030] FIG. 13 shows the stator housing with the stator mounted
thereon and the printed circuit board installed, in a perspective
sectioned view.
[0031] In a perspective view, FIG. 1 shows a drive assembly which
has an electric motor 2 and an oil pump 4. The oil pump is used to
provide a hydraulic oil flow with which it is possible, in
particular, to supply a transmission actuator of an automotive
vehicle. The electric motor 2 is used to drive the pump 4.
[0032] The electric motor 2 has a rotor 10, which is arranged
spatially within a stator 12. The stator 12 is arranged in a stator
housing 14, which also accommodates a printed circuit board 16. A
housing cover 18 is furthermore provided.
[0033] The stator housing 14 has a dome-shaped structure 19, such
that, although the rotor 10 is arranged in the interior of the
stator 12, it is nevertheless outside the stator housing 14.
[0034] The stator housing 14 is preferably an injection moulding
made of plastic.
[0035] The stator 12 has a core 20 consisting of stator
laminations, which is assigned a stator insulation 22 formed from a
lower part 22U and an upper part 22O. A winding 24 is furthermore
provided for each stator pole.
[0036] Here, the windings 24 are shown in a purely schematic way.
The reference sign 26 indicates the ends of the windings, which are
provided for the purpose of electrically contacting the windings
24.
[0037] Three terminal contacts 28, which are each embodied as
insulation displacement contacts with a press-in pin, are provided
for electrical contacting. The press-in pins of the terminal
contacts 28 are pressed into suitable press-in openings of the
printed circuit board 16 in order to achieve electrical connection
to conductor tracks of the printed circuit board 16, thus enabling
the windings 24 to be controlled in a manner known per se.
[0038] The lower part 22U and the upper part 22O of the stator
insulation are composed of plastic and are secured on one another
in such a way that the laminated stator core 20 is accommodated
between them. In order to secure the two parts on one another, a
latching connection 30 is provided (see especially FIG. 3), which
consists of latching tabs 32, 34 that engage in one another.
[0039] In FIG. 7, it is possible to see a free space on the
mutually facing sides of the latching tabs 32, 34, said space
allowing play of the two parts 22U, 22O relative to one another. By
means of this play, it is possible to absorb tolerances in the
height of the laminated stator core 20.
[0040] In the assembled state, the upper part 22O rests against the
inside of the contact carrier 36 and is guided there (see
especially FIG. 5).
[0041] The stator insulation 22 is composed, in particular, of
plastic, which is preferably produced in an injection moulding
process.
[0042] The terminal contacts 28 are mounted on the stator
insulation 22, namely on the lower part 22U. For this purpose, a
contact carrier 36 is embodied integrally with the lower part 22U
(see especially FIGS. 4, 5, 9 and 10).
[0043] For each terminal contact to be received, the contact
carrier 36 has a receiving slot 38, which extends transversely to a
guide channel 39 for one end of a stator winding.
[0044] In the assembled state, the lower part 22U of the stator
insulation 22 rests on the base of the stator housing 14. This
forms a bearing surface 40 for the stator insulation. The printed
circuit board 16 is positioned by means of supporting surfaces 42,
which are likewise provided in the stator housing 14. As can be
seen especially in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, the supporting surfaces 42
are formed on a shoulder 44 of the stator housing 14, with the
result that the printed circuit board 16 is supported at several
points along its circumference.
[0045] Some of the supporting surfaces 42 are provided with a
centring pin 46, which extends through a centring opening of the
printed circuit board 16.
[0046] The printed circuit board 16 is thus positioned by the same
component as the contact carrier 36, namely by the stator housing
14. Since both the bearing surface 40 and the supporting surfaces
42 are formed integrally with the stator housing 14, the distance
between these surfaces, as measured along the centre line of the
stator, is independent of tolerances of the components of the
stator. In particular, the height tolerance of the laminated stator
core 20 has no effect on the position of the printed circuit board
16 relative to the terminal contacts 28.
[0047] The figures also show a temperature sensor 50, which is
mounted on the printed circuit board 16 and projects into a flow
channel of the pump 4 when the printed circuit board 16 is mounted
in the stator housing 14 (see especially FIG. 3).
* * * * *