Globe Products Inc.

Statomat-globe, Inc.

Glove Products Inc.

John M Beakes

Lawrence E Newman

Gary E Clemenz

Patrick A Dolgas

Mark T Heaton

Nathan A Buckner

Howard S Hunter

E Wayne Zicht

Gregory S Garmann

Hyman B Finegold

John W Bradfute

Danny L Miller

James G Stelzer

Mark E Heaton

Theodore E Delehanty

A stator winding machine has a turret plate mounted for rotation about a vertical axis with stator clamp mechanisms mounted at spaced locations around its periphery for clamping stators to the turret plate with the axes of the stators coplanar with the axis of reciprocation and oscillation of the winding shuttle used to wind coils on the stators. The turret plate is repeatedly indexed in one direction about its vertical center axis to repeatedly sequentially move each of the stator clamp mechanism to a load/unload station, an optional idle station, a winding station, a coil lead terminating station, and then back to the load/unload station. Parts of the machine are quickly replaceable and other parts are programmably adjustable to accommodate different stator configurations.

Stator winding method and apparatus

A stator coil finish wire is wedged between the wound coil from which it extends and the stator core at a stator winding station. To accomplish this, a loop is formed in the finish lead and trapped between cooperating surfaces to frictionally resist the wire loop being pulled out by the wire gripper of a lead pull assembly. The wire gripper moves in directions to remove the loop and to wedge the stretch of the lead wire extending through the stator core between the coil and the core. This procedure is advantageously used when winding stators which do not have terminal boards.

Stator coil finish lead positioning

Stator coil lead wires are coursed along complex, circuitous paths on the end of a stator core and trimmed at a precise predetermined distance from the stator core. Improved end effector wire-guiding tooling members are provided in place of conventional gripper jaws to permit the lead wires to be coursed along complex, circuitous paths. In addition, an improved lead pull assembly, improved temporary wire clamps, and a wire former assembly are provided.

Stator manufacturing method

Stator coils are wound on a stator winding station and at least some of the coil leads are aligned, at the winding station, with terminal members on the distal end of the stator (opposite the winding head). The leads are held in temporary wire clamps adjacent the proximal end of the stator (closest to the winding head), and the stator and the wire clamps are transferred together to a lead terminating station where tooling is provided to terminate coil leads to the terminal members on the distal end of the stator without reorientation of the stator's longitudinal axis. Terminations are also made to the proximal end of the stator. The coil lead termination tooling serves both to connect the coil leads to the terminal member on the distal end of the stator and to sever the leads closely adjacent their respective terminal members.

Stator manufacturing method and apparatus

An armature shaft having an eccentric cam body extending from one end thereof is gripped by an adjustable collet mechanism and rotated by a drive motor, preferably a stepping motor, having an output shaft movable in discrete increments. This rotation continues until an imaginary reference point on the periphery of the cam body reaches first and second angular positions. The preferred reference point is the point on the periphery of the end face of the cam body that is farthest from the axis of rotation of the armature shaft. The number of steps necessary to rotate the armature shaft so that the reference point is moved from the first angular position to the second angular position is determined as the armature shaft is rotated and used to determine the position of the reference point relative to a centerline between the first and second angular positions. Thereafter, the armature shaft is rotated from the second angular position by a number of steps computed by a programmable controller which controls the motor so that the cam body has the desired angular orientation relative to the axis of rotation of the armature shaft. After the shaft is oriented, the collet mechanism is moved, without disturbing the angular orientation of the shaft, to align the oriented shaft with a central aperture in a stack of lamination. Thereafter, the oriented shaft is inserted into the stack of laminations.

Method and apparatus for rotationally orienting an armature shaft

Finish leads of coils wound onto stator cores without terminal boards are automatically secured before the stator is removed from the winding apparatus. Tooling is provided that is moved into position adjacent the stator at a lead tuck station to cooperate with a robot end effector to tuck the finish leads between their respective coils and the portion of the stator core adjacent thereto. Because the finish leads are so tucked, the coils do not have a tendency to despool when removed from the winding apparatus, which permits the use of an automated load/unload mechanism.

Stator coil lead wires are coursed along complex, circuitous paths on the end of a stator core and trimmed at a precise predetermined distance from the stator core. Improved end effector wire-guiding tooling member are provided in place of conventional gripper jaws to permit the lead wires to be coursed along complex, circuitous paths. In addition, an improved lead pull assembly, improved temporary wire clamps, and a wire former assembly are provided.

A stator coil lead wire is extended over the end turns of coil from which the lead wire is extended and inserted into a terminal member adjacent the opposite side of the same coil. A tooling assembly is provided having a coil shield which prevents the lead wire from becoming disengaged from the coil end turn and moving toward the center of the stator core. Additionally, a wire guide finger is provided which is movable toward and away from the stator core for enabling the lead wire to be inserted between closely spaced terminal members.

Stator lead wire connecting method

Pivotal jaws of wire clamps that temporarily grip stator coil lead wires are spring biased to clamp stator coil lead wires thereto when the lead wires are inserted into the clamps at a winding station, and are biased by respective air actuators to ensure release of the lead wires at a coil lead terminating station.

In the manufacture of certain stators for dynamoelectric devices, proper spacing between oppositely-facing winding forms of a winding form assembly is determined by the length of a pair of connector rods extending from one winding form to the other. A winding form assembly can be quickly and easily adjusted for use in the manufacture of stators having various stack heights by removal and replacement of the winding form connector rods with connector rods of an appropriate length. The connector rods are locked to one of the winding forms when the connector rods are in a first rotary position and are removable when the connector rods are in a second rotary position. A simple tool can be used to rotate the connector rods between the first rotary position and the second rotary position.

Adjustable stator winding form

A tamping assembly is provided at a stator winding station that includes a tamping member and an air actuator which drives the tamping member toward and away from a temporary wire clamp. The temporary wire clamp has a movable jaw which is forced open to receive a stator coil lead wire by engagement of the tamping member therewith. Extended and retracted positions of the tamping member are determined by proximity detectors that detect the corresponding extended and retracted positions of a guide rod connected to and movable with the tamping member. Plural tamping assemblies are provided, one for each temporary wire clamp. The tamping assemblies are used in conjunction with lead pull assemblies which locate segments of stator coil lead wires in positions to be inserted into the temporary clamps when forced open by the tamping members.

A stator support assembly for use during the manufacture of electric motor stator assemblies includes a pallet, a rotatable stator support nest mounted on the pallet, and a lock arrangement that resists rotation of the nest from plural, locked, rotary orientations. The nest has generally horizontal, upwardly-facing, stator core supporting surfaces and generally vertical stator core confining wall portions. Accordingly, a stator assembly being manufactured is supported in a substantially fixed position or orientation as required when a stator assembly is being transferred from one workstation to the next but can be manually rotated from one locked position to the next for the convenience of a human operator when manual operations on the stator assembly are performed. Lock arrangements that may be used comprise recesses and one or more cooperating spring-biased detents or, alternatively, holes and a spring-biased shot pin.

Pallet support assembly for use in manufacturing stators

Stator winding apparatus

An armature shaft having a cam body extending from one end thereof is inserted into a shaft-receiving transfer block of an armature lamination and shaft assembly machine so that the cam body has a desired angular orientation relative to the axis of rotation of the armature shaft. A stack of laminations with which the shaft is assembled is rotationally oriented using a rotatable support for the lamination stack and a pair of proximity detectors which sense the position of missing portions of one or more of the laminations.

Growing community of inventors

Fairborn, OH, United States of America

John M Beakes