Denso Corporation

Masatoshi Koumura

Akihito Koike

Yoshiki Tan

Shigenobu Nakamura

Kouichi Ihata

Motoki Ito

Shinichi Matsubara

Shinya Oowatari

Koji Kondo

Yoshinori Hayashi

Hiroaki Ishikawa

Mikio Mashino

An automotive alternator includes a stator winding that is made of a metal other than copper and copper alloys. The alternator also includes a built-in rectifier that includes a plurality of rectifying elements and a plurality of electrical conductors. The rectifying elements and the electrical conductors together form a rectification circuit for rectifying AC power output from the stator winding into DC power. Further, at least one of the electrical conductors includes first and second portions. The first portion is connected to at least one of the rectifying elements, and made of copper or a copper alloy. The second portion is connected to the stator winding, and made of a metal containing a metallic element that is also contained in the metal of which the stator winding is made.

Automotive alternator including rectifier terminal having two portions made of different metals

The vehicle alternator comprises a rotor. The rotor comprises a first pole core, a second pole core, a field coil, and holderseach containing a magnetand disposed between a first clawand a second claw. The holderconsists of the magnetinserted in a tubular member X having an opening x/openings x, and is formed with the tubular member X deformed so as to close the opening x/openings x

Vehicle alternator

The vehicle AC generator includes a frame including an end wall section and a peripheral wall section, a stator core, a stator coil having rear and front coil ends projecting axially rearward and frontward respectively from the stator core, a rotor supported by the frame, and a cooling fan having centrifugal blades and fixed to the rotor. The peripheral wall section has a cooling air discharge opening adjoining the end wall section. The end wall section has a centrifugal-blade-facing portion axially facing the centrifugal blades, and a coil-end-facing portion axially facing the rear coil end. The coil-end-facing portion is bent at a predetermined curvature radius and extending from the centrifugal-blade-facing portion to the cooling air discharge opening. The inner end surface of the coil-end-facing portion is formed with a recess located axially rearwardly of a radial extension line of an inner end surface of the centrifugal-blade-facing portion.

Vehicle AC generator

In a rectifier, a high-side heatsink in which high-side rectifying elements are mounted provides a common positive terminal attached to the high-side heatsink. A low-side heatsink in which the low-side rectifying elements are mounted provides a common negative terminal. A terminal block assembly includes a plurality of terminal blocks integrated with each other. The plurality of terminal blocks hold the conductive members. A fixing mechanism directly fixes one of the plurality of terminal blocks to the high-side heatsink. The one of the plurality of terminal blocks holds at least one of the conductive members. The at least one of the conductive members is connected to one of the high-side rectifying elements. The one of the high-side rectifying elements is located closest to the output terminal in all of the high-side rectifying elements.

Rectifier with improved resistance against vibration

In an AC generator for a vehicle, an end cover has two types of parts, one-type part is away from a rib part in a positive cooling fin, and the other-type part is close to the rib part. The rib part projects toward the end cover side. The one-type part is thinner than the other-type part in the end cover in order to reduce the variation of thermal expansion in each part of the end cover. This configuration increases anti-thermal fatigue of the end cover.

AC generator for a vehicle

In an alternating-current generator, an end wall of a frame is provided with a plurality of fin supports separately arranged on the outer surface of the end wall. The cooling fin is mounted on the plurality of fin supports. The end wall is provided with a plurality of reinforcements each arranged between a corresponding one of the plurality of fin supports and another one thereof and each configured to reinforce a rigidity of a portion of the end wall. The corresponding one of the plurality of fin supports and another one thereof are adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction of the axis of the rotor. The rigidity-reinforced portion of the end wall is located between the corresponding one of the plurality of fin supports and another one thereof.

Alternating current generator with improved frame structure

An alternator has a rotor rotated on its own axis to generate electric power in a stator. The rotor has pole cores with claw portions arranged along the circumferential direction, and a holder unit is disposed between two adjacent claw portions in each pair. Each holder unit has a magnet accommodating holder and a magnet covering holder. Each holder has one bottom wall, four side walls and one opening. The magnet accommodating holder accommodates a magnet. The magnet covering holder is placed between the claw portions and accommodates the magnet accommodating holder while covering the magnet exposed to the opening of the magnet accommodating holder. The magnet accommodating holder has convex portions existing in the respective side and bottom walls and being in elastic contact with the magnet.

Alternator with rotor for vehicle

A vehicle alternator is disclosed having a stator, a rotor, a frame surrounding the stator and the rotor, a bowl-shaped end cover mounted on the frame and defining an electric component-part compartment, a brush unit held in sliding contact with slip rings of a rotary shaft, and a rectifier unit. The rectifier unit includes a terminal block embedded with A.C. conductive segments for multi-phase windings of a stator coil. The end cover includes a base wall portion and protective partitioned compartments axially protruding from a base wall portion of the end cover toward the frame at circumferentially spaced positions for the multi-phase windings, respectively, for surrounding at least one circumference of a connecting portion between an exposed end portion of each A.C. conductive segment and a diode lead and a connecting portion between the exposed end portion of each A.C. conductive segment and a stator lead.

Vehicle alternator with improved end cover structure

A vehicle alternator is disclosed having a stator, a rotor, a frame surrounding the stator and the rotor, a bowl-shaped end cover mounted on the frame and defining an electric component-part compartment, a brush unit held in sliding contact with slip rings of a rotary shaft, and a rectifier unit. The rectifier unit includes an insulating terminal block radially extending in face-to-face relation to the one end face of the frame, a positive-side cooling fin carried on one surface of the insulating terminal block, and a negative-side cooling fin carried on the other surface of the insulating terminal block. At least one of the insulating terminal block and the end cover has a heat shield plate member laterally extending through a radial space between the cooling fins and the brush unit in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the rotary shaft.

Vehicle alternator with improved operation reliability

A rectifier of an automotive alternator includes a heat sink that has fitting holes, in each of which one rectifying element is fitted, and a major surface on which the fitting holes open. The heat sink also has substantially annular ribs, each of which is formed on the major surface around a corresponding one of the fitting holes. Each of the ribs has a first portion, which lies in an area on the major surface where a minimum distance between an inner edge of the heat sink defining the corresponding fitting hole and an outer edge of the heat sink defining an outline of the heat sink is smaller, and a second portion that lies in an area on the major surface where a minimum distance between the inner and outer edges is larger. The first portion has a greater protruding height from the major surface than the second portion.

Automotive alternator with rectifier having high-strength heat sinks

In a vehicular alternator having a permanent magnet protection mechanism, each magnet holder of a non-magnetic characteristic if a rectangle prism shape accommodates each permanent magnet disposed between adjacent claw poles. The magnet holders are connected in a ring shape along a circumferential direction of the alternator by using each connecting plate part which extends from each magnet holder in approximate circumferential direction toward an inner side of and at a front tip part of each claw pole. The connecting plate parts and the magnet holders are made from a non-magnetic plate by cutting and bending. Making the surfaces and the connecting plate part of each magnet holder from the non-magnetic plate by cutting and bending provides a high accuracy magnet position in the alternator with low manufacturing cost.

Vehicular alternator and method of producing the same

A rotor and a stator are contained in a housing composed of front and rear frames, and a rectifier is mounted on the rear frame and covered with a rear cover having axial and radial openings. A minus heatsink plate having cooling fins extending in the axial direction is disposed to face the radial openings, forming radial air passages, and another air passage is formed between the minus heatsink plate and the rear frame. Cooling air introduced from the radial openings flows through the cooling fins and through the passage between the minus heatsink plate and the rear frame. Thus, efficiency for cooling the rectifier is enhanced.

Automotive alternator having rectifier mounted on heatsink plate with cooling fins

An AC generator has negative pole-side rectifier devices press-fitted to a holder fin so as to dispose a bottom face of the rectifier device on a surface of the holder fin. The holder fin is disposed in such a manner that the bottom face of the rectifier device faces a rear frame of the AC generator. A clearance is formed between the rear frame and the bottom face through which the cooling wind for the rectifier device flows. The rear frame is provided with a slant face on its outer wall face for inducing the cooling wind introduced through an opening of the protection cover of the AC generator to the rectifier devices. Thus, the cooling wind induced by the slant face can hit on the bottom face of the rectifier devices directly, so as to cool the rectifier device well.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Masatoshi Koumura