The present invention relates to a core main body, a reactor, and a method of manufacturing the reactor.
In recent years, a reactor has been developed that is provided with a core main body including an outer peripheral iron core and a plurality of iron cores disposed inside the outer peripheral iron core. Each of the plurality of iron cores is mounted with a coil. The core main body of such a reactor is sandwiched between an end plate and a pedestal. For example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-029449 A.
In general, a reactor is attached on a vertical surface, for example, a wall section of a power distribution board. In such a case, by inserting a wire or the like into an opening formed on a corner section of the end plate, the reactor is lifted up and transported to a desired location, and then a pedestal of the reactor is attached on the vertical surface.
However, because the end plate is attached to one end of a core main body, the end plate is positioned away from a center of gravity of the reactor. For this reason, there has been a problem that when the reactor is lifted up, the reactor is inclined, and as a result, workability is lowered during transport and during attachment on the vertical surface. In addition, in a case where only the core main body to which the end plate is attached is lifted up, the core main body is also inclined, so a similar problem occurs.
Therefore, a core main body and a reactor that do not lower workability during transport and attachment, and a manufacturing method of such a reactor are desired.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a core main body including an outer peripheral iron core and at least three iron cores disposed inside the outer peripheral iron core, wherein a radial inner end portion of each of the at least three iron cores converges toward a center of the outer peripheral iron core, each of the gaps being magnetically couplable, is formed between one iron core of the at least three iron cores and another iron core adjacent to the one iron core, the radial inner end portions of the at least three iron cores are spaced apart from each other through the gaps being magnetically couplable, the outer peripheral iron core is configured with at least a first outer peripheral iron core block formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic plates, a second outer peripheral iron core block formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic plates, and an intermediate plate disposed between the first outer peripheral iron core block and the second outer peripheral iron core block, and the intermediate plate includes an outer peripheral iron core corresponding portion corresponding to the outer peripheral iron core, a plurality of protruding sections protruding from an outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral iron core, and engaging sections provided on the plurality of protruding sections.
In the first aspect, since the intermediate plate is disposed between the first outer peripheral iron core block and the second outer peripheral iron core block, the engaging sections of the intermediate plate are adjacent to a center of gravity of the core main body. Thus, when the reactor including the core main body is lifted up by using the engaging sections, the reactor is hardly inclined. Therefore, workability during transport and attachment is not lowered.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of the following embodiments in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, corresponding components are denoted by common reference numerals.
While in the following description, a three-phase reactor is primarily described by way of an example, an application of the present disclosure is not limited to the three-phase reactor and the present disclosure is widely applicable to a multi-phase reactor in which a constant inductance is required for each phase. In addition, the reactor according to the present disclosure is not limited to that provided on a primary side and a secondary side of an inverter in an industrial robot or a machine tool and can be applied to various apparatuses.
The core main body 5 includes a first outer peripheral iron core block 20A, a second outer peripheral iron core block 20B, and an intermediate plate 81 sandwiched between the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A and the second outer peripheral iron core block 20B. Each of the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A and the second outer peripheral iron core block 20B is formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic plates, for example, an iron plate, a carbon steel plate, and an electromagnetic steel plate in an axial direction of the reactor 6. The magnetic plates used to form the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A and the magnetic plates used to form the second outer peripheral iron core block 20B are the same as each other. Furthermore, the number of stacked magnetic plates may be the same as or different from each other in the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A and the second outer peripheral iron core block 20B. When the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A, the intermediate plate 81, and the second outer peripheral iron core block 20B are assembled in the axial direction, an outer peripheral iron core 20 is formed.
The intermediate plate 81 includes an outer peripheral iron core corresponding portion 82 corresponding to the outer peripheral iron core 20, a plurality of protruding sections 91 protruding from an outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral iron core 20, and engaging sections 91a provided on the plurality of protruding sections. An opening 89 formed in the intermediate plate 81 has a shape generally corresponding to an inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral iron core 20. The intermediate plate 81 is preferably formed from a non-magnetic material.
The pedestal 60 contacts the outer peripheral iron core 20 across the entire edge of an end face of the outer peripheral iron core 20 of the core main body 5. The pedestal 60 is preferably formed from a non-magnetic material, for example, aluminum, SUS, resin, or the like. An opening 69 having an outer shape suitable for mounting the end face of the core main body 5 is formed in the pedestal 60. The opening 69 formed in the pedestal 60 and the opening 89 formed in the intermediate plate 81 are sufficiently large for coils 51 to 53 (to be described below) to protrude from the end face of the core main body 5. Additionally, a height of the pedestal 60 is slightly longer than a protruding height of each of the coils 51 to 53 protruding from an end portion of the core main body 5. A notch 65 formed on a bottom face of the pedestal 60 is used to secure the reactor 6 provided on the pedestal 60 to a predetermined location.
As can be seen from the drawing, the iron core coils 31 to 33 respectively include iron cores 41 to 43 extending only in a radial direction of the outer peripheral iron core 20, and the coils 51 to 53 mounted around the corresponding iron cores. A radial outside end portion of each of the iron cores 41 to 43 is formed in contact with the outer peripheral iron core 20 or is formed integrally with the outer peripheral iron core 20. In other words, the iron cores 41 to 43 may be a separate member from the outer peripheral iron core 20. Note that in some drawings, illustration of the coils 51 to 53 is eliminated for the sake of simplicity.
Additionally, in
In such cases, as illustrated in
In addition, a radial inner end portion of each of the iron cores 41 to 43 is positioned near a center of the outer peripheral iron core 20. In the drawing, the radial inner end portion of each of the iron cores 41 to 43 converges toward the center of the outer peripheral iron core 20 and has a tip angle of about 120 degrees. Additionally, the radial inner end portions of the iron cores 41 to 43 are spaced apart from each other with gaps 101 to 103 being magnetically couplable.
In other words, the radial inner end portion of the iron core 41 is spaced apart from the radial inner end portions of the respective two adjacent iron cores 42 and 43 with the gaps 101 and 102. The same applies to the other iron cores 42 and 43. Note that the gaps 101 to 103 are equal to each other in dimensions.
As described above, in the present invention, a central part iron core to be positioned at a central part of the core main body 5 is not required, so the core main body 5 can be reduced in weight and formed with a simple configuration. In addition, the three iron core coils 31 to 33 are surrounded by the outer peripheral iron core 20, so magnetic fields generated from the coils 51 to 53 do not leak from the outer peripheral iron core 20 to the outside. Also, the gaps 101 to 103 can be provided at any thickness and at a low cost, so it is advantageous in design compared to reactors with configurations in the related art.
In addition, the reactor 6 of the present invention has a difference in magnetic path length between phases that is less than that in reactors with configurations in the related art. Thus, the present invention enables reducing unbalance in inductance due to the difference in magnetic path length.
Referring to
The protruding section 91 protrudes corresponding to at least one side of a substantially regular even polygon, for example, a substantially hexagonal shape.
In the present invention, the intermediate plate 81 is disposed between the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A and the second outer peripheral iron core block 20B, and thus the engaging sections 91a of the intermediate plate 81 are adjacent to the center of gravity of the core main body 5. Thus, when the reactor 6 is lifted up by using the engaging sections 91a, the reactor 6 is hardly inclined. Thus, workability is not lowered when the reactor 6 is transported and when the reactor 6 is attached to a desired location, for example, a vertical plane. For this purpose, a position of the opening 91a in the axial direction of the core main body 5 is preferably equal to the center of gravity of the core main body 5 or the reactor 6 in the axial direction.
Note that it is also possible to avoid lowering in workability even when only the core main body 5 is lifted up, transported, or attached. Also, the protruding section 91 may be partially curved with respect to an end face of the first outer peripheral iron core block 20A. Furthermore, instead of the openings 91a, other configurations that can engage the umbilical member L can be used as the engaging section, for example, a hook section, a convex section, or the like.
Also, as can be seen in
In such cases, the protruding section 91 only protrudes up to an outer edge of the pedestal. Thus, the footprint of the reactor 6 can be less than or equal to the footprint of the pedestal 60, and an increase in size of the reactor 6 can be avoided.
Then, the iron core 41 of the outer peripheral iron core portion 24 is inserted into the coil 51 to mount the coil 51, as illustrated in
These outer peripheral iron core portions 24 to 26 are then assembled together. Then, screws or bolts (not illustrated) are inserted into the through-holes 29a to 29c of the outer peripheral iron core 20 and the through-holes 81a to 81c of the intermediate plate 81 and are tightened to create the core main body 5. Thereafter, the pedestal 60 is disposed on one end of the core main body 5 and is tightened in the similar manner with screws or bolts (not illustrated). As a result, the outer peripheral iron core 20 and the pedestal 60 are secured to each other to create the reactor 6. To this end, through-holes may be formed in the pedestal 60.
Furthermore,
As can be seen from the drawings, the outer peripheral iron core 20 is formed of four outer peripheral iron core portions 24 to 27 that are circumferentially disposed. The iron core coils 31 to 34 respectively include the iron cores 41 to 44 extending only radially and the coils 51 to 54 mounted around the corresponding iron cores. Additionally, each of the iron cores 41 to 44 has a radial outer end portion formed integrally with the corresponding outer peripheral iron core portions 24 to 27. In addition, the through-holes 29a to 29d similar to those described above are formed in the outer peripheral iron core portions 24 to 27, respectively. The number of the iron cores 41 to 44 and the number of the outer peripheral iron core portions 24 to 27 may not be necessarily equal to each other. The same applies to the core main body 5 illustrated in
In addition, each of the iron cores 41 to 44 has a radial inner end portion positioned near the center of the outer peripheral iron core 20. In
Single-dot-dash lines illustrated in
According to a first aspect, there is provided a core main body (5) including an outer peripheral iron core (20) and at least three iron cores (41 to 44) disposed inside the outer peripheral iron core, wherein a radial inner end portion of each of the at least three iron cores converges toward a center of the outer peripheral iron core, each of gaps (101 to 104) being magnetically couplable is formed between one iron core of the at least three iron cores and another iron core adjacent to the one iron core, the radial inner end portions of the at least three iron cores are spaced apart from each other through the gaps being magnetically couplable, the outer peripheral iron core is configured with at least a first outer peripheral iron core block (20A) formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic plates, a second outer peripheral iron core block (20B) formed by stacking a plurality of magnetic plates, and an intermediate plate (81) disposed between the first outer peripheral iron core block and the second outer peripheral iron core block, and the intermediate plate includes an outer peripheral iron core corresponding portion (82) corresponding to the outer peripheral iron core, a plurality of protruding sections (91) protruding from an outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral iron core, and engaging sections (91a) provided on the plurality of protruding sections.
According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the first outer peripheral iron core block and the second outer peripheral iron core block are configured with a plurality of outer peripheral iron core portion blocks (20A1 to 20A3, 20B1 to 20B3), and the intermediate plate is configured with a plurality of intermediate plate portions (84 to 87) corresponding to the respective plurality of first outer peripheral iron core portion blocks.
According to a third aspect, in the first aspect, the intermediate plate further includes iron core corresponding portions (83) corresponding to the at least three iron cores.
According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a reactor (6) including the core main body of any one of the first to third aspects, coils (51 to 54) mounted on the respective at least three iron cores, and a pedestal (60) attached to one end of the core main body.
According to a fifth aspect, in the fourth aspect, a position of the engaging section in an axial direction of the reactor is approximately equal to a position of a center of gravity of the reactor.
According to a sixth aspect, in the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the number of the at least three iron core coils is a multiple of three.
According to a seventh aspect, in the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the number of the at least three iron core coils is an even number being equal to or more than four.
According to an eighth aspect, a method of manufacturing the reactor (6) including steps of stacking a plurality of magnetic plates and forming a plurality of first outer peripheral iron core portion blocks (20A1 to 20A3), stacking a plurality of magnetic plates and forming a plurality of second outer peripheral iron core portion blocks (20B1 to 20B3), preparing a plurality of intermediate plate portions (84 to 86) corresponding to the respective plurality of first outer peripheral iron core portion blocks, disposing each of the plurality of intermediate plate portions on each of the plurality of first outer peripheral iron core portion blocks, disposing each of the plurality of first outer peripheral iron core portion blocks on each of the plurality of intermediate plate portions and forming a plurality of outer peripheral iron core portions including at least three iron cores (41 to 43), mounting coils (51 to 53) on the respective at least three iron cores, assembling the plurality of outer peripheral iron core portions together and forming a core main body (5), and attaching a pedestal (60) to one end of the core main body and securing the core main body and the pedestal to each other.
In the first aspect and the eighth aspect, since the intermediate plate is disposed between the first outer peripheral iron core block and the second outer peripheral iron core block, the engaging segments of the intermediate plate are adjacent to the center of gravity of the core main body. Thus, when the engaging section is lifted up by using the core main body, the core main body is hardly inclined. Therefore, lowering workability is suppressed during transport and attachment.
In the second aspect, the large outer peripheral iron core 20 can be easily manufactured without lowering workability during transport and attachment.
In the third aspect, generation of noise due to vibration of the iron core can be suppressed when the reactor provided with the core main body is driven.
In the fourth aspect, lowering workability can be suppressed during transport and attachment of the reactor.
In the fifth aspect, lowering workability can be further suppressed during transport and attachment of the reactor.
In the sixth aspect, the reactor can be used as a three-phase reactor.
In the seventh aspect, the reactor can be used as a single-phase reactor.
While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood, by those skilled in the art, that various changes or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims described later.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-124505 | Jul 2019 | JP | national |