WOUND CORE

Abstract

The wound core of the present invention has at least one arbitrary bent region 5A, in a plurality of corner portions (3), in which the corner portion (3) bulges outward to confine the magnetic flux flowing in the wound core so that the angle ? formed by the straight line PQ and the straight line PR satisfies 23????50?.

Claims

1. A wound core comprising: a hollow portion in a center; and a portion in which grain-oriented electrical steel sheets are stacked in a sheet thickness direction, the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets each having flat portions and bent portions continuing alternately in a longitudinal direction, the wound core formed into a rectangular shape having four corner portions including the bent portions, by stacking the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets, each obtained by folding, in layers and assembling the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets into a wound state in which a plurality of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets are connected to each other via at least one joint portion for each winding and a total of bending angles of the bent portions in each of the four corner portions is 90 degrees, wherein corresponding bent portions of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets are stacked in layers in the sheet thickness direction to form one bent region, in a side view of the wound core, in at least one arbitrary bent region in the four corner portions, when P represents, in an innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet in a plurality of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets stacked in layers, an intersection point of an extending line extending along an inner surface of a flat portion to a corner portion and an extending line extending along an inner surface of a flat portion between bent portions forming the corner portion, Q represents, in an outermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet in a plurality of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets stacked in layers, an intersection point of an extending line extending along an outer surface of a flat portion to the corner portion and an extending line extending along an outer surface of a flat portion between bent portions forming the corner portion, and R represents a point where a straight line, the straight line passing through the intersection point represented by P and extending in a direction perpendicular to an extending direction of each of the plurality of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets to the corner portion, intersects the outer surface of the outermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, an angle ? formed by a straight line PQ and a straight line PR satisfies 23????50?.

2. The wound core according to claim 1, wherein two grain-oriented electrical steel sheets adjacent to each other in a thickness direction of the wound core are different in length of a flat portion between bent portions forming an identical corner portion.

3. The wound core according to claim 2, wherein when ?L.sub.m represents a difference between a length of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet a number represented by m of sheets away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet and a length of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet a number represented by (m+1) of sheets away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, and <?L> represents an average of values of ?L.sub.m for all numbers represented by m, <?L> satisfies Formula (1) described below: $\begin{array}{cc}<?L>=10?t?\left\{{\left(\mathrm{??}/180\right)}^3+\left(\mathrm{??}/180\right)\right\}& \left(1\right)\end{array}$ wherein t represents a thickness of each grain-oriented electrical steel sheet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a wound core according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a side view of the wound core illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a side view schematically illustrating a wound core according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a side view schematically illustrating an example of one grain-oriented electrical steel sheet layer included in a wound core.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a side view schematically illustrating another example of one grain-oriented electrical steel sheet layer included in a wound core.

[0031] FIG. 6 is a side view schematically illustrating an example of a bent portion of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet included in a wound core of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 7(a) is a schematic general view of a folding part of a manufacturing apparatus for manufacture of a wound core according to the present invention, and FIG. 7(b) is a schematic detailed perspective view of a working machine of the folding part in FIG. 7(a).

[0033] FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a manufacturing apparatus of a wound core according to the present invention in the form of a unicore.

[0034] FIG. 9 is a view for explanation of steel sheet length control to set ? in the range of 23????50? in a case where one corner portion has two bent portions.

[0035] FIG. 10 is a view for explanation of steel sheet length control to set ? in the range of 23????50? in a case where one corner portion has three bent portions.

[0036] FIG. 11 is a schematic view illustrating a portion around one of four corner portions of a wound core in a side view, for illustration of a state where a magnetic flux flowing in the wound core does not sufficiently bend in the corner portion and flows to the outside and thus leaks into the air.

[0037] FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating a portion around one of four corner portions of a wound core in a side view, for illustration of a state where from the state of FIG. 11, the corner portion bulges outward so as to confine the magnetic flux flowing in the wound core.

[0038] FIG. 13 is a schematic view illustrating a portion around one of four corner portions of a wound core in a side view, for illustration of how to define an angle ?.

[0039] FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating dimensions of a wound core manufactured at the time of characteristic evaluation.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0040] Hereinafter, a wound core according to an embodiment of the present invention will be sequentially described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited only to the configuration disclosed in the present embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Note that a numerical range described below includes the lower limit and the upper limit. A numerical value indicated after the term more than or less than is not included in the numerical range. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the unit % regarding the chemical composition means mass %.

[0041] Terms such as parallel, perpendicular, identical, and at right angle, values of length and angle, and the like, which specify shapes, geometric conditions, and degrees thereof, used in the present specification are not to be bound by a strict meaning but are to be interpreted including a range in which similar functions can be expected.

[0042] In the present specification, the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet may be simply described as steel sheet or electrical steel sheet, and the wound core may be simply described as core.

[0043] The wound core according to an embodiment of the present invention is a wound core including a wound core body having a substantially rectangular shape in a side view, and the wound core body includes a portion in which grain-oriented electrical steel sheets each having flat portions and bent portions continuing alternately in the longitudinal direction are stacked in the sheet thickness direction, and has a stacked structure having a substantially polygonal shape in a side view. The bent portions have a radius of curvature r of, for example, 1.0 mm or more and 5.0 mm or less on the inner surface side in the side view. The grain-oriented electrical steel sheet has a chemical composition, for example, in which the content of Si is 2.0 to 7.0 mass % and the remainder is Fe and an impurity, and has a texture oriented in the Goss orientation.

[0044] Next, the shapes of the wound core and the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described. The shapes of the wound core and the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet described here are not particularly new, and are merely based on the shapes of a known wound core and a known grain-oriented electrical steel sheet.

[0045] FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an embodiment of the wound core. FIG. 2 is a side view of the wound core illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically illustrating another embodiment of the wound core.

[0046] In the present invention, the term side view refers to a view in the width direction (Y-axis direction in FIG. 1) of the elongated grain-oriented electrical steel sheet included in the wound core, and a drawing of a side view is a drawing illustrating a shape visually recognized in the side view (drawing in the Y-axis direction in FIG. 1).

[0047] The wound core according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a wound core body having a substantially polygonal shape in a side view. The wound core body has a stacked structure that includes grain-oriented electrical steel sheets stacked in the sheet thickness direction and has a substantially rectangular shape in a side view. The wound core body may be used as it is as a wound core, or may be provided with, for example, a known tightening tool such as a binding band in order to integrally fix a plurality of stacked grain-oriented electrical steel sheets as necessary.

[0048] In the present embodiment, the core length of the wound core body is not particularly limited. Even if the core length changes in the core, the iron loss generated in a bent portion is constant because the volume of the bent portion is constant, and thus the longer the core length is, the smaller the volume percentage of the bent portion is, and the smaller the influence on the iron loss deterioration is, and therefore the core length is preferably 1.5 m or more, and more preferably 1.7 m or more. In the present invention, the core length of the wound core body refers to the circumferential length at the center point in the stacking direction of the wound core body in a side view.

[0049] Such a wound core can be suitably used for any conventionally known application.

[0050] The core according to the present embodiment has a substantially polygonal shape in a side view. In the below description using a drawing, a core having a substantially rectangular shape (quadrangular shape), which is also a general shape, will be illustrated in order to simplify the illustration and the description, but cores having various shapes can be manufactured according to the angle and the number of bent portions and the length of flat portions. For example, if all the bent portions have an angle of 45? and the flat portions has an equal length, the shape in a side view is octagonal. If six bent portions having an angle of 60? are included and the flat portions has an equal length, the shape in a side view is hexagonal.

[0051] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a wound core body 10 includes a portion in which grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 each having flat portions 4 and bent portions 5 continuing alternately in the longitudinal direction are stacked in the sheet thickness direction, and has a substantially rectangular stacked structure 2 having a hollow portion 15 in a side view. Corner portions 3 including the bent portions 5 each have two or more bent portions 5 having a curved shape in a side view, and the total of bending angles of the bent portions 5 present in one corner portion 3 is, for example, 90?. Each corner portion 3 has a flat portion 4a shorter than the flat portion 4, between adjacent bent portions 5 and 5. Therefore, the corner portion 3 has a form having two or more bent portions 5 and one or more flat portions 4a. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, one bent portion 5 has an angle of 45? (one corner portion 3 has two bent portions 5). In the embodiment of FIG. 3, one bent portion 5 has an angle of 30? (one corner portion 3 has three bent portions 5).

[0052] As shown in these examples, the core of the present embodiment can be configured with bent portions having various angles, and from the viewpoint of suppressing occurrence of strain due to deformation during working to suppress iron loss, each bent portion 5 preferably has a bending angle ? (?1, ?2, or ?3) of 60? or less, and more preferably 45? or less. The bending angles ? of bent portions included in one core can be freely set. For example, bending angles of ?1=60? and ?2=30? can be set. From the viewpoint of production efficiency, folding angles are preferably equal, and in a case where reduction in the number of sites deformed to a certain degree or more can reduce the iron loss of the core to be produced caused by the iron loss of the steel sheets to be used, different angles may be combined for working. The design can be freely selected according to a point considered to be important in core working.

[0053] The bent portion 5 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a view schematically illustrating an example of a bent portion (curved portion) 5 of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1. In the bent portion of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, the bending angle of the bent portion 5 means an angle difference generated between a straight line portion on the rear side and a straight line portion on the front side in the folding direction, and is expressed as an angle ? that is a supplementary angle of an angle formed by two imaginary lines Lb-elongation 1 and Lb-elongation 2 obtained by, on the outer surface of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1, extending straight portions indicating surfaces of both flat portions 4 between which the bent portion 5 is interposed. At this time, a point at which the extended straight line separates from the sheet surface is the boundary between the flat portion and the bent portion on the surface on the steel sheet outer surface side, and in FIG. 6, a point F and a point G correspond to this point. An intersection point of the two imaginary lines Lb-elongation 1 and Lb-elongation 2 is a point B.

[0054] A straight line perpendicular to the steel sheet outer surface is extended from each of the point F and the point G, and the intersection points with the surface on the steel sheet inner surface side are defined as a point E and a point D, respectively. The points E and D are each a boundary between the flat portion 4 and the bent portion 5 on the surface on the steel sheet inner surface side.

[0055] In the present invention, the bent portion 5 is a portion of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 surrounded by the points D, E, F, and G in a side view of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1. In FIG. 6, the sheet surface between the point D and the point E, that is, the inner surface of the bent portion 5 is represented by La, and the sheet surface between the point F and the point G, that is, the outer surface of the bent portion 5 is represented by Lb.

[0056] This view shows a radius of curvature on the inner surface side r of the bent portion 5 in a side view. The radius of curvature r of the bent portion 5 is obtained by approximating the La to an arc passing through the point E and the point D. The smaller the radius of curvature r is, the steeper the curve of the curved portion of the bent portion 5 is, and the larger the radius of curvature r is, the gentler the curve of the curved portion of the bent portion 5 is.

[0057] In the wound core of the present invention, the radius of curvature r of each bent portion 5 of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 stacked in layers in the sheet thickness direction may have a certain degree of variation. This variation may be due to forming accuracy, and unintended variation may occur due to, for example, handling at the time of stacking in layers. Such an unintended error can be suppressed to about 0.2 mm or less in current normal industrial manufacture. In a case where such a variation is large, the radius of curvature is measured for a sufficiently large number of steel sheets, and the radii are averaged to obtain a representative value. It is conceivable to vary the radius of curvature intentionally for some reason, and the present invention does not exclude such a form.

[0058] The method of measuring the radius of curvature r of the bent portion 5 is also not particularly limited, and for example, the radius of curvature r can be measured by observation at 200 times using a commercially available microscope (Nikon ECLIPSE LV150). Specifically, the curvature center A point is obtained from the observation result with a method, for example, in which a point A is defined as an intersection point obtained by extending the line segment EF and the line segment DG inward to the opposite side from the point B, a point C is defined an intersection point of a straight line connecting the point A and the point B with the steel sheet inner surface side (point on the arc La), and the magnitude of the radius of curvature r is determined as the length of the line segment AC.

[0059] FIGS. 4 and 5 are a view schematically illustrating an example of one grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layer in a wound core body. Each grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 used in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5 is folded to realize a wound core having a unicore form, has two or more bent portions 5 and a flat portion 4, and forms a substantially polygonal ring, in a side view, via a joint portion 6 at an end surface in the longitudinal direction (X direction in the drawing) of one or more grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1.

[0060] In the present embodiment, the wound core body is to have a stacked structure having a substantially polygonal shape as a whole in a side view. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 4, one grain-oriented electrical steel sheet may constitute one layer of the wound core body via one joint portion 6 (one grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is connected to itself via one joint portion 6 for each winding), or as illustrated in the example of FIG. 5, one grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 may constitute about a half circumference of the wound core, and two grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 may constitute one layer of the wound core body via two joint portions 6 (two grain-oriented electrical steel sheets are connected to each other via two joint portions 6 for each winding).

[0061] The sheet thickness of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 used in the present embodiment is not particularly limited, and is to be appropriately selected according to the application and the like, but is usually in the range of 0.15 mm to 0.35 mm, and preferably in the range of 0.18 mm to 0.27 mm.

[0062] A method of manufacturing the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is not particularly limited, and a method of manufacturing a conventionally known grain-oriented electrical steel sheet can be appropriately selected. Preferred specific examples of the manufacturing method include a method in which a slab having a chemical composition in which the content of C is set to 0.04 to 0.1 mass % and the other components are as in the above-described grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is heated to 1000? C. or higher to perform hot rolling, and then hot-band annealing is performed as necessary, then cold rolling is performed once or twice or more with intermediate annealing interposed therebetween to form a cold-rolled steel sheet, and the cold-rolled steel sheet is heated to 700 to 900? C. in, for example, a wet hydrogen-inert gas atmosphere to perform decarburization annealing, nitriding annealing is further performed as necessary, an annealing separator is applied, then final annealing is performed at about 1000? C., and thus an insulating coating is formed at about 900? C. Thereafter, coating or the like may be further performed for adjusting the friction coefficient.

[0063] An effect of the present invention can also be obtained by using a steel sheet subjected to a treatment called magnetic domain control, with a known method in the manufacturing process of the steel sheet, in which a strain or a groove is introduced by applying, in general, for example, a method such as laser irradiation, electron beam irradiation, shot peening, an ultrasonic vibration method, a machining method of scribing a sheet surface with a metal such as a knife, a ceramic piece, or the like, a method of ion implantation to a sheet surface, a doping method, an electrical discharge machining method, or a method combining plating and a heat treatment.

[0064] In the present embodiment, the wound core (wound core body 10) including the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 each having the above-described form is formed into a rectangular shape having four corner portions 3 including the bent portions 5 by stacking the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 individually folded in layers and assembling them in a wound shape. A plurality of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 are connected to each other via at least one joint portion 6 for each winding, and the total of bending angles of the bent portions 5 in each corner portion 3 is 90 degrees. In this case, as illustrated in (b) of FIG. 13 described above, corresponding bent portions 5 of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 are stacked in layers in the sheet thickness direction to form one bent region 5A (see also FIG. 2). Such a wound core (wound core body 10) is characterized in that, in a side view, in at least arbitrary one of bent regions 5A, or particularly in the present embodiment, all of bent regions 5A of a plurality of corner portions 3, as illustrated in FIG. 12, when P represents, in an innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b in a plurality of grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 stacked in layers, an intersection point of an extending line L3 extending along an inner surface of a flat portion 4 to a corner portion 3 and an extending line L4 extending along an inner surface of a flat portion 4a between bent portions 5 and 5 forming the corner portion 3, Q represents, in an outermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1a in the plurality of grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 stacked in layers, an intersection point of an extending line L1 extending along an outer surface of a flat portion 4 to the corner portion 3 and an extending line L2 extending along an outer surface of a flat portion 4a between bent portions 5 and 5 forming the corner portion 3, and R represents a point where a straight line L5, passing through the point P and extending in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction of each grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 to the corner portion 3, intersects the outer surface of the outermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1a, the angle ? formed by the straight line PQ and the straight line PR satisfies 23????50?. As a result, the thickness T2 of the wound core at the corner portion 3 is larger than the constant thickness (stacking thickness) T of the wound core at the flat portion 4, and the corner portion 3 bulges outward so as to confine a magnetic flux 80 flowing in the wound core. A more specific method of obtaining the points P, Q, and R is described above with reference to FIG. 13, and will not be described again here.

[0065] In order to fold and assemble the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 into a wound shape so as to satisfy 23????50? as described above, the length (dimension in the longitudinal direction) of each grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 is preferably changed for each winding. Specifically, in a plurality of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 having a sheet thickness of t stacked in layers, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b (m is an integer of 1 to M?1, and M represents the number for the outermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet) is preferably controlled to be longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by a predetermined size that is a function of m, ?, and the sheet thickness t. In this case, the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 (m+1) sheets away is longer than the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 m sheet(s) away. That is, a more outside flat portion 4a between bent portions 5 forming an identical corner portion 3 is longer. As a result, the operation of stacking the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets in layers is facilitated. That is, the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (m+1) sheets away is easily fitted outside the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away. FIG. 7 shows an example of a folding machine 52 enabling such control.

[0066] As illustrated in (a) of FIG. 7, the folding machine 52 is supplied with a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 delivered at a predetermined transport speed from a decoiler 75 as a steel sheet supply part that holds a hoop material formed by winding a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 into a roll shape. The grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 supplied in this manner is subjected to folding in which the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 is appropriately cut into sheets having an appropriate size in the folding machine 52, and a small number, such as one, of sheet(s) are folded at a time. As illustrated in (b) of FIG. 7, the folding machine 52 specifically includes a feed roll 55 that feeds a supplied grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 while holding the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 from above and below, a guillotine 56 that cuts the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 fed in such a manner into an appropriate size, and a bend forming portion 60 that folds the cut grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 to form a bent portion 5. The bend forming portion 60 includes a die 59 that supports a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 from the lower side, a pad 57 that presses the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 on the die 59 from the upper side, and a punch 58 that folds a free end of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 protruding from the die 59 by being pushed downward at a predetermined working speed by a predetermined amount as indicated by a broken line arrow to form a bent portion 5. In the present embodiment, such a folding machine 52 is used for changing the feed length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 for each winding (for example, by changing the feed speed of the feed roll 55) to change the length (dimension in the longitudinal direction) of each grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 for each winding, and thus the above described condition 23????50? is satisfied, and a corner portion 3 bulging outward as shown in FIG. 12 is obtained.

[0067] Such length control of the steel sheet 1 is performed, for example, as follows. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 9, in a case where one corner portion 3 has two bent regions 5A (each steel sheet 1 forms one corner portion 3 with two bent portions 5), when the thickness of one steel sheet 1 is represented by t (here, it is assumed that the thicknesses t of all the steel sheets 1 are the same), in one corner portion 3, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layered m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b is geometrically longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by 2?(x+y). Therefore, considering that there are four corner portions 3 (here, it is assumed that all the corner portions 3 have the same shape (have the same ?)), in the entire core, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layered m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b is geometrically longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by 8?(x+y).

[0068] Here, with respect to (x+y), in an imaginary triangle PMN having one side with a length of x and an imaginary triangle PNS having one side with a length of y, when n represents the number of bent regions 5A in one corner portion 3, a represents the angle of ?SPN, and z represents the length of the line segment PN,

[00002]$?=\left(?/180\right)?,$$x=m?t?\tan ?,\mathrm{and}$$y=z?\sin ?$ [0069] are established.

[0070] Here,

[00003]$\cos ?=\mathrm{mt}/z,\mathrm{and}$$?=\left(?/2n\right)-?$ [0071] are established, and therefore

[00004]$y=z?\sin ?=mt?\sin (\left(?/2n\right)-?)/\cos ?$ [0072] is established.

[0073] Therefore, in FIG. 9, since n=2, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layered m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b is controlled to be longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by 8?(x+y)=8?mt(tan ?+sin ((?/4)??)/cos ?) to satisfy 23????50?. However, when m=1 (when the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 of interest is the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b), the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 is freely determined.

[0074] Also in a case where, as illustrated in FIG. 10, one corner portion 3 has three bent regions 5A (each steel sheet 1 forms one corner portion 3 with three bent portions 5), when the thickness of one steel sheet 1 is represented by t, in one corner portion 3, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layered m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b is geometrically longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by 2?(x+y). Therefore, considering that there are four corner portions 3, in the entire core, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layered m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b is geometrically longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by 8?(x+y).

[0075] Here, with respect to (x+y), in an imaginary triangle PMN having one side with a length of x and an imaginary triangle VWZ having one side with a length of y, when n represents the number of bent regions 5A in one corner portion 3, a represents the angle of ?ZVW, and z represents the length of the line segment PN,

[00005]$?=\left(?/180\right)?,$$x=m?t?\tan ?,\mathrm{and}$$y=z?\tan ?$ [0076] are established.

[0077] Here,

[00006]$\cos ?=\mathrm{mt}/z,\mathrm{and}$$?=?/4n$ [0078] are established, and therefore

[00007]$y=z?\tan ?=\mathrm{mt}?\tan (\left(?/4n\right)/\cos ?$ [0079] is established.

[0080] Therefore, in FIG. 10, since n=3, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 layered m sheet(s) outward away from the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b is controlled to be longer than the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b by 8?(x+y)=8?mt(tan ?+tan (?/12)/cos ?) to satisfy 23????50?. However, when m=1 (when the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 of interest is the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b), the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 is freely determined.

[0081] Here, in the above-described example, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 m sheet(s) away is geometrically determined, but the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 m sheet(s) away may be determined with another method. For example, when ?L.sub.m represents a difference between the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 m sheet(s) away and the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 (m+1) sheets away, and <?L> represents an average of values of ?L.sub.m for all numbers represented by m, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 m sheet(s) away may be determined so that <?L> satisfies Formula (1) described below. However, when m=1 (when the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 of interest is the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1b), the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 is freely determined.

[00008]$\begin{array}{cc}<?L>=10?t?\left\{{\left(\mathrm{??}/180\right)}^3+\left(\mathrm{??}/180\right)\right\}& \left(1\right)\end{array}$

[0082] If this condition is satisfied, noise of the wound core is reduced.

[0083] An apparatus that enables manufacture of a wound core with steel sheet length control and folding as described above is schematically illustrated in a block diagram in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a manufacturing apparatus 70 of a wound core in the form of a unicore, and the manufacturing apparatus 70 includes a folding part 71 that folds an individual grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1, and may further include an assembling part 72 that stacks folded grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 in layers and assembles them into a wound shape to form a wound core having a wound shape including a portion in which grain-oriented electrical steel sheets 1 each having flat portions 4 and bent portions 5 continuing alternately in the longitudinal direction are stacked in the sheet thickness direction.

[0084] As described above, the folding part 71 is supplied with a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 delivered at a predetermined transport speed from a decoiler 75 that holds a hoop material formed by winding a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 into a roll shape. The grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 supplied in this manner is subjected to folding in which the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 is appropriately cut into sheets having an appropriate size in the folding part 71, and a small number, such as one, of sheet(s) are folded at a time. In the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 obtained as described above, the radius of curvature of the bent portion 5 generated by folding is extremely small, so that working strain applied to the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet 1 by the folding is extremely small. As described above, it is assumed that the density of working strain becomes large. Meanwhile, if the volume affected by the working strain can be reduced, the annealing step can be omitted.

[0085] The folding part 71 includes a folding machine 52 that performs steel sheet length control and folding as described above.

Examples

[0086] Hereinafter, the technical contents of the present invention will be further described with reference to Examples of the present invention. The conditions in Examples described below are examples of conditions adopted to confirm feasibility and an effect of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these Examples of conditions. The present invention can adopt various conditions as long as an object of the present invention is achieved without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0087] In these Examples, grain-oriented electrical steel sheets (kinds of steel (steel sheet Nos.) A to E) shown in Table 1 were used for producing cores shown in Table 2, and core characteristics were measured. Tables 3A to 3C show detailed manufacture conditions and characteristics.

[0088] Specifically, Table 1 shows the sheet thickness (mm) and the magnetic characteristics of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets of the kinds of steel A to E. The magnetic characteristics of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheets were measured in accordance with a method of testing magnetic characteristics of a single sheet by a single sheet tester (SST) specified in JIS C 2556: 2015. As the magnetic characteristics, the magnetic flux density B8 (T) in the rolling direction of each steel sheet excited at 800 A/m, and the iron loss (W/kg) at an AC frequency of 50 Hz and an excitation magnetic flux density of 1.7 T were measured.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Product sheet Characteristics thickness B8 Iron loss Kind of steel mm T W/kg A 0.30 1.900 0.87 B 0.23 1.900 0.75 C 0.20 1.900 0.65 D 0.18 1.900 0.55 E 0.15 1.900 0.45

[0089] Furthermore, the present inventors manufactured cores a-1, a-2, b-1, and b-2 having shapes shown in Table 2 and FIG. 14 using materials of the kinds of steel A to E, respectively. Here, L1 represents the distance between one pair of inner surface side flat portions parallel to each other in the wound core, L2 represents the distance between the other pair of inner surface side flat portions parallel to each other in the wound core, L3 represents the thickness of the wound cores stacked in layers, L4 represents the width of the steel sheets stacked in layers in the wound core, L5 represents the distance between flat portions arranged perpendicularly to each other in an innermost portion of the wound core, r represents the radius of curvature of a bent portion 5 on the inner surface side of the wound core (r is not shown in Table 2), and p represents the bending angle of the above-described bent portion 5 of the wound core. In the core a-1 having a substantially rectangular shape, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 14, the number of bent portions 5 in one corner portion 3 is two, and as illustrated in FIG. 4, the number of joint portions 6 for each winding is one. In the core a-2 having a substantially rectangular shape, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 14, the number of bent portions 5 in one corner portion 3 is two, and as illustrated in FIG. 5, the number of joint portions 6 for each winding is two. In the core b-1 having a substantially rectangular shape, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the number of bent portions 5 in one corner portion 3 is three, and as illustrated in FIG. 4, the number of joint portions 6 for each winding is one. In the core b-2 having a substantially rectangular shape, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the number of bent portions 5 in one corner portion 3 is three, and as illustrated in FIG. 5, the number of joint portions 6 for each winding is two.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Core shape Number of Number Core L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 ? bent portions of joint No. mm mm mm mm mm ? in one corner portions a-1 197 66 47 152.4 4 45 2 1 a-2 197 66 47 152.4 4 45 2 2 b-1 197 66 47 152.4 4 30 3 1 b-2 197 66 47 152.4 4 30 3 2

[0090] As shown in Tables 3A to 3C, the present inventors applied the above-described folding method to 95 test samples in the cores a-1, a-2, b-1, and b-2 manufactured using materials of the kinds of steel (steel sheet Nos.) A to E to change the degree of protrusion to the outside of a corner portion 3, that is, the angle ? variously, and furthermore, change the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet constituting each layer (that is, m sheet(s) away) variously, and measured and evaluated the iron loss ratio (=core iron loss/material iron loss) based on the iron loss (W/kg) of the core and the iron loss (W/kg) of the material (steel sheet). In the evaluation, D indicates that the iron loss ratio is 1.25 or more, C indicates that the iron loss ratio is 1.17 or more and 1.24 or less, B indicates that the iron loss ratio is 1.15 or more and 1.16 or less, and A indicates that the iron loss ratio is 1.14 or less.

[0091] Furthermore, noise of the core was evaluated with the following method. That is, the core was excited, and the noise was measured. This noise measurement was performed in an anechoic chamber with a background noise of 16 dBA with a noise meter installed at a position of 0.3 m from the core surface using an A-weighted network. In the excitation, the frequency was set to 50 Hz, and the magnetic flux density was set to 1.7 T. The results are shown in Tables 3A to 3C.

[0092] In Tables 3A to 3C, in test Nos. 2-a, 5-a, 6-a, 7-a, 14-a, 15-a, 17-a, 20-a, 21-a, 25-a, 27-a, 30-a, 32-a, 35-a, 37-a, 39-a, 42-a, 45-a, 47-a, 48-a, 49-a, 50-a, 51-a, 52-a, 54-a, 57-a, 59-a, and 64-a, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away was determined geometrically (that is, as shown in FIG. 9). In the other test Nos., the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away was determined so as to satisfy Formula (1). That is, <?L> was determined that was the average of all the values of a difference between the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away and the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (m+1) sheets away, and the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away, L.sub.m, was adjusted so that <?L> satisfies Formula (1). The results are shown in Tables 3A to 3C.

[0093] In order to set the longitudinal length L.sub.m of each grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away) to a desired value, the feed length needs to be controlled and set to a target length in the above-described manufacturing apparatus 70. Meanwhile, the length L.sub.m of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet can be evaluated by extracting the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away from a completed unicore and determining the longitudinal length L.sub.m (cm) of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet as follows.

[0094] First, the weights of two grain-oriented electrical steel sheets, m sheet(s) away and (m+1) sheets away, extracted from the unicore are measured. In the measurement, an even balance (UP1023X manufactured by SHIMADZU CORPORATION) is used for measuring the weight K (g) of each sheet to the third decimal place. Next, the width w (cm) of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is measured with a ruler. The width is measured to the first decimal place. Finally, the thickness t of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is determined with the above-described method. Then, using the density of iron, which is 7.65 g/cm.sup.3, the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away, L.sub.m, is determined from the following. The length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (m+1) sheets away, L.sub.m+1, is also determined with a similar method.

[00009]$L_m=K/\left(7.65?w?t\right)$

[0095] Next, a difference ?L.sub.m between the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet m sheet(s) away, L.sub.m, and the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (m+1) sheets away, L.sub.m+1, are determined with the following formula.

[00010]$?L_m\left(mm\right)=10*\left(L_{m+1}-L_m\right)$

[0096] In this way, a difference ?L.sub.1 between the length of the innermost grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (m=1) and the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet one sheet away from the innermost sheet, a difference ?L.sub.2 between the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet one sheet away (m=2) and the length of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet two sheets away, and similarly, ?L.sub.3, ?L.sub.4, . . . , and ?L.sub.M?1 are determined up to the outermost side. M represents the number of sheets stacked in layers at the outermost side. Then, these differences are averaged to obtain the average of all the values, <?L>.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3A Material Core Iron loss ratio Steel Sheet iron iron (=core iron Test sheet thickness Core Angle ? <?L> loss loss loss/material Noise No. No. (mm) No. (?) (mm) (W/kg) (W/kg) iron loss) (dB) Evaluation 1 A 0.3 a-1 22.5 1.3598 0.87 1.096 1.26 56 D 2 A 0.3 a-1 23.0 1.3983 0.87 1.079 1.24 48 C 2-a A 0.3 a-1 23.0 1.9954 0.87 1.079 1.24 56 C 3 A 0.3 a-1 26.0 1.6417 0.87 1.035 1.19 48 C 4 A 0.3 a-1 28.0 1.8162 0.87 1.018 1.17 45 C 5 A 0.3 a-1 30.0 2.0014 0.87 0.992 1.14 42 A 5-a A 0.3 a-1 30.0 2.1029 0.87 0.992 1.14 56 A 6 A 0.3 a-1 31.5 2.1479 0.87 0.974 1.12 42 A 6-a A 0.3 a-1 31.5 2.1278 0.87 0.974 1.12 56 A 7 A 0.3 a-1 33.0 2.3011 0.87 0.992 1.14 42 A 7-a A 0.3 a-1 33.0 2.1536 0.87 0.992 1.14 56 A 8 A 0.3 a-1 35.5 2.5723 0.87 1.001 1.15 45 B 9 A 0.3 a-1 37.0 2.7452 0.87 1.001 1.15 45 B 10 A 0.3 a-1 39.0 2.9882 0.87 1.009 1.16 45 B 11 A 0.3 a-1 40.5 3.1801 0.87 1.027 1.18 48 C 12 A 0.3 a-1 43.0 3.5196 0.87 1.018 1.17 48 C 13 A 0.3 a-1 44.0 3.6625 0.87 1.018 1.17 48 C 14 A 0.3 a-1 44.5 3.7355 0.87 1.001 1.15 45 B 14-a A 0.3 a-1 44.5 2.3878 0.87 1.001 1.15 56 B 15 A 0.3 a-1 45.0 3.8096 0.87 0.992 1.14 42 A 15-a A 0.3 a-1 45.0 2.4000 0.87 0.992 1.14 56 A 16 B 0.23 a-1 22.5 1.0425 0.75 0.945 1.26 56 D 17 B 0.23 a-1 30.0 1.5344 0.75 0.855 1.14 42 A 17-a B 0.23 a-1 30.0 1.6122 0.75 0.855 1.14 56 A 18 B 0.23 a-1 31.5 1.6467 0.75 0.840 1.12 42 A 19 B 0.23 a-1 44.0 2.8079 0.75 0.878 1.17 48 C 20 B 0.23 a-1 44.5 2.8639 0.75 0.863 1.15 45 B 20-a B 0.23 a-1 44.5 1.8307 0.75 0.863 1.15 56 B 21 B 0.23 a-1 45.0 2.9207 0.75 0.855 1.14 42 A 21-a B 0.23 a-1 45.0 1.8400 0.75 0.855 1.14 56 A 23 C 0.2 a-1 22.5 0.9065 0.65 0.819 1.26 56 D 24 C 0.2 a-1 30.0 1.3343 0.65 0.728 1.12 42 A 25 C 0.2 a-1 31.5 1.4319 0.65 0.722 1.11 42 A 25-a C 0.2 a-1 31.5 1.4185 0.65 0.722 1.11 56 A 26 C 0.2 a-1 44.0 2.4417 0.65 0.748 1.15 45 B 27 C 0.2 a-1 45.0 2.5397 0.65 0.741 1.14 45 A

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 3B Material Core Iron loss ratio Steel Sheet iron iron (=core iron Test sheet thickness Core Angle ? <?L> loss loss loss/material Noise No. No. (mm) No. (?) (mm) (W/kg) (W/kg) iron loss) (dB) Evaluation 27-a C 0.2 a-1 45.0 1.6000 0.65 0.741 1.14 56 A 28 D 0.18 a-1 22.5 0.8159 0.55 0.693 1.26 56 D 29 D 0.18 a-1 31.5 1.2887 0.55 0.616 1.12 42 A 29-a D 0.18 a-1 31.5 1.2767 0.55 0.616 1.12 56 A 30 D 0.18 a-1 45.0 2.2858 0.55 0.627 1.14 42 A 30-a D 0.18 a-1 45.0 1.4400 0.55 0.627 1.14 56 A 31 E 0.15 a-1 22.5 0.6799 0.45 0.563 1.25 56 D 32 E 0.15 a-1 31.5 1.0739 0.45 0.500 1.11 42 A 32-a E 0.15 a-1 31.5 1.0639 0.45 0.500 1.11 56 A 33 E 0.15 a-1 45.0 1.9048 0.45 0.513 1.14 42 A 34 B 0.23 a-2 22.5 1.0425 0.75 0.953 1.27 56 D 35 B 0.23 a-2 31.5 1.6467 0.75 0.848 1.13 42 A 35-a B 0.23 a-2 31.5 1.6313 0.75 0.848 1.13 56 A 36 B 0.23 a-2 45.0 2.9207 0.75 0.870 1.16 45 B 37 B 0.23 b-1 50.0 3.5356 0.75 0.893 1.19 48 C 37-a B 0.23 b-1 50.0 2.9598 0.75 0.893 1.19 56 C 38 B 0.23 b-1 28.5 1.4271 0.75 0.870 1.16 45 B 39 C 0.2 b-1 30.5 1.3663 0.65 0.741 1.14 42 A 39-a C 0.2 b-1 30.5 1.4400 0.65 0.741 1.14 56 A 40 C 0.2 b-1 22.5 0.9065 0.65 0.826 1.27 56 D 41 E 0.15 b-1 26.0 0.8208 0.45 0.527 1.17 48 C 42 A 0.3 b-1 31.5 2.1479 0.87 0.983 1.13 42 A 42-a A 0.3 b-1 31.5 2.2249 0.87 0.983 1.13 56 A 43 D 0.18 b-1 44.0 2.1975 0.55 0.633 1.15 45 B 44 A 0.3 b-2 45.0 3.8096 0.87 1.009 1.16 45 B 45 C 0.2 b-2 30.5 1.3663 0.65 0.735 1.13 42 A 45-a C 0.2 b-2 30.5 1.4400 0.65 0.735 1.13 56 A 46 D 0.18 b-2 23.0 0.8390 0.55 0.682 1.24 48 C 47 B 0.23 b-1 50.0 3.5356 0.75 0.930 1.24 48 C 47-a B 0.23 b-1 50.0 2.0572 0.75 0.930 1.24 56 C 48 C 0.2 b-1 50.0 3.0745 0.65 0.735 1.13 42 A 48-a C 0.2 b-1 50.0 1.7712 0.65 0.735 1.13 56 A 49 D 0.18 b-1 50.0 2.7670 0.55 0.633 1.15 45 B 49-a D 0.18 b-1 50.0 1.5805 0.55 0.633 1.15 56 B 50 B 0.23 b-2 50.0 3.5356 0.75 0.930 1.24 48 C 50-a B 0.23 b-2 50.0 2.0572 0.75 0.930 1.24 56 C

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 3C Material Core Iron loss ratio Steel Sheet iron iron (=core iron Test sheet thickness Core Angle ? <?L> loss loss loss/material Noise No. No. (mm) No. (?) (mm) (W/kg) (W/kg) iron loss) (dB) Evaluation 51 B 0.23 b-1 60.0 5.0498 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 51-a B 0.23 b-1 60.0 2.6693 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 52 B 0.23 b-1 70.0 7.0042 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 52-a B 0.23 b-1 70.0 3.8197 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 53 B 0.23 b-1 80.0 9.4722 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 54 B 0.23 b-1 89.5 12.3593 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 54-a B 0.23 b-1 89.5 130.5238 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 55 C 0.2 b-1 60.0 4.3912 0.65 0.813 1.25 56 D 56 C 0.2 b-1 89.5 10.7472 0.65 0.813 1.25 56 D 57 D 0.18 b-1 60.0 3.9520 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 57-a D 0.18 b-1 60.0 1.9765 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 58 D 0.18 b-1 70.0 5.4816 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 59 D 0.18 b-1 80.0 7.4130 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 59-a D 0.18 b-1 80.0 4.8636 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 60 D 0.18 b-1 89.5 9.6725 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 61 B 0.23 b-2 70.0 7.0042 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 62 B 0.23 b-2 80.0 9.4722 0.75 0.938 1.25 56 D 63 C 0.2 b-2 60.0 4.3912 0.65 0.813 1.25 56 D 64 C 0.2 b-2 70.0 6.0906 0.65 0.813 1.25 56 D 64-a C 0.2 b-2 70.0 3.1603 0.65 0.813 1.25 56 D 65 C 0.2 b-2 89.5 10.7472 0.65 0.813 1.25 56 D 66 D 0.18 b-2 80.0 7.4130 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D 67 D 0.18 b-2 89.5 9.6725 0.55 0.688 1.25 56 D

[0097] As can be seen from Tables 3A to 3C, regardless of the thickness of the steel sheet, the number of bent portions 5 in one corner portion 3, and the number of joint portions 6 for each winding, the iron loss ratio is suppressed to 1.24 or less (iron loss of the wound core is suppressed) by setting ? to 23+ or more and 50? or less. In particular, if ? is more than 30?, the iron loss ratio is 1.14 or less, and the iron loss is sufficiently suppressed.

[0098] Furthermore, noise can be reduced by determining the average of all the values, <?L>, such that Formula (1) is satisfied.

[0099] From the above results, it has become clear that in the wound core, of the present invention including the present embodiment, having a unicore form and satisfying 23????50?, iron loss deterioration is reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0100] 1 Grain-oriented electrical steel sheet [0101] 4 Flat portion [0102] 5 Bent portion [0103] 5A Bent region [0104] 6 Joint portion [0105] 10 Wound core (wound core body)