1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resolver and a motor on which the resolver is mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
A resolver is a type of rotational position sensing mechanism for sensing a rotational position of a rotating body of a brushless motor. A resolver is defined by a resolver stator having a plurality of teeth, and a resolver rotor which is rotatable with respect to the resolver stator.
A conductive wire (an excitation winding or an output winding) is wound around each tooth of the resolver stator. The resolver detects variations in voltage output from the output winding in accordance with changes of a radial gap between the resolver stator and the resolver rotor. Based on the variations in voltage, the rotational position of the rotating body is detected.
The resolver stator is defined by a resolver stator core which is a magnetic body of metal, and an insulator with electrical insulation for covering the resolver stator core. The insulator is made of a resin and is formed by injection molding.
In the case where the insulator is manufactured by injection molding, it is necessary for any region of the insulator to correspond with the position of a gate which is an injecting position of the resin into the inside of the injection molding die (a cavity). Specifically, the injecting position of the resin into the inside of the die (the cavity) is set to be any region of the insulator. In a position corresponding to the position of the gate, burrs are caused when the molded product is removed from the gate during the release of the mold.
On the other hand, the conductive wire used for the resolver is a metal wire having a very small diameter (for example, the diameter of the conductive wire is about 0.09 mm). Accordingly, if the conductive wire accidentally comes into contact with the burrs of the insulator, the conductive wire is damaged. In addition, there is a possibility that breakage of the conductive wire may occur by the contact with the burrs. As a resolution to this problem, a method for removing the burrs from the surface of the insulator is considered. This method requires an additional new step, and the number of steps for manufacturing the resolver is disadvantageously increased.
In order to overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a resolver including a resolver rotor which rotates about a center axis, a resolver stator having a resolver stator core radially opposite to the resolver rotor with a predetermined gap therebetween, an insulator made of an electrically insulating material and arranged to cover an outer surface of the resolver stator core, and coils defined by winding conductive wires on the resolver stator core.
The resolver stator core may include a plurality of teeth, i.e., magnetic pole portions which extend radially and are circumferentially spaced, and a core back portion provided integrally with the plurality of teeth. The conductive wire is successively wound around two or more of the teeth.
In the insulator of the resolver, a plurality of pins may be provided for defining a path of the conductive wire between the plurality of teeth which are integral with the insulator. The pins extend in an axial direction parallel or substantially parallel to the center axis. On a top surface of at least one of the pins, an injection gate scar portion is disposed, i.e., a gate portion at which a resin, or any other suitable insulating material, forming the insulator is injected when the insulator is formed.
The insulator may include a cover portion covering an end surface of the core back portion. The injection scar portion may be disposed on a surface of the cover portion opposite to the core back portion.
In the insulator, the injection scar portion may be disposed in a position other than a position in which a crossover portion of the conductive wire bridging the tooth portions is disposed.
The insulator may have a tooth cover portion covering a corresponding one of the teeth. In the tooth cover portion, a wall portion for preventing the winding failure of the conductive wire is disposed. The injection scar portion may be disposed on a top surface of the wall portion.
Other features, elements, advantages and characteristics of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings.
Referring to
The structure of a motor according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is now described with reference to
In the present preferred embodiment, the motor preferably is a brushless motor driven by a three-phase current supplied from a power source, which is not shown. A resolver of the motor includes a resolver rotor and a resolver stator which will be described later. The resolver is a position sensing mechanism arranged to sense a voltage, as a position sensing signal, of a coil of the resolver stator generated in accordance with the variation of a radial gap between the resolver rotor and the resolver stator due to the rotation of the resolver rotor.
With reference to
The stator 12 is fixed to an inner surface of the housing 11. The stator 12 includes a core back portion 12a having an approximately annular configuration with the center axis J1 as its center, and a plurality of teeth 12b extending from the core back portion 12a to the center axis J1. The teeth 12b are disposed such that they are mutually spaced in a circumferential direction.
A yoke 18, which is formed by laminating a plurality of magnetic steel plates, for example, is fixed to the shaft 17. The rotor magnet 13 is fixed to a side surface of the yoke 18. The yoke 18 and the rotor magnet 13 rotate about the center axis J1 integrally with the shaft 17. The shaft 17, the yoke 18, and the rotor magnet 13 define a rotating body.
A resolver rotor 21 of the resolver 20 as the position sensing mechanism is fixed to the shaft 17 axially above the yoke 18. The resolver rotor 21 is disposed on a radially inner side of the opening of the bracket 15. As for the resolver rotor 21, the outer rim thereof is preferably not a perfect circular shape as seen in a plan view from above. A resolver stator 22 is disposed via a predetermined radial gap from the resolver rotor 21. The resolver stator 22 is fixed to an inner side surface of the bracket 15 which defines the opening.
As for the brushless motor 10, the rotational position of the rotating body is sensed by the resolver 20. Based on the sensed rotational position of the rotating body, a control device which is not shown supplies a current to coils formed by winding conductive wires around the teeth 12b of the stator 12. Accordingly, a rotation torque about the center axis J1 is generated by interaction between the stator and the rotor magnet 13. In this way, the brushless motor 10 is driven.
A structure of the resolver 20 in the present preferred embodiment is now described with reference to
In the following description, the up-and-down orientation of
With reference to
The resolver stator core 30 includes a core back portion 30a arranged approximately annularly about the center axis J1, and a plurality of teeth 30b radially extending from the core back portion 30a toward the center axis J1. The teeth 30b are mutually spaced in a circumferential direction of the core back portion 30a. Each tooth 30b has a surface which is radially opposite to a side surface of the resolver rotor 21. As for the shape of the side surface (the shape of the outer circumference) of the resolver rotor 21, as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In this preferred embodiment, six terminal pins 34 are arranged linearly, as shown in
A plurality of bridge pins 37 are disposed on the upper surface of the cover portion 32a at regular intervals in the circumferential direction of the cover portion 32a to protrude from the cover portion 32a. The bridge pins 37 are provided over an entire circumference of the cover portion 32a which is approximately annular in shape.
As shown in
In this preferred embodiment, six terminal pins 34 are arranged, and three conductive wires 38 are used, because one conductive wire 38 starts from one predetermined terminal pin 34 and returns to another predetermined terminal pin 34. Each of the conductive wires 38 is wound around a plurality of teeth 30b, thereby forming a plurality of coils 39.
One of the three conductive wires 38 defines an excitation winding for supplying a current to the coils. The other two wires define output windings for outputting a voltage to the control device (not shown) caused in the coils due to the rotation of the resolver rotor 21. Such a resolver 20 is a resolver of variable reluctance type. The resolver 20 senses the rotational position of the resolver rotor 21, i.e., the rotational position of the rotating body based on an output signal from the output windings obtained by utilizing variations in size of the radial gap between the resolver rotor 21 and the tooth portions 30b in association with the rotation of the resolver rotor 21.
Next, the manufacture of the insulator 32 is described with respect to
The insulators 32 and 35 are produced by injection molding in which a resin material is injected into a mold.
With reference to
In the first example, a gate position as the injecting port through which a resin material is injected into a cavity of a mold which is not shown in the injection molding of the insulator 32 is made to correspond to a top surface of the bridge pin 37. That is, on the top surface of the bridge pin 37, an injection scar portion 40 is formed as the separation scar of the gate position. In the injection scar portion 40, burrs may be formed during the release of the mold in the injection molding. Accordingly, as shown in
In this first example, the injection scar portion 40 is located at a position radially separated from the end of the tooth 30b. Moreover, the injection scar portion 40 is located above the insulator 32. Accordingly, an accidental situation where the burrs formed in the injection scar portion 40 are peeled off and caught between an inner surface of the resolver stator 21 and a side surface (an outer circumference) of the resolver rotor 22 can be largely reduced.
In
Next, with reference to
In the second example, in the injection molding of the insulator 32, the gate position is disposed outside the crossover portion 50 in the radial direction of the resolver 20. That is, the injection scar portion 41 is disposed radially outside the crossover portion 50. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the conductive wire 38 (i.e., the crossover portion 50) from contacting the injection scar portion 41. Therefore, even if burrs are created by the injection scar portion 41, the conductive wire 38 is not in contact with the burrs, so that it is possible to prevent the conductive wire 38 from being damaged or broken.
The injection scar portion 41 is located at a position radially separated from the end position of the tooth 30b. Moreover, the injection scar portion 41 is located above the insulator 32. Accordingly, an accidental situation where the burrs formed in the injection scar portion 41 are peeled off and caught between an inner surface of the resolver stator 21 and a side surface (an outer circumference) of the resolver rotor 22 can be largely reduced.
Next, with reference to
Since the injection scar portion 42 is formed on the top surface of the inner wall 32d, an accidental situation where the burrs formed in the injection scar portion 42 are peeled off and caught between an inner surface of the resolver stator 21 and a side surface (an outer circumference) of the resolver rotor 22 can be largely reduced.
Next, in the fourth example, in the injection molding of the insulator 32, the gate position corresponds to a back surface 32e of the insulator 32. Specifically, as shown in
Since the injection scar portion is formed on the back surface 32e of the insulator 32, an accidental situation where the burrs formed in the injection scar portion are peeled off and caught between an inner surface of the resolver stator 21 and a side surface (an outer circumference) of the resolver rotor 22 can be largely reduced.
In the case where the injection scar portion is formed on the back surface 32e of the insulator 32, the injection scar portion is desirably formed in a portion corresponding to the cover portion 32a. The tooth cover portion 32c is required to be thin in order for the conductive wire 38 to be wound many times. However, the cover portion 32a is not required to be thin. Since a certain degree of thickness is required for forming an injection scar portion, it is desired that the injection scar portion be formed in a portion corresponding to the cover portion 32a.
Next, the shape of the terminal pin 34 is described with reference to
With reference to
The terminal pin 34 and the conductive wire 38 are joined by welding, for example. In this case, after the conductive wire 38 is wound around the upper portion of the terminal pin 34, they are joined by applying heat. In this preferred embodiment, the cross-sectional area of the upper portion of the terminal pin 34 is small, so that the required time for applying heat can be shortened. Alternatively, the heating temperature can be set to be low. Accordingly, in the joining process by welding for the terminal pin 34 and the conductive wire 38, it is possible to prevent the conductive wire 38 having a small diameter of wire from being broken by due to excessive heat.
The motor 10 on which the respective resolver 20 described in any of the above-described examples is mounted is, for example, desirably mounted on a power steering device for assisting the operation of a handle in a vehicle. That is, it is necessary for the power steering apparatus to ensure high positional control and high reliability for the use in vehicles. In the resolver 20 of any of the above-described examples, it is possible that the conductive wire 38 is prevented from being damaged or broken, so that high reliability can be attained for the resolver.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described preferred embodiments, but can be variably modified.
For example, in the second and third examples of the arrangement of the injection scar portions, the injection scar portions 41 and 42 are preferably formed on the radially outer side of the crossover portion 50 and on the top surface of the inner wall 32d, respectively. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The injection scar portions 41 and 42 may be formed in other positions. That is, the injection scar portion may be formed in a position on the upper surface of the insulator 32 other than the position where the conductive wire 38 is disposed. More specifically, the injection scar portions 41 and 42 may be disposed in positions other than the tooth cover portion 32c around which the conductive wire 38 is wound, and other than the crossover portion 50 extending from the conductive wire 38.
Moreover, for example, in the first example of the injection scar portion, the injection scar portion 40 is preferably disposed in one or a plurality of bridge pins 37 of the bridge pins 37. The present invention is not limited thereto. The injection scar portion 40 may be formed in each of the bridge pins 37. In the third example of the injection scar portion, the injection scar portion 42 is disposed on the top surface of the inner wall 32d, but the number of the injection scar portions 42 is not limited. However, in the case where the injection scar portions 42 are formed on the top surfaces of all of the inner walls 32d, it is possible to improve the moldability of the insulator 32.
Furthermore, for example, the core back portion 30a of the resolver stator core 30 of the above-described preferred embodiments preferably has an approximately annular shape with the center axis J1 as its center. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the core back portion of the resolver stator core may have an arcuate shape. Alternatively, the core back portion has an annular shape, which is not limited to a circularly annular shape. The core back portion may have a polygonal annular shape. The shape of the cover portion 32a of the insulator 32 may be changed in accordance with the change of the shape of the core back portion. Accordingly, if the core back portion has an arcuate shape, the cover portion of the insulator also has an arcuate shape.
Moreover, for example, in the tooth cover portion 32c of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, only the inner wall 32d is provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an outer wall may be provided on the radially outer side from the coil 39 of the tooth cover portion for preventing the winding deformation of the conductive wire 38 of the coil 39. Herein, a wall portion includes the inner wall 32d and the outer wall.
Although the resolver having a plurality of conductive wires is described in the above description, the resolver may include a single conductive wire.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2007-017386 | Jan 2007 | JP | national |