Patent ID: 7545061
Filing Date: 2009-06-09
Classification: H02K

Abstract:
1. A rotating electric machine for vehicles comprising: a stator provided with an armature winding; a rotor including a rotary shaft, and which is located inside said stator; a cooling fan located at said rotor; a housing that supports and fixes said stator, as well as supports said rotary shaft in a rotatable manner; and a cover that is located outside of one wall surface of said housing in an axial direction of said rotary shaft so as to cover said one wall surface, and that forms a space with said one wall surface of said housing; first and second switching elements of an upper arm and a lower arm that are connected in series forming an inverter circuit to be connected to said armature winding, wherein said first and second switching elements are disposed adjacent to each other in the axial direction of said rotary shaft; a first heat sink attached to said first switching element; a first cooling fin attached to said first heat sink, said first cooling fin disposed in a radial direction of said rotary shaft; a second heat sink attached to said second switching element; a second cooling fin attached to said second heat sink, said second cooling fin disposed in a radial direction of said rotary shaft; a ventilation hole for sucking an outside air is formed on a wall in the axial direction of said rotary shaft of said cover; a suction port through which an air in said space is sucked into said housing is formed in said one wall of said housing; a discharge port through which the air in said housing is discharged is formed in the radially outer circumferential portion of said housing, wherein, when said cooling fan is brought in rotation, a first portion of said outside air flows axially from said ventilation hole, goes through said suction port, flows radially through said first cooling fin in a direction toward said rotor shaft, and then is discharged from said discharge port, and a second portion of said outside air flows axially from said ventilation hole, goes through said suction port, flows radially through said first cooling fin in a direction away from said rotor shaft, flows radially through said second cooling fin in a direction toward said rotor shaft, and then is discharged from said discharge port, and wherein said first and second portions of said outside air flow directly from the ventilation hole towards an outer peripheral end of said first cooling fin.