Patent ID: 6114783
Filing Date: 2000-09-05
Classification: H02K

Abstract:
An AC generator for use in a vehicle, comprising:a shaft supported in a case so as to be able to rotate freely;a rotor disposed in said case and composed of a pair of pole cores each having a plurality of claw portions protruding from the outer circumferential edge portion thereof, said pole cores being fixedly fitted over said shaft in an opposed relation to each other so that said claw portions are able to engage with each other;a stator disposed within said case so as to be positioned around the periphery of said rotor;centrifugal fans secured to both axial ends of said rotor;a rectifier for rectifying an alternating current generated in said stator to a direct current;a regulator for regulating an output voltage of said stator; anda connector portion to which an external connector is fitted;wherein said rectifier, said regulator and said connector portion are arranged circumferentially in a scattered manner on a plane intersecting at a right angle with the axis of the shaft at one end of said shaft so as not to overlap each other in the axial direction,wherein intake openings are provided at one end surface of said case so as to face said rectifier and said regulator, andwherein a plurality of exhaust openings arc provided at the outer circumference of said case in the circumferential direction;said AC generator further comprising a cooling air passageway in which the air streams arc sucked from said intake openings by the action of said centrifugal fans, and subsequently cool said rectifier and said regulator wherein said air streams are blocked from flowing in the circumferential direction by a barrier configuration that separates a rectifier accommodation portion (50a), a condenser accommodation portion (50b), a regulator accommodation portion (50c), and a connector accommodation portion (50d), and are axially separated from each other and flow radially inward.