American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc.

Jeffrey J Ronning

John C Morgante

James Preston Downs

David Crecelius

Paul Joseph Valente

Peter Fischer

Zugang Huang

Frederick E Zink

Christopher D Pump

Bangalore Lingaraj Yashwanth

Wei Ping Li

Cory J Padfield

Thomas James Oetjens

Yogesh Mehta

Lars Y Hessman

Samer Metry

Paul Noble

Rita Arnold

James P Downs

Paul J Valente

A motor drive system has a rotor assembly that is rotatable about an axis and includes a hollow shaft, a tube, and one or more fin sets. The tube is received in the shaft and defines a first passage. The fin sets are disposed about the tube and are engaged to the shaft. Each fin set defines a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart fins that are coupled to the shaft and the tube. The first passage is configured to discharge fluid communicated therethrough into a return chamber that is formed in the rotor assembly. A plurality of second passages are formed between the shaft and fins and are in fluid communication with the return chamber.

Electric drive module having motor with heat sink insert in rotor shaft

An electric drive unit that includes an electric motor having motor output shaft and a heat sink that is received therein. The heat sink is comprises of a plurality of discrete heat sink elements that are stacked together and inserted into the motor output shaft. The heat sink elements have central hubs that cooperate to form a coolant supply passage that extends centrally through the heat sink. Each of the heat sink elements defines a plurality of discrete coolant return passages that are relatively shorter in length than the central hubs so that a void annular space is formed between the coolant return passages of adjacent heat sink elements.

Electric drive unit with rotor heat sink formed of heat sink elements

An electric motor can include a stator body defining fluid channels extending axially for fluid communication between axial ends of the stator body. Conductive windings can form first loops extending axially outward from the first end of the stator body and second loops extending axially outward from the second end of the stator body. A first cap can be coupled to the first end of the stator body and can include a first wall. The first wall can be between the first loops and the channels. Pins can extend from a side of the first wall that is opposite the first loops. The second cap can be coupled to the second end of the stator body and include a second wall. The second wall can be between the second loops and the channels. Pins can extend from a side of the second wall that is opposite the second loops.

Electric motor and stator cooling apparatus

An array of heat-sinked power semiconductors that includes a power semiconductor and a heat sink. The power semiconductor has a power semiconductor die, a plurality of first terminals and a second terminal. The power semiconductor die has a plurality of semiconductor terminals. Each of the first terminals is electrically coupled to an associated one of the semiconductor terminals. The second terminal is a surface mount terminal and is electrically coupled to one of the first terminals. The heat sink has a heat sink body and a plurality of fins. The heat sink body has a base and an exterior surface. The base is fixedly coupled directly to the surface mount terminal. The exterior surface has a fin mount portion to which the fins extend. At least a portion of the fin-mount portion is oriented non-parallel to base.

Array of heat-sinked power semiconductors

An electric drive unit that includes an electric motor having a rotor with a rotor shaft and a heat exchanger that is received in the rotor shaft. The heat exchanger has a plurality of heat exchanger plates, each of which having a hub, a rim member, and disc spring portion that interconnects the hub and the rib member. Each disk spring portion defines a plurality of coolant apertures. The heat exchanger plates are press-fit to the rotor shaft such that each disc spring portion is deflected from a pre-installation state, and each rim member is engaged to an interior surface of the rotor shaft while being spaced apart from adjacent rim members along a rotational axis of the rotor. A first coolant passage is disposed through the hubs of the plates. The coolant apertures in the heat exchanger plates cooperate to form a plurality of second coolant passages.

Electric drive unit with a heat exchanger that is formed by disks having a disk spring portion and which are received into a bore in a rotor shaft of an electric motor

A motor drive system with a rotor assembly having an insert, which is received into a blind hollow rotor space in a rotor shaft. The insert is unitarily and integrally formed and defines a central hole, which is disposed along a rotational axis of the rotor assembly, and a plurality of slots that extend through an outer circumferential surface of the insert. The insert is disposed in the rotor shaft such that the outer circumferential surface of the insert is engaged to the inside circumferential surface of the rotor shaft. The central hole forms a first fluid passage through the insert, while the slots form a plurality of second fluid passages through the insert.

An electric drive unit having a stator, a rotor received in the stator and rotatable about a central longitudinal axis, and an inverter assembly that includes a plurality of power semiconductors, a plurality of heat sinks and an end plate. The power semiconductors are thermally coupled to the heat sinks. Each of the heat sinks has a plurality of fins that extend into a flow channel that is coaxial with the plurality of sets of field windings. The end plate is coupled to the power semiconductors and has a projection, which is sealingly coupled to the stator and which and partly defines an annular cavity, and a coolant port that is coupled in fluid communication with the annular cavity. The flow channel is in fluid communication with and disposed in a flow path between the annular cavity and the cooling channels in the stator body.

Electric drive module

An electric drive unit having a multi-phase electric motor and an inverter with a plurality of power semiconductors, an inverter mount, and a plurality of busbars. The power semiconductors are mounted to the base of the inverter mount in an annular arrangement and with the terminals of the power semiconductors extending through the base. Each of the busbars has a first busbar portion, which includes a first body and a set of first fingers that are fixedly coupled to the first body, and a second busbar portion that includes a second body and a set of second fingers that are fixedly coupled to the second body. Associated fingers in the first and second sets of fingers of each bus bar are mechanically and electrically coupled to opposite sides of a corresponding one of the terminals.

Electric drive unit

A drive system with one or more electrically driven axles, a transmission subsystem, which is drivingly coupled to a drive gearbox of each of the electrically driven axles, first and second motors, which are each drivingly coupled to the transmission subsystem and have different motor characteristics, and a controller. The drive gearbox of each axle transmits rotary power to an associated set of vehicle wheels. The controller controls the first and second motors responsive to at least a torque request. Over a significant portion of the operating range of the drive system, the controller is configured to vary the respective magnitudes of the rotary power provided by the first and second motors to satisfy the torque request in a manner that maximizes a combined efficiency of the motors in a predetermined manner.

Drive system and method for vehicle employing multiple electronic motors

An electric motor with a stator that is formed of a plurality of distinct laminations. Each of the distinct laminations has a radially inner lamination edge, which borders a rotor aperture configured to receive a rotor therein, a radially outer lamination edge and a plurality of cooling apertures formed there through that are disposed radially between the radially inner and outer lamination edges. Each cooling aperture in a lamination forms part of a separate and distinct cooling channel that extends helically through the laminations about a rotational axis of the electric motor.

Electric motor having stator with laminations configured to form distinct cooling channels

A motor drive assembly having an electric motor with a rotor that includes a rotor shaft and a heat exchanger received in the rotor shaft. The heat exchanger has an insert body with an outer insert surface that is engaged to an inside surface of the rotor shaft. The insert body includes a plurality of segments. Each of the segments defines a first through-hole, and a plurality of second through-holes. Each of the segments is fixedly coupled to one another. A first flow passage extends through the first through-holes in the plurality of segments. Each of the second through-holes defines a portion of a corresponding second flow passage. The second flow passages are disposed concentrically about the first flow passage.

A vehicle driveline component with a housing, a rotary power transmission system, a lubricant and a lubrication de-aerator. The housing defines a cavity and a sump. The rotary power transmission system is received in the cavity and includes a plurality of gears that are in meshing engagement. The lubricant is received in the sump and is employed to lubricate the rotary power transmission system. The lubrication de-aerator is received in the housing and has at least one matrix of de-aeration cells that extend between an upper surface and a lower surface. Each of the de-aeration cells has a cell inlet, which is formed through the upper surface, and a cell outlet that is formed through the lower surface. Each of the de-aeration cells tapers between its cell inlet and its cell outlet.

Vehicle driveline component having a lubrication de-aerator

An electric drive module having a motor and an inverter that are disposed in a housing The motor includes a stator, which has a plurality of sets of windings. The inverter has a plurality of power semiconductors, which are mounted into a retaining member, an end plate, which is sealingly coupled to the retaining member, and an inlet port that extends through the end plate. Sets of the semiconductor devices are electrically coupled to corresponding sets of the windings. Power terminals on the semiconductor devices are coupled to a heat sink. Fins on the heat sinks extend into an annular region that is adjacent to axial ends of the windings. At least one of the retaining member and the end plate is sealingly coupled to the housing assembly. The inlet port, the annular region and cooling passages in the stator are coupled in fluid communication.

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Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, United States of America

Jeffrey J Ronning