ELECTRICAL BRUSH AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME

Abstract

An electrical brush includes an electrically conductive base and a plurality of carbon nanotubes. The electrically conductive base has a contact surface. The carbon nanotubes are formed on the contact surface of the base and are configured for contacting with a rotary member. The method includes the steps of: providing an electrically conductive base having a contact surface; and forming a plurality of carbon nanotubes on the contact surface of the base. The electrical brush can be applied in various electrical machineries for efficiently collecting and transferring machine current over a long working period.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present electrical brush can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present heat dissipation module. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic, side plan view of an according to a preferred embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for making the electrical brush of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary method for forming a plurality of carbon nanotubes of the electrical brush of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is essentially similar to FIG. 1, but showing the electrical brush applied in an electric apparatus.

Claims

1. An electrical brush for an electric apparatus, comprising: an electrically conductive base having a contact surface; anda plurality of carbon nanotubes formed on the contact surface of the base and configured for contacting with the electrical apparatus.

2. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes form a concave curved contour at end opposing the contact surface of the base.

3. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an elastic connecting member configured for elastically connecting the base with a brush holder.

4. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 3, wherein the elastic connecting member comprises an electrical lead connecting with the base and a spring coiled around the lead and elastically connecting with the base.

5. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 3, wherein the elastic connecting member comprises a conductive elastic sheet connecting with the base.

6. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive base is made of electrically conductive material selected from the group consisting of: copper, gold, silver, nickel, and combinations thereof.

7. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of: multi-walled carbon nanotubes, single wall carbon nanotubes, aligned carbon nanotubes array, and combinations thereof.

8. The electrical brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes are an aligned carbon nanotube array essentially perpendicular to the contact surface of the base.

9. A method for manufacturing an electrical brush, comprising the steps of: providing an electrically conductive base having a contact surface; andforming a plurality of carbon nanotubes on the contact surface of the base configured for contacting with an electric apparatus.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the forming of the carbon nanotubes is performed by a method selected from the group consisting of: chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, hot filament chemical vapor deposition, arc discharge, and laser ablation.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the carbon nanotubes are directly grown on the contact surface of the base.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the growing of the carbon nanotubes is performed by a method selected from the group consisting of: chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and hot filament chemical vapor deposition.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the growing of the carbon nanotubes comprises steps of: forming a catalyst film on the contact surface of the base; annealing the catalyst film to form a plurality of catalyst particles on the contact surface of the base; and growing a plurality of carbon nanotubes on the contact surface of the base.

14. An electric apparatus comprising: a rotary member with a convex curved contour;a brush holder; andan electrical brush elastically connecting with the brush holder, the electrical brush comprising:an electrically conductive base having a contact surface; anda plurality of carbon nanotubes formed on the contact surface of the base and configured for contacting with the rotary member, the carbon nanotubes forming a concave curved contour fitting with the convex curved contour of the rotary emmber.

15. The electric apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the electrical brush comprises an elastic connecting member elastically and electrically connecting the base with the brush holder.

16. The electric apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the elastic connecting member comprises an electrical lead connected between the base and the brush holder and a spring coiled around the lead and elastically connected between the base and the brush holder.

17. The electric apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the elastic connecting member comprises a conductive elastic sheet elastically and electrically connected to the base and the brush holder.

18. The electric apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the contact surface of the base is a concave curved surface.

19. The electric apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the contact surface of the base is a flat plane and the carbon nanotubes are treated to form the concave curved contour.

20. The electric apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the brush holder is stationary relative to a center of the rotary member.