The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 06, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 07, 1998
Kevin Roy Harpenau, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Michael Timothy York, Chelsea, MI (US);
Richard Kenneth Harris, Walled Lake, MI (US);
Steven John Yockey, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
An liquid-cooling system for an electrical machine comprises a rotor mounted on a shaft for rotation therewith and defining an axis of rotation, and a stator disposed coaxially with and in opposition to the rotor. The stator has stator windings, the stator windings having an axially-extending portion. The electrical machine further comprises a housing enclosing the stator and the rotor, the housing having an axial end, the axial end having a wall with an inner surface and an outer surface. The electrical machine also includes a cooling tube having a first end and a second end and an embedded portion thereof embedded between the first inner surface and the first outer surface, the embedded portion of the cooling tube located in substantial axial alignment with the axially-extending portion of the stator windings. In another aspect of this design, the inner surface of the wall of the axial end of the housing is substantially flat and is separated from an axial end of the rotor by an air gap. In a third aspect of this design, the housing of the electrical machine comprises a front housing portion and a rear housing portion. The front housing portion defines a first circumferentially-extending channel which encloses a first axially-extending portion of the stator windings and the rear housing portion defines a second circumferentially-extending channel which encloses a second axially-extending portion of the stator windings. Designs as disclosed herein provide effective cooling of an electrical machine while supporting packaging-efficient electrical machine designs.