This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 095142581, 095142582 and 095142583 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Nov. 17, 2006, and the Patent Application No 096119480 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on May 31, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a motor and, in particular, to a motor having a magnetic fluid bearing structure.
2. Related Art
In response to the smoothness and the stability of the motor at a high rotating speed, a bearing is conventionally used to support a shaft. Referring to
However, the oil seal 14 is mounted around the shaft 12 and the space for storing the lubricant cannot be completely sealed. Thus, the lubricant tends to leak slowly after the motor 1 has rotated at the high speed for a long period of time. Therefore, the lubrication between the shaft 12 and the bearing 13 is reduced, and the reliability and the lifetime of the motor 1 tend to deteriorate.
Therefore, it is an important subject to keep a lubricant in the bearing effectively so as to reduce the consumption of the lubricant, thereby enhancing the reliability and the lifetime of the motor.
In view of the foregoing, the invention is to provide a motor having a magnetic fluid bearing structure, in which a lubricant is kept in a bearing effectively according to a generated magnetic field so that the consumption of the lubricant can be reduced. Furthermore, the magnetic field can make the magnetic fluid generate additional axial and radial supporting forces so that the reliability and the lifetime of the motor can be enhanced.
To achieve the above, the invention discloses a magnetic fluid bearing structure, which includes at least one bearing, at least one magnetic element and magnetic fluid. The bearing is telescoped onto a shaft, and the magnetic element is disposed adjacent to the bearing. The magnetic fluid is kept between the bearing and the shaft. According to a magnetic effect between the magnetic fluid and the magnetic element, it is possible to prevent a lubricant of the bearing from leaking, and a hydraulic pressure of the magnetic fluid provides additional axial and radial supports to make the shaft rotate steadily relative to the bearing.
To achieve the above, a motor according to the invention includes a rotor, a stator and a magnetic fluid bearing structure. The rotor has a shaft. The stator is disposed corresponding to the rotor. The magnetic fluid bearing structure includes a bearing, at least one magnetic element and magnetic fluid. The bearing is telescoped onto the shaft, the magnetic element is disposed adjacent to the bearing, and the magnetic fluid is kept between the bearing and the shaft. According a magnetic effect between the magnetic fluid and the magnetic element, it is possible to prevent a lubricant of the bearing from leaking, and a hydraulic pressure of the magnetic fluid provides additional axial and radial supports to make the shaft rotate steadily relative to the bearing.
In addition, the invention also discloses a motor including a sleeve, a rotor, a bearing, a stator and a magnetic oil seal structure. The rotor has a shaft. The bearing is telescoped onto the shaft and accommodated in the sleeve. The stator is disposed corresponding to the rotor and telescoped onto the sleeve. The magnetic oil seal structure is telescoped onto the shaft, seals an end portion of the sleeve, and includes magnetic fluid, at least one magnetic element and at least one magnetic-conducting element. The magnetic fluid is kept between the sleeve and the shaft. The magnetic-conducting element is combined with the magnetic element. The magnetic oil seal structure is formed according to magnetic effects between the magnetic fluid, the magnetic-conducting element and the magnetic element.
In addition, the invention further discloses a magnetic oil seal structure, which is telescoped onto a shaft and closes an end portion of a sleeve. The magnetic oil seal structure includes magnetic fluid, at least one magnetic element and at least one magnetic-conducting element. The magnetic fluid is kept between the sleeve and the shaft. The magnetic element is disposed on an end portion of the shaft. The magnetic-conducting element is disposed adjacent to the end portion of the sleeve. The magnetic element and the magnetic-conducting element form a magnetic loop. The magnetic oil seal structure is formed according to magnetic effects between the magnetic fluid, the magnetic element and the magnetic-conducting element.
As mentioned above, the motor having the magnetic fluid bearing structure according to the invention prevents the lubricant of the bearing from leaking according to the magnetic fluid accommodated between the bearing and the shaft and the magnetic effect between the magnetic element and the magnetic fluid. In addition, the generated hydraulic pressure provides the additional axial and radial supports to make the shaft rotate steadily relative to the bearing. Compared with the related art, the magnetic fluid of the invention generates the additional axial and radial supporting hydraulic pressures, which can provide the supporting forces when the shaft is either rotating or kept stationary, according to the magnetic field generated by the magnetic loop. In addition, the invention can enhance the rotating stability of the shaft, and can further keep the lubricant in the bearing effectively according to the magnetic attracting function of the magnetic element. Thus, the lubricant consumption can be decreased, and the reliability and the lifetime of the motor can be enhanced.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the subsequent detailed description and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.
As shown in
The motor 2 further includes a first positioning element 28 and a second positioning element 29. The first positioning element 28 has the magnetic-conducting property or does not have the magnetic-conducting property. The second positioning element 29 is a ring, magnetic-pressure magnet or wear-resistant sheet. In this embodiment, the magnetic fluid bearing structure 23 is accommodated in a sleeve 24 of the motor 2. The sleeve 24 can be a hollow cylinder with a closed end or a hollow cylinder having an end closed by a cover. The bearings 231 are telescoped onto the shaft 221 and disposed against the first positioning element 28 to form a chamber 30 for accommodating the lubricant of the bearings 231. The magnetic elements 232 are disposed adjacent to the outer ring of the bearing 231 and against the sleeve 24. One end of the shaft 221 is fit with the bottom of the sleeve 24 through the second positioning element 29. In addition, the sleeve 24 can make each element accommodated therein align with the same center. The magnetic fluid 233 is kept between the bearings 231 and the shaft 221 in the sleeve 24.
The magnetic fluid bearing structure 23 provides the lubrication and the protection for the motor 2 according to the following principle and procedures. When the motor 2 is not rotated, a magnetic loop C formed by the magnetic element 232 is distributed axially with respect to the shaft 221 and the bearings 231 also provide supports to the shaft 221 because the N and S poles of the magnetic element 232 are disposed axially. When the motor 2 is rotating, the magnetic loops C formed by the magnetic elements 232 can attract the magnetic fluid 233 through the bearings 231 and can be axially distributed between the bearings 231 and the shaft 221 because each of the bearings 231 has the magnetic-conducting property. The hydraulic pressure of the magnetic fluid 233 is increased with the increase of the magnetic flux density so that the better lubrication and supporting effects can be provided for the bearings 231 and the shaft 221, and the wear of each of the shaft 221 and the bearings 231 can be reduced. In addition, the magnetic attracting function provided by the magnetic elements 232 can be equivalent to an oil seal structure with respect to the magnetic fluid bearing structure 23 so that the lubricant consumption can be avoided.
As shown in
Referring to
When the motor 3 is rotating, a magnetic loop C2 formed by the magnetic element 332 can attract the magnetic fluid 333 through the bearings 331 and the shaft 221 and is axially distributed between the bearings 331 and the shaft 221 because each of the bearings 331 and the shaft 221 has the magnetic-conducting property and the N and S poles of the magnetic element 332 are arranged axially. It is to be noted that the portions of the shaft 221 and the bearings 331, which are not telescoped, also attract the magnetic fluid 333 because the shaft 221 has the magnetic-conducting property. The hydraulic pressure of the magnetic fluid 333 is also increased with the increase of the magnetic flux density so that better lubrication and supporting effects can be obtained to avoid the lubricant consumption.
As shown in
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to
The magnetic oil seal structure 56, disposed adjacent to the end portion of The bearing 53 and mounted around a shaft 221, includes at least one magnetic element 561, at least one magnetic-conducting element 562 and magnetic fluid 563. The magnetic element 561 is an electronic magnet, a magnet or a magnetite including, without limitation to, a neodymium-iron-boron magnetic element. The magnetic-conducting element 562 is a magnetic yoke including, without limitation to, a claw-pole magnetic yoke. The magnetic fluid 563 is kept between the magnetic-conducting element 562 and the shaft 221 and contains iron, cobalt, nickel or alloys thereof.
The magnetic effect of the magnetic oil seal structure 56 is that the magnetic element 561 conducts the magnetic property through the magnetic-conducting element 562. Because the N and S poles of the magnetic-conducting element 562 are arranged alternately, the lines of magnetic forces of the magnetic element 561 form a radial magnetic force loop distribution to attract the magnetic fluid 563. As shown in
In this embodiment, the magnetic elements 661 and 662 are arranged repellently along the axial direction to form a magnetic loop C4 so that the lines of magnetic forces are collected to the middle between the magnetic elements 661 and 662 and the larger attracting force can be produced between the shaft 621 and the magnetic oil seal structure 66. It is to be noted that the magnetic oil seal structure 66 and the shaft 621 can form the magnetic loop C4, which is axially or radially distributed according to the arrangements of the magnetic elements 661 and 662.
In this embodiment, the magnetic oil seal structure 76 prevents the lubricant 31 from leaking according to the following principle. When the motor 7 is not rotating, the magnetic element 761 can form a magnetic loop C5 by the magnetic element 761, the shaft 721 and the magnetic-conducting element 762 because the magnetic-conducting element 762 and the magnetic element 761 are respectively disposed adjacent to two ends of the shaft 721 and the shaft 721 has the magnetic-conducting property. The magnetic loop C5 is axially distributed with respect to the shaft 721 and the magnetic element 761 provides a magnetic pressure to the shaft 721.
The magnetic fluid bearing structure and the magnetic loop formed thereby according to the invention provide three functions. First, the lubricant is uniformly distributed between the bearing and the shaft to provide the lubrication function according to the provision of the magnetic bearing structure. Second, the magnetic fluid is attracted by the magnetic effect between the magnetic element and the shaft to form the oil seal structure so that the lubricant can also be kept in the bearing after the motor has rotated for a long period of time and the lubricant consumption can be avoided. Third, the magnetic loop can generate the larger axial attracting force so that the shaft can rotate steadily, and cannot generate the additional vibration and noise due to up and down vibrations caused by the high-rotation speed of the motor. The three functions can significantly enhance the reliability and lifetime of the motor.
In summary, the motor having the magnetic fluid bearing structure according to the invention prevents the lubricant of the bearing from leaking according to the magnetic fluid accommodated between the bearing and the shaft and the magnetic effect between the magnetic element and the magnetic fluid. In addition, the generated hydraulic pressure provides the additional axial and radial supports to make the shaft rotate steadily relative to the bearing. Compared with the related art, the magnetic fluid of the invention generates the additional axial and radial supporting hydraulic pressures, which can provide the supporting forces when the shaft is either rotating or kept stationary, according to the magnetic field generated by the magnetic loop. In addition, the invention can enhance the rotating stability of the shaft, and can further keep the lubricant in the bearing effectively according to the magnetic attracting function of the magnetic element. Thus, the lubricant consumption can be decreased, and the reliability and the lifetime of the motor can be enhanced.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
095142581 | Nov 2006 | TW | national |
095142582 | Nov 2006 | TW | national |
095142583 | Nov 2006 | TW | national |
096119480 | May 2007 | TW | national |