Stator Assembly

Abstract

A stator assembly for receiving at least two rotors. The assembly comprises at least two individual stators which are divided into stator segments, with at least one segment being a shared segment which forms part of at least two adjacent individual stators. An engine valve actuation assembly includes a stator assembly comprising at least two individual stators. Each individual stator comprises a peripheral portion extending around the longitudinal axis of the stator, with part of the peripheral portion of each stator forming part of the peripheral portion of an adjacent individual stator. Methods for assembling a stator assembly are also described.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. An engine valve actuation assembly, including at least two actuator rotors and a stator assembly comprising at least two individual stators, wherein: the rotors are mounted for rotation about longitudinal axes of the respective individual stators, each rotor has a respective linkage for coupling the rotor to an engine valve stem, each individual stator comprises a peripheral portion extending around the longitudinal axis of the stator, and part of the peripheral portion of each stator forms part of the peripheral portion of an adjacent individual stator.

5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein: each individual stator includes teeth extending inwardly towards its longitudinal axis from its peripheral portion for receiving wire windings of the stators, each individual stator is divided through its peripheral portion between each pair of adjacent teeth into stator segments, and at least one segment is a shared segment which forms part of at least two adjacent individual stators.

6. The assembly of claim 4, wherein each individual stator defines a circular opening which receives the respective rotor, and two individual stators have respective openings of different diameters.

7. The assembly of any claim 4, comprising at least three individual stators having longitudinal axes which lie in a common plane that extends perpendicular to the axes.

8. The assembly of claim 4, comprising at least three individual stators with their longitudinal axes spaced apart, wherein a first set of the individual stators has longitudinal axes which lie in a first common plane, and a second set of the individual stators has longitudinal axes which lie in a second common plane spaced apart from the first common plane.

9. The assembly of claim 8, wherein the second set of individual stators comprises each alternate stator.

10. The assembly of claim 4, comprising at least four individual stators having longitudinal axes which lie on a circle that extends in a plane that is perpendicular to the axes.

11. The assembly of claim 4, wherein each individual stator includes teeth extending inwardly towards its longitudinal axis from its peripheral portion, and further wherein the teeth of one individual stator are shorter in the axial direction than the teeth of an adjacent individual stator.

12. The assembly of claim 4, wherein each individual stator includes teeth extending inwardly towards its longitudinal axis from its peripheral portion, and further wherein two individual adjacent stators have different numbers of teeth.

13. The assembly of claim 4, wherein each individual stator includes teeth extending inwardly towards its longitudinal axis from its peripheral portion, and further wherein a slot is defined between each pair of adjacent teeth for receiving stator windings and the profile of the slot is asymmetrical about a plane which intersects with the longitudinal axis of the stator and lies midway between the respective pair of teeth.

14. The assembly of claim 4, wherein each individual stator includes teeth extending inwardly towards its longitudinal axis from its peripheral portion, and further wherein a winding is provided around each tooth, and each winding is substantially symmetrical in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the individual stator about a line which lies in that plane and intersects with the longitudinal axis of the individual stator.

15. The assembly of claim 4, wherein each individual stator includes teeth extending inwardly towards its longitudinal axis from its peripheral portion, and further wherein a winding of each individual stator occupies substantially the same area in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the individual stator as other windings of that stator.

16. The assembly of claim 4, wherein the peripheral portion of each individual stator is substantially square in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the individual stator.

17. The assembly of claim 13, wherein a surface of each slot is defined by part of the peripheral portion of the stator which, in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the individual stator, defines two intersecting lines of different lengths.

18. The assembly of claim 4, wherein the stator assembly defines opposite outer side surfaces which extend transversely with respect to the longitudinal axes of the individual stators, and the assembly includes a retainer for engaging one of the outer side surfaces and a coupling arrangement for coupling to the retainer and retaining the stator assembly in position relative to a support surface on the opposite side of the assembly.

19. The assembly of claim 18, including first locating arrangements for resisting lateral movement of the stator assembly relative to the support surface at, at least two spaced apart locations.

20. The assembly of claim 19, including second locating arrangements for resisting lateral movement of the stator assembly relative to the retainer at, at least two spaced apart locations.

21. The assembly of claim 20, wherein the first locating arrangements comprise hollow dowels received in corresponding holes in the support surface and the stator assembly and the second locating arrangements comprise hollow dowels received in corresponding holes in the stator assembly and the retainer.

22. The assembly of claim 21, wherein the coupling arrangement includes at least two fasteners for urging the retainer towards the support surface, wherein each fastener extends through the hollow dowels of the first and second locating arrangements.

23. A method of assembling an assembly of claim 4, comprising the steps of: providing wire windings on the stator segments; assembling the stator segments in a jig to form the stator assembly; and potting the stator assembly.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the stator assembly defines opposite outer side surfaces which extend transversely with respect to the longitudinal axes of the individual stators, and the assembly includes a retainer for engaging one of the outer side surfaces and a coupling arrangement for coupling to the retainer and retaining the stator assembly in position relative to a support surface on the opposite side of the assembly, and the method includes the steps of: removing the potted stator assembly from the jig; and fastening the stator assembly relative to the support surface with the retainer and coupling arrangement.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described by way of example and with is reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, wherein:

[0052] FIGS. 1 to 4 show a plan view, front view, end view and perspective view of a segmented stator assembly according to the present disclosure;

[0053] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a stator assembly together with part of a supporting end housing according to the present disclosure;

[0054] FIGS. 6 to 9 show a partial perspective view, a top view, a front view and an end view of the assembly of FIG. 5 in assembled form;

[0055] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional end view in the direction A marked on FIG. 8;

[0056] FIGS. 11 to 15 show a top view, front view, end view, rear view and perspective view of the retainer shown in FIG. 5;

[0057] FIGS. 16 to 19 show a top view, front view, end view and rear perspective view of the partial end housing shown in FIG. 5;

[0058] FIG. 20 shows a front view of a further segmented stator assembly according to the present disclosure;

[0059] FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a stator segment comprising teeth having different axial lengths;

[0060] FIGS. 22 to 24 show front views of stator assemblies comprising two individual stators, with one stator of each assembly having a different number of teeth to the other; and

[0061] FIGS. 25 to 27 are front views of three stator assemblies according to three embodiments of the invention, wherein the individual stators of each assembly have the same slot configurations as the other individual stators in the same assembly, and each assembly has a different slot configuration to the other assemblies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] FIGS. 1 to 4 show a stator assembly 2 according to the present disclosure. In the example depicted in the drawings, the assembly comprises eight individual stators 4. Each individual stator has a longitudinal axis 6, which passes through the centre of a cylindrical opening 8 defined by inner surfaces of each individual stator.

[0063] Each individual stator has a peripheral portion 10 which extends circumferentially around its longitudinal axis. Eight teeth 12 extend inwardly towards the axis from the peripheral portion for receiving respective wire windings. The innermost end surfaces of the teeth define the cylindrical opening 8 of the individual stator. It will be appreciated that whilst eight teeth are shown in the drawings for each individual stator, different numbers of teeth may be selected to suit particular requirements.

[0064] Each individual stator is formed from a plurality of stator segments 14 which together form the peripheral portion 10. Each segment 14 includes a tooth 12.

[0065] Adjoining individual stators include shared segments 14. Each shared segment 14 forms part of both of the adjoining individual stators and includes a tooth of each individual stator.

[0066] The stator assembly defines opposite outer front and rear surfaces 16, 18.

[0067] Each stator segment 14 has engagement surfaces shaped for engagement with a complementary engagement surface of each adjacent stator segment. In the configuration shown in the drawings, each pair of complementary engagement surfaces comprises a male tab 20 which engages with a corresponding female groove 22 on the other.

[0068] Four axially extending U-shaped grooves 24 are formed in the underside of the stator assembly at equally spaced intervals. They provide a clearance around structural ribs which extend from the end housing 40 (which is shown in FIG. 5 for example, although the ribs are omitted). Three similar grooves 26 are formed in the upper surface of the stator assembly at equal intervals. This results from minimising the number of stator segment shapes by using the same segment shapes where appropriate along the upper surface. The presence of the grooves 26 also serves to reduce the overall mass of the stator assembly.

[0069] The stator segments may be formed from thin ferritic-based steel laminations as depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6 for example.

[0070] When assembled to form a stator, a wire winding will be provided around each tooth 12. The windings are omitted in the Figures. Each stator segment is wound when disassembled from the others to provide easier access and allow denser packing of the wire, in comparison to a fully round, single piece stator.

[0071] An arrangement for attaching a stator assembly 2 to a support is depicted in the exploded view of FIG. 5. A retainer in the form of a clamping plate 30 is provided to engage with the front face 16 of the stator assembly. The stator assembly is mounted onto a support 40. In the example illustrated, the support is an end housing of an engine valve actuator assembly. Only part of the end housing is shown in the drawings for clarity. Further views of the components shown in FIG. 5 in an assembled form are shown in FIGS. 6 to 10. In addition, further views of the clamping plate 30 alone are shown in FIGS. 11 to 15 and of the end housing 40 alone in FIGS. 16 to 19.

[0072] The stator assembly 2 is fastened to the end housing 40 by bolts 50. Each bolt passes through a hole 52 in the clamping plate 30 and a hole 54 in the stator assembly 2 and is received in a respective hole 56 in the end housing. Each bolt has an outer thread which mates with a complementary thread formed in hole 56.

[0073] Two of the bolts also pass through hollow dowels 58, 62 and 60, 64, respectively. Dowels 58 and 60 pass from holes 66 and 68, respectively in the clamping plate 30 and into corresponding holes 70 and 72 in the stator assembly 2. Dowels 62 and 64 pass from the holes 70 and 72 in the stator assembly into corresponding holes 74 and 76 in the end housing. The end housing includes projections 78 and 80 which form threaded hole portions for receiving respective bolts 50, beyond the dowels.

[0074] The dowel pairs 58, 62 and 60, 64 may each be replaced by single hollow dowels. Dowels 62 and 64 are provided to precisely align the stator assembly with the end housing. This is to ensure that the stators of the assembly are accurately aligned with their respective rotors which are supported by the end housing.

[0075] The dowels 58, 60, 62 and 64 also serve to maintain the stators in the correct alignment with their rotors, notwithstanding different expansion characteristics of the end housing and stator assembly. They may be formed of different materials, with the end housing being an aluminium casting and the stator assembly formed of ferritic steel for example. The clamping plate 30 may be formed of the same material as the end housing so that it has the same expansion characteristics. The end housing and clamping plate may expand to a greater extent than the material of the stator assembly when heated. In that event, the dowels 50, 60, 62 and 64 are of sufficient strength to withstand the resulting shear forces and exert lateral forces on the stator assembly which tend to keep it in alignment with the end housing.

[0076] The clamping plate defines eight rounded octagonal openings 32. As can be seen in the assembled structure of FIG. 6, each opening 32 is located for alignment with a corresponding individual stator 4. The clamping plate extends over the peripheral portion of each stator and engages each segment of each stator to provide a clamping force onto each segment. It spreads the clamping forces exerted by the bolts 50 over the front faces of the peripheral portions.

[0077] The end housing defines a support surface 90 having a profile which corresponds to features of the side profile of the stator assembly 2.

[0078] In an assembly process, the stator segments 14 are individually wound with their respective windings. They are then placed in a jig which engages the outer profile of the segments and includes a tight-fitting mandrel to engage with the cylindrical central opening of each stator to ensure the correct relative positions of the segments. The stator assembly is then potted using a suitable material and process such as over-moulding with thermoplastic or impregnation with epoxy. Once the potting compound has fully set, the stator assembly as a whole may be removed from the jig. It is then fastened onto the end housing as shown in FIGS. 5 to 10.

[0079] Another stator assembly 100 according to the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 20. It comprises eight individual stators, with individual stators 102 forming a first set and individual stators 104 forming a second set. The longitudinal axes 6 of the stators of the first set 102 lie in a first common plane indicated in FIG. 20 by dashed line 106. The longitudinal axes 6 of the stators of the second set 104 lie in a second common plane denoted in FIG. 20 by dashed line 108. Alternate stators along the length of the group belong to the first and second sets. The second common plane 108 is spaced from the first common plane 106 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axes 6.

[0080] Each of the individual stators has a generally circular peripheral portion 110, 112. Each individual stator has a cylindrical central opening 114, 116 coaxial with its longitudinal axis 6. The outer diameters of the peripheral portions of the individual stators in the first set are smaller than the corresponding dimensions of the individual stators in the second set. The central openings 114 of the first set are smaller than the central openings 116 of the second set. This allows the stators of the second set to accommodate larger rotors and a greater winding volume, so that the electrical machines of which they form part are able to generate a greater torque than the electrical machines including the stators of the first set 102. Provision of pairs of electrical machines having different torque characteristics may be beneficial in some applications. One example may be where a pair of electrical machines is used to control a pair of inlet or exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine.

[0081] In other configurations, the individual stators of two sets may have peripheral portions with different outer diameters, but central openings with substantially the same diameters to provide stators of different sizes for use with rotors having the same diameter.

[0082] FIG. 21 shows a perspective view of a shared stator segment 14. It includes two teeth 12 and 100, each associated with a respective individual stator in a complete stator assembly. The segment includes a central body 102, with the teeth extending from opposite sides thereof. The body 102 forms part of the peripheral portion of both of the stators associated with the teeth. The segment body 102 has a central axis 104 which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the two stators in the complete stator assembly. Tooth 12 has the same length in the axial direction as the body 102, whilst tooth 100 is shorter than tooth 12 and body 102 in the axial direction. The other teeth of the individual stators with which the teeth 12 and 100 are associated have the same axial length as the respective tooth 12 or 100.

[0083] FIGS. 22 to 24 illustrate provision of adjacent individual stators having different numbers of teeth. Each stator assembly includes a shared segment 14. In FIG. 22, a stator having 4 teeth is adjacent to a stator having 8 teeth, in FIG. 23 the stators have 6 and 8 teeth, respectively, and in FIG. 24 they have 12 and 8 teeth, respectively. In each stator, the teeth are equally spaced around the central longitudinal axis, which extends perpendicular to the plane of the drawings. In each stator, the peripheral portion is substantially in the form of a regular polygon.

[0084] Stator assemblies described herein define slots between adjacent teeth of each stator for receiving stator windings. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1 to 4, it can be seen that the slots between adjacent teeth are symmetrical in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the stators about a line mid-way between adjacent teeth which intersects with the longitudinal axis. FIGS. 25 to 27 depict further embodiments in which the slots are asymmetrical in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the stators. In these examples, the slots 110 define polygonal shapes which do not have a line of symmetry (in the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axes). The shapes of these slots have been designed with a view to increasing the slot area relative to a symmetrical configuration without increasing the maximum overall dimensions of the stator assembly. In the examples in FIGS. 25 to 27, the peripheral portions vary from a predominantly octagonal configuration to an essentially square shape and from FIGS. 25 to 27, the extent to which the slots extend towards the four corners increases.

[0085] Examples of areas to be occupied by stator windings are indicated in FIGS. 25 and 26. Shaded areas 112 and 114 on either side of tooth 120 in FIG. 25 indicate areas to be occupied by the winding associated with tooth 120. Area 116 is associated with an adjacent tooth 122 and area 118 denotes an area to be occupied by a winding associated with an adjacent tooth 124 on the other side of tooth 120. These areas are determined such that areas 112 and 114 are equal and symmetrical about the direction 126 in which the tooth 120 extends towards the central axis 6 of the stator. Also, the proportion of each slot allocated to the windings of the associated pair of adjacent teeth is divided such that the associated areas are equal. Thus, area 112 is equal in area to area 116 and area 114 is equal in area to area 118.

[0086] Corresponding areas are shown in FIG. 26.

[0087] Each tooth of the stators shown in FIGS. 25 to 27 forms part of a stator segment. Each stator segment also defines inwardly facing surfaces 130, 132 (see FIG. 26) on opposite sides of the respective tooth, extending away from the base of the tooth. Each of surfaces 130 and 132 is substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the tooth extends towards the central longitudinal axis 6 of the stator in the configurations of FIGS. 25 and 26. The surfaces 130, 132 form part of the inner surface of the peripheral portion of the stator. In the embodiments of FIGS. 25 and 26, the divisions 134 between adjacent segments are positioned such that the surfaces 130 and 132 extend along straight lines in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stator. This assists with access to the base of each tooth during the process of winding wire around each tooth. In the embodiment of FIG. 27, these divisions are positioned approximately mid-way between adjacent teeth. It will be appreciated that the location of these divisions may be adjusted if desired to best facilitate the assembly process.

[0088] The stator assemblies shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 include a number of fixing holes which extend perpendicular to the plane of the drawing for use in fastening the stator assembly to a supporting substrate. No such holes are shown in the embodiment of FIG. 27. A stator assembly may be constrained without the need for fixing holes, for example by use of a surrounding casing. Nevertheless, if required, the configuration depicted in FIG. 27 could readily be adapted to include suitable fixing holes.

[0089] Each of the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 25 to 27 is configured with the longitudinal axes 6 of the stators lying in a common plane. The peripheral portions of the stators define outer parallel sides 140,142 which are in turn parallel to the plane containing the longitudinal axes. The asymmetrical slot configurations serve to increase the area of these stators occupied by the slots between adjacent teeth for a given spacing between parallel planes 140,142.