General Electric Company

Electric Power Research Institute Incorporated

Donald W Jones

Gerald Burt Kliman

Timothy J Miller

Mark A Preston

Evangelos Trifon Laskaris

Gary L Kalan

Chester Stanley Jezierski, Jr

Constantine A Neugebauer

Arthur Vorwerk Radun

Eike Richter

James F Burgess

Thomas M Jahns

Russell E Tompkins

Madabushi V Chari

Franklin L Forbes

Thomas A Keim

Roger W Brockett

Wivina A DeDoncker

Brian W Jones

A rotor for use in a line start permanent magnet motor comprises a rotor core having a shaft and including teeth defining slots; a rotor cage, at least a portion of which extends through the slots; and a layer of composite permanent magnet material at least partially coating the rotor core.

Method of fabricating a permanent magnet line start motor having magnets

A motor stator comprises a first stator frame part, a second stator frame part including first and second pole portions separated by a stator bridge, and two magnetic arms. Each of two bobbins is wound with a coil and situated on a respective one of the arms. The first and second stator frame parts are coupled by the arms so as to leave an opening between the two bobbins and the first and second frame parts for insertion of a rotor.

Method of fabrication of motor coil stator including bobbin wound coils

Motor stator including bobbin wound coils and method of fabrication

Permanent magnet line start motor having magnets outside the starting

An integrated heat sink module includes a sinuously channeled base and a bonded top surface electrode that is dielectrically isolated from the base. The top surface electrode acts as a common modular electrode capable of conducting heat to an ultimate cooling medium with no intervening thermal barrier. Constrained copper technology (CCT) is employed to ensure that the relatively low effective temperature coefficient of expansion of the channel base is acquired by the channel cover, which is the dielectrically (but not thermally) insulated top surface, and that the common electrode is integrated with, by forming a part of, the fluid channel in the base. The heat sink weight is reduced significantly by the channeling, while use of the CCT technology ensures high reliability and integrity of the module.

Integrated heat sink having a sinuous fluid channel for the thermal

A switched reluctance generator system, including a converter for coupling a dc voltage via a dc excitation bus (or excitation nodes) to a switched reluctance generator and thereby providing excitation thereto, has a separate generator bus for providing the output voltage of the switched reluctance generator. The generator bus is separate and distinct from the dc excitation bus such that the average current generated by the switched reluctance generator is substantially independent of the generator output voltage. As a result, the switched reluctance generator is capable of resuming generating operation after occurrence of an overload, without requiring a relatively large power source to supply the overload, clear the fault (e.g., via a fuse) and re-excite the generator.

Switched reluctance generator system with fault recovery capability

An impact start assist device for an electric motor comprises a driven member coupled to a load and a drive member coupled to the motor and to the driven member. The driven member and the drive member are rotatable, relative to each other, through at least a portion of a revolution. The device further comprises an arrangement for providing a substantially instantaneous transfer of angular momentum from the drive member to the driven member after relative rotation of the members through at least the portion of the revolution. A locking arrangement is provided for locking the drive member and the driven member together at high rotational speeds. At least a portion of the locking arrangement is centrifugally actuated, and a spring is provided to disengage the locking mechanism at low speeds, or at rest. A spring arrangement is also provided to position the drive member and driven member in predetermined angular positions relative to each other when the drive and driven members slow to a predetermined low rotational speed, or to a stop. In one embodiment, the arrangement for instantaneously transferring momentum from the drive member to the driven member comprises a hammer surface and an anvil surface on the respective members which impact one another after the members have rotated through at least a portion of a revolution. The device may be constructed as a coupler to be situated between a motor and a load, integrally constructed as part of the motor or the load, or integrally designed into the rotor of the motor.

Impact start assist for an electric motor

A method and apparatus for supporting a high torque, low speed electric motor suitable for mass production includes a pair of drawn steel annular frames each having an L-shaped cross section. One frame is coupled to the stator and another is coupled to the rotor. In order to provide torque pulsation isolation, at least one of the frames is coupled to its respective rotor or stator by means of an elastomeric bonding material held in compression such that radial motion is minimized while permitting limited torsional motion. One of the frames, preferably the stator support frame, may be press-fit or coupled to the stator via a hard-setting polymer or a low melting point metal such as zinc. The L-shaped frames each have a flange extending radially and which is adapted for connection to a motor frame or to a driven element.

Method of mounting motor lamination stacks

A method and apparatus for supporting a high torque, low speed electric motor suitable for mass production includes a pair of drawn steel annular frames each having an L-shaped cross section. One frame is coupled to the stator and another is coupled to the rotor. In order to provide torque pulsation isolation, at least one of the frames is coupled to its respective rotor or stator by an elastomeric bonding material that is held in compression such that radial motion is minimized while permitting limited torsional motion. One of the frames, preferably the stator support frame, may be press-fit or coupled to the stator via a hard-setting polymer or a low melting point metal such as zinc. The L-shaped frames each have a flange extending radially and which is adapted for connection to a motor frame or to a driven element.

A cantilever-mounted piezoelectric bender includes apparatus for forcing the bender to approach straightness when in a blocked position, e.g. when meeting a contact in an electrical relay. As a result, the potential energy recoverable from the bender is maximized without requiring additional piezoelectric material. A first preferred embodiment comprises a bender extension mounted on the free end of the bender. A normal load force is applied to the free end of the extension, rather than the free end of the bender, resulting in the application of a moment to the end of the bender which tends to straighten the bender when in a blocked position. A second preferred embodiment comprises a back-up plate disposed adjacent one surface of the bender. The degree to which the bender is straightened in a blocked position depends on the location of the point of tangency between the back-up plate and the extension.

Apparatus for increasing the recoverable energy of a piezoelectric bender

A Wiegand-effect shaft position sensor is excited by an alternating magnetic field generated by stationary magnets or solenoids interacting with a high-strength, toothed wheel that is fixed to the rotor. A set of three stationary poles are situated proximate to the rotor and are connected together by a yoke. The magnets or solenoids are mounted in the outside poles of the set of three stationary poles. The central stationary pole contains a Wiegand-effect device. In operation, a flux reversal in the Wiegand-effect device occurs at twice the frequency at which the poles of the toothed wheel pass the stationary poles, resulting in the generation of sharp voltage pulses indicative of rotor position.

Shaft position sensor employing a wiegand-effect device

A vibratory linear motor system employs a comb-shaped electromagnet to excite transverse mechanical oscillations of a relatively thin, spring-like beam. The electromagnet establishes an approximate standing wave on the beam for which brakes mounted on either side of the beam provide independently established boundary conditions and produce rectified linear motion thereof. The brakes may be electromagnetically, magnetostrictively, or piezoelectrically actuated. An electronic control provides modulated currents to the exciter electromagnet and the brakes in order to control the rectified linear motion of the beam.

Vibratory linear motor system

An electric motor driven blade pitch varying system for the fan blades of an unducted fan type aircraft gas turbine engine utilizes permanent magnet alternating current motors located in the oil sump region of the engine. An alternator driven by the engine generates unregulated variable frequency, variable amplitude power which is rectified and placed on a DC bus. Controlled inverters convert the DC power on the bus to appropriate AC power for the motors. The system incorporates redundancy without significant weight penalty by providing alternators and motors dividing into two independent operating sections on common shafts. Separate electronic circuits are provided to supply power for each sectionalized motor or to rectify power from each alternator section. A common power bus may be used to couple the multiple motors and alternators. The common bus may alternatively receive power from tbe aircraft 400 Hz system or from on-board batteries.

Aircraft engine unducted fan blade pitch control system

An electromagnetic actuator includes a moving element comprising a plurality of permanent magnets oriented in alternating magnetic pole position so as to present a sequence of alternating north-south magnetic poles. The magnets can be angularly oriented within a magnetic structure serving to concentrate magnetic flux and focus such flux at the surface of the structure. Alternatively, the magnets are surface mounted within a structure of non-magnetic material. The actuator includes opposed electro-magnetic stators between which the moving element is positioned.

Electromagnetic motor/actuator

A circuit is provided comprising a plurality of series connected superconductive coils. Each of a plurality of series connected shunt resistors is connected in parallel with at least one corresponding series connected superconductive coil. A superconductive switch, which includes a length of superconductive wire, is connected in parallel with the series connected superconductive coils. The switch further includes a first and second heater means which are thermally coupled to the superconductive wire. The first heater means is connectable to an external power supply. The second heater means has a plurality of different sections with each of the shunt resistors connected in parallel to one of the sections so that a quench in any of the superconductive coils causes a section of the second heater means to warm and drive the superconductive switch normal.

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Burnt Hills, NY, United States of America

Donald W Jones