This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2012/050254 filed Jan. 10, 2012, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a vehicle AC generator.
Vehicle AC generators provided with, for instance, a rectifier, a regulator, a brush holder and a resin cover (for instance, Patent document 1) are the most common vehicle AC generators. The brush holder has a brush for supplying electromagnetic current to a rotor. The resin cover is a bowl-shaped cover for protecting electric components such as the rectifier, the regulator and so forth.
Patent document 1: Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. H5-15653
It is deemed that the resin cover of the vehicle AC generator may break and the internal components may suffer a direct impact when a vehicle AC generator receives an external impact, due for instance to a vehicle crash. In particular, generation of sparks during short-circuits cannot be ruled out if metal parts having a potential difference are deformed or come into contact with each other. The space between inner parts has decreased in recent years as engine rooms have become more compact. As a result, there arises a need to further increase safety at the time of a vehicle collision. A further need involves making the vehicle AC generator itself more compact, from the viewpoint of harness attachability.
At present, there are no resin covers strong enough as to withstand a collision, since the main purpose of the resin cover is to afford spatial protection of electric components. However, modifying the material of the resin cover to an impact resistant material, or increasing the thickness of the resin cover, gives rise to a new problem, namely the greater cost that doing so involves.
In the light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle AC generator that allows further enhancing safety at the time of a vehicle collision, without resorting to changes in material or changes in overall thickness.
In order to attain the above goal, a vehicle AC generator of the present invention is a vehicle AC generator, having: a rotor provided on a shaft; a stator disposed so as to oppose the rotor; a rectifier rectifying current generated in the stator; a regulator adjusting voltage generated in the stator; and a resin cover covering the rectifier, wherein a partitioning section is integrally formed on the inner side of the resin cover; and the partitioning section extends in a peripheral direction and rises in an axial direction of the shaft.
The present invention succeeds in providing a vehicle AC generator that further enhances safety at the time of a vehicle collision, without resorting to changes in material or changes in overall thickness.
Embodiments of the vehicle AC generator of the present invention are explained next with reference to accompanying drawings. In the figures, identical reference numerals denote identical or corresponding portions.
A pulley 3 is attached to one end 4a, of the shaft 4, that protrudes beyond the front bracket 1. A claw-pole type rotor 5 is attached to the shaft 4, inward of the front bracket 1. A fan 6 is attached to the front bracket 1 side of the rotor 5, as viewed in the direction in which the rotation axis of the shaft 4 extends. Similarly, a fan 7 is attached to the rear bracket 2 side of the rotor 5, as viewed in the direction in which the rotation axis of the shaft 4 extends.
A slip ring 8 for supplying current to the rotor 5 is provided at another end 4b of the shaft 4. A brush 9 is disposed in the vicinity of the slip ring 8, in such a manner so as to slide over the latter.
A stator 10 is provided outward (front side), in the rotation radius direction, of the rotor 5, in such a manner that the stator 10 opposes the rotor 5. The stator 10 has a stator core 10a and a stator coil 11 that is wound around the stator core 10a. The stator core 10a and the stator coil 11 are fixed to the front bracket 1 and the rear bracket 2.
A rectifier 12 and a regulator 13 are disposed at the stator coil 11, at a region on the other end 4b side of the shaft 4. The rectifier 12, which is electrically connected to the stator coil 11, rectifies the AC current generated in the stator coil 11 into DC current. The regulator 13 adjusts the AC voltage generated in the stator coil 11. A regulator connector 13a is exposed outside the edge of a resin cover described below.
The rectifier will be explained on the basis of
The diodes (+) 110 have a shape such as the one illustrated in
A heat generation section of each diode (+) 110 is electrically connected to the cathode side, and a heat generation section of each diode (−) 130 is electrically connected to the anode side. The cathodes of the diodes (+) 110 and the anodes of the diodes (−) 130 are electrically connected to respective conductive bases 150.
The base 150 of each diode (+) 110 is mechanically fixed to the heat sink (+) 100, and the base 150 of each diode (−) 130 is mechanically fixed to the heat sink (−) 120. The heat sink (+) 100 is at the same potential as that of the cathodes of the diodes (+) 110, and the heat sink (−) 120 is at the same potential as that of the anodes of the diodes (−) 130.
With reference back to
The resin cover 14 of the present embodiment will be explained based on
Firstly, a partitioning section 15 is formed on the inner side of the resin cover 14, as illustrated in
The partitioning section 15 extends both in the axial direction and in the peripheral direction. The partitioning section 15 extends in such a way so as to separate metal parts having a potential difference. Specifically, the partitioning section 15 extends so as to separate the heat sink (+) 100 from the heat sink (−) 120, as illustrated in
The outer side of the resin cover 14 has recessed shapes or protruding shapes; in the example illustrated in
In the vehicle AC generator configured as described above, the partitioning section is integrally formed on the inner side of the resin cover, in such a manner that the partitioning section extends in the peripheral direction and rises in the axial direction of the shaft. Therefore, it becomes possible to increase the rigidity and strength of the resin cover as a whole, and in particular, to enhance impact resistance, regardless of the direction of the impact, without incurring additional costs that are involved in, for instance, modifying the material of the resin cover to an impact resistant material, or making the resin cover thicker. As compared with existing resin covers, the resin cover of the present embodiment can be realized by modifying only the shape of a molding die, and by slightly modifying a material amount.
In addition, the partitioning section has a curved shape in a projection view along the front-back direction of the resin cover. The strength of the partitioning section itself can be therefore enhanced, as a result of which the rigidity of the resin cover can be likewise enhanced. The partitioning section extends so as to separate metal parts having a potential difference. Therefore, short-circuits can be prevented regardless of the direction of the impact. The outer side of the resin cover has recessed shapes or protruding shapes, and hence the rigidity of the resin cover can also be enhanced thereby. The space in the battery terminal cover section itself or the regulator connector cover section itself can be expanded, and harness attachability as well can be enhanced, by imparting recessed shapes to the peripheral section of the battery terminal cover section and the peripheral section of the regulator connector cover section. If the resin cover is configured out of a flame-retardant grade material, moreover, it becomes possible to suppress yet more surely the outbreak of fire even if sparks are generated upon a short-circuit in the event of a collision.
The features of the present invention have been explained in detail with reference to the preferred embodiment above, but it is evident that a person skilled in the art can devise all manner of variations on the basis of the teachings and basic technical concept of the present invention.
4 shaft, 5 rotor, 10 stator, 12 rectifier, 13 regulator, 14 resin cover, 15 partitioning section, 50 vehicle AC generator, 100 heat sink (+), 110 diode (+), 120 heat sink (−), 130 diode (−)
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2012/050254 | 1/10/2012 | WO | 00 | 4/16/2014 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2013/105212 | 7/18/2013 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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International Search Report of PCT/JP2012/050254, dated Apr. 17, 2012. |
Communication dated Dec. 23, 2015 from the State Intellectual Property Office of People's Republic of China in Application No. 201280066714.1. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20140246959 A1 | Sep 2014 | US |