ASSEMBLY STRUCTURE OF DRIVING MOTOR AND INVERTER

Abstract

An assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter that integrally assembles an inverter housing to a drive motor housing may include the drive motor housing including an inverter matching surface formed at an upper portion thereof; and the inverter housing including a motor matching surface corresponding to the inverter matching surface, wherein the motor matching surface is formed at a lower portion of the inverter housing, wherein the matching surfaces are formed to cross each other with an angular difference.

Claims

1. An assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter that integrally assembles an inverter housing to a drive motor housing, comprising: the drive motor housing including an inverter matching surface formed at an upper portion thereof; and the inverter housing including a motor matching surface corresponding to the inverter matching surface, wherein the motor matching surface is formed at a lower portion of the inverter housing, wherein the matching surfaces are formed to cross each other with an angular difference.

2. The assembly structure of claim 1, wherein a matching length between the drive motor housing and the inverter housing is less than a diameter of the drive motor housing.

3. The assembly structure of claim 1, wherein the inverter matching surface is formed by a first plane and a second plane having an angular difference formed at an upper portion of the drive motor housing.

4. The assembly structure of claim 1, wherein the inverter matching surface includes: a horizontal surface formed at an uppermost portion of the drive motor housing; and an inclined surface inclined downwardly in a direction from the uppermost portion.

5. The assembly structure of claim 4, wherein the inclined surface is separated by an angular difference from the horizontal surface.

6. The assembly structure of claim 5, wherein the inverter matching surface is formed at an upper portion of front and rear portions of the drive motor housing.

7. An assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter that integrally assembles an inverter housing to a drive motor housing, comprising: the drive motor housing including an inverter matching surface formed at an upper portion of front and rear portions thereof; and the inverter housing including a motor matching surface corresponding to the inverter matching surface, wherein the motor matching surface is formed at a lower portion of the inverter housing, wherein the inverter matching surface includes a horizontal surface formed at an uppermost portion of the drive motor housing, and an inclined surface being separated by an angular difference from the horizontal surface at the uppermost portion and inclined downwardly.

8. The assembly structure of claim 7, wherein the horizontal surface and the inclined surface are disposed to cross each other while maintaining an obtuse angle.

9. The assembly structure of claim 7, wherein a matching length between the drive motor housing and the inverter housing is less than a diameter of the drive motor housing.

10. The assembly structure of claim 7, wherein a cooling passage connected to the motor matching surface is formed in the inverter matching surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an integrated assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter according to the related art;

[0029] FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] FIG. 3 is a front view showing an assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] FIG. 4 is a rear view showing an assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

[0032] FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a drive motor housing applied to an assembly structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified presentation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment.

[0034] In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0036] Portions having no relation to the description will be omitted to explicitly explain an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Furthermore, in the following detailed description, names of constituents, which are in the same relationship, are divided into the first, the second, and the like, but the present invention is not limited to the order in the following description.

[0038] In the specification, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word comprise and variations including comprises or comprising, will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

[0039] In addition, the terminology including . . . unit, . . . means, . . . part, or . . . member, which is disclosed in the specification, refers to a device of an inclusive constituent which performs at least one of the functions or operations.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an assembly structure of a drive motor and an inverter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the assembly structure of the drive motor and the inverter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the assembly structure of the drive motor and the inverter according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the assembly structure 100 of the drive motor and the inverter may be applied to a drive motor of an environmentally friendly vehicle including an electric vehicle or a fuel cell vehicle, or a drive motor of a hybrid environmentally friendly vehicle using a driving force of an engine and electric power.

[0042] For example, the drive motor may include a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) or a wound rotor synchronous motor (WRSM).

[0043] The drive motor includes a drive motor housing 1, a stator internally disposed and fixed within the drive motor house 1 and generating a magnetic flux, and a rotor disposed opposite to the stator via an air gap and rotating about a rotation shaft which is a drive-shaft. The internal of the drive motor housing 1 may mean an internal compartment of the drive motor housing.

[0044] The drive motor housing 1 includes covers 2a and 2b disposed at front and rear portions thereof. The covers 2a and 2b may include a cooling channel (hereinafter referred to as a cooling passage) formed internally and includes an internally flowing cooling medium (e.g., a coolant). The internal of the drive motor housing 1 may refer to an internal of the housing wall which is not the internal compartment of the drive motor housing.

[0045] An inverter may be disposed at an upper portion of the drive motor housing 1. The inverter may convert direct current (DC) power of a vehicle battery into alternating current (AC) power and supply the AC power to the drive-motor. The inverter may include an inverter housing 3 including an inverter element. The inverter housing 3 may be integrally fixed to upper sides of the covers 2a and 2b of the drive motor housing 1 through a connector.

[0046] The exemplary embodiment of the present invention may provide the assembly structure 100 of the drive motor and the inverter which is configured for increasing a degree of integration of members per device volume when a diameter of the inverter housing 3 is relatively greater than a diameter of the drive motor housing 1.

[0047] For the above purpose, in the assembly structure 100, an inverter matching surface 10 may be formed at the upper portion of the drive motor housing 1, and a motor matching surface 30 corresponding to the inverter matching surface may be formed at a lower portion of the inverter housing 3.

[0048] The inverter matching surface 10 of the drive motor housing 1 may be an assembled accommodating surface or an assembled upper surface for assembling the inverter housing 3 to the upper portion of the drive motor housing 1. The inverter matching surface 10 may be formed at an upper portion of the covers 2a and 2b.

[0049] The motor matching surface 30 of the inverter housing 3 may be in close contact with the inverter matching surface 10 of the drive motor housing 1. The motor matching surface 30 may be an assembled lower surface fixed to the inverter matching surface 10 via the connector, and may be formed in a shape corresponding to the inverter matching surface 10 of the drive motor housing 1.

[0050] Since the motor matching surface 30 is formed in the shape corresponding to the inverter matching surface 10, only the inverter matching surface 10 will be described in detail and a detailed description of the motor matching surface 30 will be omitted.

[0051] When a total length of the inverter housing 3 is relatively greater than a diameter D of the drive motor housing 1, as shown in FIG. 2, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may configure the inverter matching surface 10 and the motor matching surface 30 wherein a matching length L between the drive motor housing 1 and the inverter housing 3 is less than the diameter D of the drive motor housing 1.

[0052] The inverter matching surface 10 and the motor matching surface 30 may be formed to cross each other at a predetermined angular difference rather than be parallel to each other as in the related art.

[0053] The inverter matching surface 10 may be formed by two planes having an angular difference and formed at an upper portion of the drive motor housing 1, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0054] The inverter matching surface 10 may include a horizontal surface 11 formed at an uppermost portion of the drive motor housing 1 and an inclined surface 13 inclined downwardly in a direction from the uppermost portion.

[0055] The horizontal surface 11 may be formed to have a predetermined length in a horizontal direction at the uppermost portion of the covers 2a and 2b. The inclined surface 13 may be formed at a side of the uppermost portion of the covers 2a and 2b and may be separated by a predetermined angular difference from the horizontal surface 11.

[0056] In more detail, the inclined surface 13 may be separated by a predetermined angular difference from the horizontal surface 11 at the uppermost portion of the covers 2a and 2b, and may be formed inclined downwardly. The horizontal surface 11 and the inclined surface 13 may be disposed crossing each other while maintaining an obtuse angle .

[0057] The cooling passage 21 connected to the motor matching surface 30 may be formed in the inverter matching surface 10. The cooling passage 21 may be the cooling channel mentioned above as a flow passage for internally flowing the cooling medium.

[0058] A cooling passage, or a cooling channel, connected to the cooling passage 21 may be formed in the motor matching surface 30.

[0059] The exemplary embodiment of the present invention may configure the motor matching surface 30 and the inverter matching surface 10 with the motor matching surface to be positioned in different planes crossing each other at a predetermined angular difference rather than to be positioned in a same plane parallel to each other.

[0060] In more detail, when the total length of the inverter housing 3 is relatively greater than the diameter D of the drive motor housing 1, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may configure the inverter matching surface 10 and the motor matching surface 30 wherein the matching length between the drive motor housing 1 and the inverter housing 3 is less than the diameter D of the drive motor housing 1.

[0061] As a result, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may reduce the length of the inverter matching surface 10 for mounting the inverter to increase the degree of integration of the members per device volume within the vehicle.

[0062] For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms upper, lower, up, down, upwards, downwards, internal, outer, inside, outside, inwardly, outwardly, internal, external, front, rear, back, forwards, and backwards are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures.

[0063] The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is directed to that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.