Abstract:
An electrical drive comprising stationary outer and inner stators; a rotatably mounted rotor with at least one pot-shaped element having a cylindrical wall and a base wall, wherein the cylindrical wall is thin-walled and made of magnetic material, wherein the base wall extends perpendicular and a cylindrical coaxial to a rotor shaft axis and the base wall is connected to the rotor shaft for transfer of torque; at least one electrical excitation coil; and a plurality of permanent magnet elements secured to the rotor for producing an excitation flux, wherein the magnet elements rest only against a radially inner side of the cylindrical wall and in the circumferential direction are disposed next to one another, wherein the magnet elements, together with the stators, form magnetic circuits that pass radially entirely through the cylindrical wall, and wherein the radial thickness of the magnet elements is greater than the thickness of the cylindrical wall.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The instant application should be granted the priority dates of Oct. 18, 2005, the filing date of the corresponding German patent application 10 2004 030 063.1, as well as Mar. 8, 2005, the filing date of the International patent application PCT/EP2005/002441. 
   Rotating field machines of the type under consideration are also designated as bell-shaped rotors. They generally have a stationary inner and outer stator and a rotatably mounted rotor, whereby the latter is formed by a bell. Permanent magnet elements can be disposed in the bell for a magnetic bias. 
   The requirements regarding regulatability and the dynamics of electric motors constantly increase. A decisive criterion of the properties of electric motors is therefore the moment of inertia of the rotor or the quotient of generated torque and moment of inertia of the rotor. Particularly good characteristics in this regard are demonstrated by bell rotors, which, however, have a limited torque due to the unidirectional transfer of torque, since the rotor twists too greatly as the torque increases. In addition, bell-shaped rotors have problems with regard to heat dissipation, so that also for this reason the permissible power absorption is limited, which is particularly true if the bell is made of a polymeric material or a winding. In the article by W. R. Canders, H. Masebach, F. Laube “Technologies and Limits of High Torque Drives”, page 17ff, a bell-shaped rotor having a rotor provided of permanent magnets is described. The rotor is mounted on the end face bf the housing as well as on the shaft. The permanent magnets are disposed in the rotor between outer and inner stators, whereby not only the outer stator but also the inner stator each carry magnet or excitation coils. The described drives are slowly rotating drives having high torque, whereby the rotor for the most part is comprised of soft iron, resulting in a high moment of inertia. On page 19 of the article, a rotor having only one row of permanent magnets is illustrated, thus leaving to speculation how the permanent magnets are mounted in the rotor. With this embodiment, the outer and inner stators, together with the permanent magnets of the rotor, form a common magnet circuit. 
   No expedient nor reliable mounting of the permanent magnet elements is disclosed in the above mentioned article. In particular for rapidly rotating field machines, the mounting of the permanent magnet elements pursuant to the article by W. R. Canders is not suitable. 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bell-shaped rotor drive for high speeds having great torque, according to which the permanent magnet elements are reliably mounted. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This object is inventively realized by an electrical drive having stationary outer and inner stators: a rotatably mounted rotor provided with at least one pot-shaped element having a cylindrical wall as well as a base wall, wherein the cylindrical wall is thin-walled and is made of a magnetic material, wherein the base wall extends perpendicular to an axis of a rotor shaft and the cylindrical wall extends coaxial thereto, and wherein the base wall is connected to the rotor shaft to enable transfer of torque; at least one electrical excitation coil; and a plurality of permanent magnet elements secured to the rotor for producing an excitation flux, wherein the permanent magnet elements rest only against a radially inner side of the cylindrical wall and in a circumferential direction are disposed next to one another, wherein the permanent magnet elements, together with the outer and inner stators, form magnetic circuits that pass radially entirely through the cylindrical wall, and wherein the permanent magnet elements have a radial thickness that is greater than the thickness of the cylindrical wall. 
   The present invention is based on the concept that a bell-shaped rotor having a small moment of inertia is required if the drive is to be designed for high speeds having high dynamics. A small moment of inertia with a simultaneously high torque and high reliability, as well as protection should the permanent magnet elements be destroyed, is advantageously achieved in that the permanent magnet elements rest at least against the inside of a cylindrical wall of a pot-shaped element. In this connection, the permanent magnet elements are advantageously disposed in only one layer, whereby the cylindrical wall is advantageously made of a magnetic material and has a thin-walled construction. In contrast to the known bell-shaped rotors, it is an essential feature of the inventive drive that the magnetic fluxes of the magnetic circuits that are formed pass radially entirely through the permanent magnet elements as well as the cylindrical wall, in other words, that the outer and inner stators, together with the rotor, form at least one common magnetic circuit. A magnetic short circuit via the rotor does not occur or is negligible. 
   A particularly good encasement, with a simultaneously easy assembly, can be achieved if the permanent magnet elements are disposed between two cylindrical walls that are coaxially disposed within one another. In this connection, the cylindrical walls are either parts of two pots that are coaxially disposed within one another, whereby their cylindrical walls are spaced from one another by the thickness of the permanent magnet elements. However, it is equally possible for the cylindrical walls to be formed on and/or secured to one and the same base wall. In this connection, at least one base wall is to be connected to the shaft for the transfer of force. A preferred embodiment results if the bell is formed by an outer pot having an inwardly disposed sleeve, whereby the permanent magnet elements are disposed between the sleeve and the outer pot. With this embodiment, the sleeve can be connected to the cylindrical wall or to the base wall of the outer pot, for example by welding. 
   The invention also provides for a plurality of pot-shaped elements or bells to be disposed axially next to one another on the shaft and to together form the rotor. In this connection, the base-shaped walls of two pots that are disposed next to one another are formed by a common base wall. It is also possible for the cylindrical wall of two adjacent pot-shaped elements to be formed by a common sleeve, whereby the transfer of force is then effected by a common base wall or by two or more base walls from the cylindrical wall to the shaft. 
   By dividing the magnets to a plurality of pot-shaped elements, the necessary length of the permanent magnets can advantageously be kept small. 
   It is, of course, also possible to dispose a plurality of permanent magnets next to one another in the axial direction in a pot-shaped element. The same also applies for the arrangement of a plurality of pot-shaped elements that are arranged axially next to one another and that also can respectively have a plurality of permanent magnets that are arranged axially next to one another. The axial length of the pot-shaped elements that are arranged axially next to one another can also differ from one another. 
   In the circumferential direction, it is particularly advantageous to support two magnets on an appropriate configuration of the pot, for example corrugations, and to fill the intermediate space with a material having a large temperature expansion coefficient (for example casting resin), so that upon transfer of the peripheral forces a temperature compensation is taken into account. This is necessary since the permanent magnets have a very small expansion coefficient. 
   The previously described pot-shaped elements have a configuration similar to the bells of known bell-shaped rotors. The cylindrical wall is, however, radially supported on the shaft only via the base wall. The cylindrical wall of the bell is preferably made of magnetic conductive material. 
   The electrical drive can be designed not only as an internal rotor but also as an external rotor, whereby the internal rotor is characterized in that the magnet or excitation coils are disposed on the outer stator. The external rotor is characterized in that the magnet or excitation coils are disposed exclusively on the inner stator. However, it is also possible to provide excitation coils not only on the outer stator but also on the inner stator. 
   The drive is used either as a continuously rotating motor, a stepping motor or a segmented motor. Similarly, it is also possible to use the drive as a linear drive, in which case the rotor does not rotate about its axis, but rather is displaced back and forth in the axial direction by the magnetic field. 
   It is also possible for the coils of the outer stator and the permanent magnets of the rotor to be disposed as they are with a transversal flux or flow motor. Such a transversal flux motor is described, for example, in the “Handbook for Electrical Small Drives”, Carl Hanser publisher. The inner stator is in this connection to be appropriately designed. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Various embodiments of the inventive drive will be explained in greater detail subsequently with the aid of the drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  shows an inventive electrical drive having two bells as internal rotors; 
       FIG. 1   a  is a detailed illustration of the construction of the bells; 
       FIG. 1   b  is a cross-sectional illustration through a bell; 
       FIG. 1   c  is a cross-sectional illustration through a bell having permanent magnet elements with a quadrilateral profile; 
       FIG. 2  shows an inventive drive with excitation coils on the outer as well as on the inner stator, whereby the excitation coils of the inner stator critically generate the magnetic flux; 
       FIG. 3  shows an inventive drive having excitation coils on the outer as well as on the inner stator, whereby the excitation coils of the outer stator critically generate the magnetic flux; 
       FIG. 4  shows the inventive drive as an external rotor having a single-wall bell; 
       FIG. 5  shows an inventive drive with permanent magnet elements that are radially encased on both sides; 
       FIG. 6  shows a drive with only a double-walled bell; 
       FIG. 7  shows an inventive drive as a segmented motor; 
       FIG. 8  shows an inventive drive as a linear motor. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows a longitudinal cross-section through a first embodiment of an inventive drive. To transmit the torque generated in the drive, a drive shaft  1  is provided that, via two roller bearings  2 , is rotatably mounted in the housing of the drive. The housing is composed of the two housing portions  4  and the housing cover  3 . The housing portions  4  are provided with cylindrical walls  4   a  that are formed on the end housing walls  4   b . The cylindrical walls  4   a  carry the inner stator  11 ,  11   a , which is in two parts and forms an intermediate space Z in the middle. By means of the intermediate space Z, the base walls  8   b  of the pot-shaped element  8  extend through and their outwardly directed collars  8   c  is supported, for example in a positively engaging manner, on the central portion  1   a  of the shaft  1 . In the axial direction, the pot-shaped elements  8  are prevented from shifting axially via retaining rings  13  that are positively disposed in grooves of the central portion  1   a  of the shaft  1 . The disk-shaped base walls  8   b  of the pot-shaped elements face one another, so that the inner stators  11 ,  11   a , which are disposed on the cylindrical walls  4   a  of the housing portions  4 , are axially insertable into the pots, which have permanent magnets  14  disposed thereon. 
   Each pot-shaped element  8  has a cylindrical wall  8   a  that is formed radially outwardly on the base wall  8   b  and that, together with the sleeve  9  that is disposed toward the inside, forms a chamber for the permanent magnets  14 . As can be seen from  FIG. 1   a , the cylinder  9  is secured to the base wall  8   b  of the pot-shaped element  8  via weld locations S. For this purpose, the inner cylinder  9  is provided with an inwardly directed collar  9   b . In addition, the inwardly disposed cylinder  9   a  is provided with an outwardly directed collar  9  that holds the permanent magnets  14  in the axial direction. A construction that does not have a sleeve  9  is also possible (see  FIG. 2 ). 
   The inventive drive illustrated in  FIG. 1  is embodied as a so-called internal rotor, in other words, merely the outer stator  5 ,  6  carries magnet or excitation coils  12  (disposed in the recesses  4   c  of the housing walls  4   b ). The inner stator  11 ,  11   a  serves merely for the magnetic ground or return path. The poles of the outer and inner stators are embodied in such a way that, together with the permanent magnets  14  that are disposed in the pot-shaped element  8 , they form magnetic circuits that pass entirely through the cylindrical walls  8   a  and  9 . In this connection, the permanent magnets  14  provide for a magnetic bias. 
   Due to the magnetic conductance, the magnetic resistance is predominantly formed by the air gaps. 
     FIG. 1   a  shows only portions of the rotor, whereby the inner stator  11  carries magnet or excitation coils  15 . The outer stator is not illustrated in  FIG. 1   a . The pot-shaped element  8 , as well as the inner cylinder  9 , can be interconnected by weld connections S or by rivets or adhesively. The magnets  14  are held in the bell by optional sleeves  9 . The sleeves can also be formed of a magnetically non-conductive material. 
   A thin-walled component as a bell is prone, in particular with additional deformations, as are described in conjunction with  FIGS. 1   b  and  1   c , to deviations in shape. This can be reduced in that, during assembly of the magnet, the bell is inserted into the bore of a device that reproduces the desired contour. After assembly of the magnet, a non-magnetic ring  8   g  is then pressed in and embedded in casting resin or welded at the end face. In addition to the casting resin, this ring prevents a larger shape deviation when the component is appropriately removed from the device. 
     FIG. 1   b  shows a cross-section through a segment of the rotor. The cylindrical wall  8   a  of the outer pot is provided with corrugations or indentations  8   d  that extend in the axial direction and between which are mounted the permanent magnet elements  14 . The spacing of the indentations  8   d  relative to one another is somewhat greater than the widths of the permanent magnets  14 , whereby the remaining intermediate space is filled with a material or filler  16 , for example casting resin, that compensates for the expansion differences of the individual components relative to one another when temperature fluctuations occur. As is known, transverse to the direction of magnetization the magnets have very small or negative expansion coefficients. As an additional security, the inwardly disposed cylinder  9  can rest against the inside of the permanent magnets, as illustrated in the longitudinal cross-section of  FIG. 1 . 
   The arrangement of magnet yoke and rotor pursuant to  FIG. 1  represents a so-called internal rotor, which has a very small moment of inertia but due to the long pole surfaces and force development on both sides of the permanent magnets achieves a torque that is high relative to the state of the art. The same arrangement can also be embodied as an external rotor with considerably higher torque, but also moment of inertia. If the highest volume-specific torque is demanded relative to the installation space, the external rotor is the proper choice. However, if the smallest torque-specific moment of inertia is required, the internal rotor is the best approach. 
   The rotor of the inventive drive of  FIG. 1  thus comprises two symmetrical, magnetically conductive bells, which on the inner side of the cylindrical surface carry the permanent magnets  14 . Providing two bells shortens the acquired length of the permanent magnets  14  in half, as a result of which these magnets can be produced in a more economical manner. By providing the inner cylinder  9 , the permanent magnets are additionally protected against breakage. Optionally, window-like cutouts or apertures F ( FIG. 1   b ) can be provided that extend over a large portion of the axial length of the cylindrical surface  8   a . The practical purpose of these apertures is to reduce the iron or core losses in the bell as well as the moment of inertia of the rotor. Between the cylindrical walls of the bell and the outer or inner stator respectively is a respective thin air gap  7 ,  10 . 
   The pot  8  is preferably magnetically conductive, and the sleeve  9  is preferably non-magnetic, although it can also be conductive with a non-magnetic pot. This is necessary to avoid a magnetic short circuit in the rotor. 
     FIG. 1   c  shows an outer contour of the bell  8   a , and also of the inner cylinder  9 , that is adapted to conform to the quadrilateral cross-section of the magnets. The corrugations  8   f  in the central portion can be smaller, so that the magnets have a small spacing relative to the inner radius of the corrugations; this spacing must be as small as possible. The magnets that rest fully against the corrugations  8   d  at this location have a small, not-illustrated chamfer in order not to rest against the inner radius of the corrugation. 
     FIG. 2  shows a further inventive embodiment, whereby the two bell-shaped elements  18  rest against one another along their base-shaped walls  18   b , and in particular are connected to one another. The permanent magnets  14  are disposed against the inside of the cylindrical wall  18   a , and are securely held in the axial direction by the inwardly directed collars  18   c . For securement to the cylindrical wall  18   a , the permanent magnet element can be glued thereto. However, it is also possible, by appropriate indentations in the cylindrical wall  18   a , to achieve a positive interconnection between permanent magnet elements  14  and cylindrical wall  18 . In contrast to the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , not only the outer stators but also the inner stators carry magnet or excitation coils  12 ,  15 . The sleeve described in conjunction with  FIG. 1  is not used here. The structural build-up makes small air gaps  7  and  10  possible between the magnets and the stators. 
   The embodiment of  FIG. 3  differs from the embodiment of  FIG. 2  merely in that the excitation coils  12  on the outer stator are larger than the excitation coils  15  of the inner stator, which are carried by the inner stator  11 . By an appropriate design, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , smaller thermal problems result than with the embodiment of  FIG. 2 . 
   The embodiment of  FIG. 4  is in the form of an external rotor, whereby the construction principle corresponds to that of the embodiment of  FIG. 3 . 
     FIG. 5  is also embodied as an external rotor, whereby an inner cylinder  9  is provided for additional securement and encasement of the permanent magnets  14 . 
     FIG. 6  shows a further inventive embodiment having merely one bell  28 , the base wall  28   b  of which is secured to the portion  1   b  of the shaft  1  by securement means  30  so as to be secure against rotation. The entire axial length of the bell  28  extends around the inner stator  11 , which carries the excitation coil  15 . The inner stator  11  is mounted on a cylindrical wall  24   a  of the right housing portion  24 . The housing itself is closed off by the cylindrical surface  3  and the further housing portion  25 , whereby the shaft  1  is mounted in the housing via bearings  26 . 
   The bell  28  has an outer cylindrical wall  28   a  on the inner side of which the permanent magnets  14  rest. On the inside, the permanent magnets are held by a sleeve  29  that is secured to the outer cylindrical wall  28   a  via its collar  29   a . In addition, the side of the sleeve that is disposed in the region of the base of the pot can be connected with the cylindrical wall  28   a  or the base wall  28   b . By means of a non-illustrated bearing position for the shaft in the housing  24   a , the housing portion  25  can be closed on this side. 
     FIG. 7  shows a further possible embodiment of the inventive drive in the form of a segmented motor, which has an asymmetrical bell  38 . The magnets  34  are disposed within the bell and are supported in the circumferential direction against the corrugations  38   d , whereby temperature compensation elements  36  are disposed at the adjacent permanent magnets  34 . The outer stator  31  carries the excitation coils  32 . Illustration of the inner stator has been dispensed with. It is similar to the inner stators of the previously described embodiments. The inner stator is not illustrated here. The bell  38  secured to the shaft  39  via its base wall  38   b , only a portion of which is illustrated. The transfer of force from the cylindrical surface  38   a  to the shaft can be effected either at the end of the shaft or within the bell. In addition, it is possible to also use to bells for the segmented motor that have their base sides facing one another. The transfer of force from the shaft to a component that is to be adjusted can be effected via a pin  40 , which is pressed into a follower  42  and transfers its force to a coupling element  41 . For this purpose, the bell  38  has an appropriate opening  43 . 
     FIG. 8  shows a further embodiment of an inventive drive as a linear drive. The magnet system in the inner stator  55  and the outer stator  51  is not illustrated in detail in order to facilitate illustration. The magnets  54  are disposed in the bell  58 , whereby they are spaced from one another by temperature compensation elements  56  and are held in position by corrugations  58   d  in the bell as well as by inwardly directed collars  58   c . The cylindrical wall  58   a  is connected to the shaft W via the base wall  58   d . An air gap is between the cylindrical outer surface of the cylindrical wall  58   a  and the outer stator  51 . Similarly, an air gap is between the inner stator  55  and the permanent magnet elements  54 . The magnetic flux passes through the cylindrical wall  58   a  as well as through both air gaps and together with the permanent magnet elements  54  as well as the two stators, forms a plurality of magnetic circuits. The bell can have a round, oval or also right-angled or box-shaped configuration. It is preferably made of magnetically conductive material, and is mounted so as to be displaceable in the axial direction via the two bearings L and via the shaft W. A valve V of an internal combustion engine can, for example, be secured to the shaft W; the valve periodically opens or closes by the upwardly and downwardly moving rotor. 
   The specification incorporates by reference the disclosure of German application 10 2004 030 063.1 filed 23 Jun. 2004 as well as International application PCT/EP2005/002441 filed 8 Mar. 2005. 
   The present invention is, of course, in on way restricted to the specific disclosure of the specification and drawings, but also encompasses any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.