"IMPROVED PERMANENT MAGNET SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR"

DESCRIPTION

This patent application refers to a kind of permanent magnet electric motor, specifically implemented to obtain high efficiency both at low and at high rotation speed, and a laundry washing machine generally known in the art, i.e. provided with a washing tub and with a drum rotating inside said tub, said drum being connected to an outer pulley which is connected, typically by a flexible belt, to the pulley of the electric motor.

Such motors generally do not show specific drawbacks during the washing cycle, when the drum rotates at low speed, usually comprised between 40 and 60 rpm.

Indeed, said kind of motor is designed for the washing phase, during which it rotates at about 500 rpm, and which takes most of the time needed for the whole washing cycle.

However when the spinning phase is started, the motor rotation speed increases in a very remarkable way, being able of reaching, in the present washing machines, also 17.000 rpm and even more.

In this spinning phase the efficiency of that kind of motor decreases dramatically, as well known to the man skilled in the art.

In the facts it is here reminded that in such kind of motor the counter electromagnetic force (cemf) generated by the rotor and induced in the stator windings directly opposes to the stator supply electric voltage.

With the increase of the rotor rotation speed, obviously said cemf increases, causing the well known consequence that the maximum available voltage for the motor control is being reduced.

As final result the maximum speed is then delimited, due to the effect of said cemf which increases correspondently with the increase of the rotation speed.

In order to reduce such drawback, it is known and used in the technique the provision of chocking the stator windings during the high speed rotation, through the use of proper exchange relay and switches.

Such a solution is well known to the man skilled in the art, and therefore it will not further explained.

It is permitted by the fact that, even if in said conditions of high speed working, the generated torque is being remarkably reduced, however such reduction is still acceptable for the specific kind of use, wherein the drum spinning speed, when the laundry load is still stuck to the drum wall, causes only a moderate resistant torque.

Said solution is commonly accepted and preferred as it is functionally correct; however it causes the serious problem that, even if a portion only of the stator winding is linked to the electro-magnetic flux, and therefore it is subjected to said cemf, however the whole stator stack is in any case linked to the whole rotor flux.

Straight consequence is then the high energy loss in the iron of that stator stack, caused by the well known "Focault currents", also called "eddy currents" which are being generated and run across the stator stack, finally causing an high energy loss, with corresponding reduction of the motor overall efficiency during said working conditions.

In order to overcome such drawback it is known, for instance from the Pat. Application US 2006/0097604 A1 , a kind of solution for a motor with a stator and a rotor with permanent magnets, and provided with a sliding guide to shift the rotor in a sliding and axial way with respect to the stator; said motor is provided with automatic actuation means which control the rotor axial position according to the actual speed, so as to achieve controllable and improved performances even during different rotation speeds.

In particular, when the rotation speed rises at spinning speed, the rotor is being forced towards a more extracted position with respect to the stator, and therefore a lower energy loss is suffered, even if a reduction of the motor torque is suffered, which however in the described operating conditions does not cause specific disadvantages.

Such a solution appears to be theoretically profitable in certain circumstances, when the rotor speed variation is being kept within fair limits, as in the working use exemplified in the cited document.

However in the case of a motor employed in an household washing machine, wherein the motor has to be able of operating between rotation speed limits which can

range from 500 rpm to over 17.000 rpm, the solutions described in said Pat. Application do not result to be advantageous, and therefore they cannot be exploited in the specific use in a general household laundry washing machine.

Indeed in the first embodiment of said document, as represented in the relevant figures 1 and 4, the rotor rotation shaft has to overcome a double friction source, in order to be able to axially adjust its position; in the facts the spring 40, axially pressing it, but which does not rotates with it, undoubtedly causes a remarkable friction which restrains and slows down the rotor rotation itself.

A like thing is applicable also to the cam surfaces 373 with respect to the inclined 302 surfaces which take part of the shaft itself:

("Four planar inclined surfaces 302 are formed on one end of the output shaft 30 between ..." see page 2, para. (0027)).

The second embodiment of said pat. application, showed in fig. 5, causes the same drawback of the spring 40 on the head of the rotation shaft, and moreover it turns to be scarcely reliable at high rotation speeds, caused by the complexity of the proposed solution, requiring a precisely symmetrical construction and assembly, and therefore being generally burdensome.

Moreover such solution requires the existence and availability of a not negligible additional room inside or close to the motor, and, even more, the use of the "weights 46" implies an increase of the combined shaft/rotor assembly inertia, what causes a general decay of the motor value, as the man skilled in the art well knows.

It is then desirable, and it is the main purpose of the instant invention, to realize:

- a permanent magnet synchronous motor provided with automatic means for the controlled adjustment of the rotor axial position with regard to the stator position, and

- an household laundry washing machine, which is provided with such a motor,

which be able of providing basically the same functional performances of a motor made according the prior art, but with an energy consumption remarkably reduced both at low (washing phase) and at high speed (spinning phase).

According to the present invention, this and further aims are reached in a kind of

electric motor according to the characteristics as recited in the appended claims as described below by mere way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- fig. 1 shows a cross planar section through the rotor X axis in a motor according to the invention, in a first operating condition,

- fig. 2 shows a figure similar to the fig. 1 , but with the motor rotating in a second operating condition,

- fig. 3 shows an exploded view of the fig. 2 motor,

- figures 4A and 4B show respective planar and front views of the invention device, as seen from the rotor side and from a sight point orthogonal to it,

- fig. 5 shows a schematic view of the device of figures 4A and 4B, but as seen when extended on a planar surface,

- fig. 6 shows a view similar to fig. 4B, of an improved embodiment of the motor as per the invention,

- fig. 7 shows a view similar to fig. 4B of a further improved embodiment of the invention,

- fig. 8 shows a view similar to fig. 4B, but with the rotor in the high speed condition,

- fig. 9 shows a view of the device of fig. 7, but separate into two symmetrical portions,

- fig. 10 shows a simplified and exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the coupling between the rotor and a shaft in a motor according to the invention,

- fig. 11 shows a planar section view, and which is orthogonal to the motor axis, of the coupling of fig. 10.

With reference to the figures, the permanent magnet synchronous motor according to the invention comprises:

- a stator 1 ,

- a rotor 2 able of moving with a translation motion along a common axis "X" in different positions with respect to said stator,

- a rotation shaft 3 on which said rotor is keyed, wherein the exact meaning of "keyed" will be better explained later on.

Said motor comprises a spring element 4, preferably implemented through one or

more flexible and elastic leaves, which are typically metallic; according to the figures, the spring 4 is a leaf formed as a close perimeter, showing an almost hexagonal shape, or anyway a little prolonged, for the reasons which will be explained later on; in practice, its surface is obtained by the movement of a generation straight line in the space; in the present case, the generating straight line is always orthogonal to said "X" axis.

As showed in the figures 4A, 4B, and 5, said leaf is provided with two parallel and opposed sides 5a and 5b, which are orthogonal to said common axis "X".

Inside each of said sides 5a and 5b a respective opening 6a and 6b is created, each being wide enough so that said shaft can be introduced into said openings 5a and 5b, without being solidly connected to it.

Said elastic leaf 4 is inserted on the shaft 3 as showed in the figures 1 to 3, and then the side 5a oriented towards the rotor, is connected to the corresponding side of it; the opposed side 5b of said spring leaf 4 is firmly connected to an engaging body 7, which is, to its time, solidly connected to said rotating shaft.

It would be enough to simply and firmly connect said side 5b to said rotating shaft through a suitable joining of the edges of the relevant opening 6b to said shaft, but the above proposed solution appears to be cheaper and more reliable.

Moreover the rotating shaft 3 is axially bound with respect to the stator position, meaning that it is supported by two bearing balls 10 and 11 which are firmly applied to the motor frame 12.

Such constructional feature depends in that, in the washing machines known in the art, the belt connected to the drum pulley, and which conveys to it the rotational motion, is obviously engaged to the motor pulley 51 too; as the drum pulley owns a fixed axial position, it comes that the motor axial position has to be fixed too, from which derives the present requirement that the same rotation shaft has to show a constant axial position.

This issue helps also to stress the inadequacy of the cited prior solution; as a matter of facts, according to it, the rotor, being firmly connected to the shaft, changes its axial position accordingly, and this is not allowed in the presently made washing machines, as just explained.

From said consideration it comes apparent and convincing the improvement of the present solution, which on the contrary allows the rotor axial motion, but not the shaft rotating motion.

Said rotor 2 moreover is provided with engaging means with respect to said rotating shaft so as to be able of only axially sliding with respect to it; obviously said means have to be able of assuring that said rotor drags into rotation said rotation shaft 3.

The kind and the embodiment of said means will be better explained later on.

At this point a first description on the way of the invention working can be given: as symbolically shown in fig. 1, when the motor rotates at low speed, the centrifugal force acting on said spring leaf 4, which is dragged into rotation by the shaft 3 through said engagement body 7, is quite low and basically negligible, and if the spring leaf 4 is properly calibrated and sized, it is not sensibly distorted.

Therefore, if in these conditions the initial rotor position is aligned with respect to the stator, the rotor itself holds said position, and the torque it can supply is the maximum, with the lowest energy losses.

When the rotation speed increases to the highest level, as during the spinning phase, represented in fig. 2, then the centrifugal force increases correspondently, according to the square value of the rotation angular speed, and therefore the spring leaf 4 tends to contract caused by the circumstance that said centrifugal force, acting on the opposed ends 13, 14 far from the leaf "X" axis, projects them outwardly, then forcing the leaf itself to contract, as showed in fig. 8.

Said spring leaf 4 contraction causes the rotor to be pulled by said side 5a towards the leaf centre, as said side 5b of said spring leaf 4 remains firmly connected to said body 7 (Fig. 2).

And the axial motion of said rotor with respect to the shaft 3 causes its consequent motion with respect to said stator, obviously only in the axial direction.

Just what is the desired, and achieved, purpose.

Indeed the rotor axial motion causes that the electro-magnetic flux links at a lower amount with the stator stack, what obviously reduces the iron losses, with respect to the already described prior art.

The above explained invention may be further improved by the following advantageous provisions: a) the first provision refers to the kind of sliding coupling between the shaft and the rotor; naturally such coupling must allow the axial sliding of a body with respect to the other, but not the reciprocal rotation with respect to the same axis; to this purpose said bodies 2 and 3 are provided with suitable engaging and retaining means; in particular,

in order not to alter the rotor geometry, its inner surface is provided with at least a retaining means 20, 21 , which works as a key which engages to corresponding engaging means 22, 23, placed on the outer surface of the shaft 3, as schematically represented in the figures 10 and 11 ; b) the second provision is an improvement; it consists in providing said leaf 4 of at least a weight 44, placed in the farthest position from said "X" axis, and therefore offers an increase of the centrifugal force, and therefore a consequent increase of the spring leaf 4 contraction.

Profitably, in order to respect the spring leaf 4 symmetry, and therefore not to cause an unbalance with respect to the "X" axis, in the opposed position to said weight 44, with respect to same axis "X", a similar weight 45 too is arranged; in such a way the two weights 44, 45 do not generate any unbalance across said axis; their function will be easily understood by the man skilled in the art; indeed the centrifugal force they generate tends outwards, and therefore it operates as forcing outbound the ends 13, 14 on which said weights are connected, of said leaf 4, which is flexible and elastic. As an obvious consequence the width of the leaf itself is being reduced from a size "L1 " to a smaller size "L2", as clearly demonstrated by a simple comparison between the figures 4B and 8.

c) the third provision is still an improvement: in the facts, if the spring leaf 4 is an enbloc (made from a one-piece) leaf, in order it can assume the shapes showed in the figures 4A, 4B, and 8, it must be obviously bent along its whole perimeter, and especially it must be bent on said opposite ends 13, 14 which shows the sharper edges; however even if said ends 13, 14 are only bent, meaning that the leaf 4 is only forced to suitably be bent until it takes the desired shape, it keeps the fact that the leaf is still a continuous body even in these ends; therefore it shows a sensible resistance to the distortion or bending, if forced by a generic centrifugal force.

Therefore the outwards oriented centrifugal force of said weights 44 and 45 has to be high enough to overcome said bending resistance; in practice, as these weights cannot be obviously too heavy (to avoid an unacceptable increase of the spring leaf 4 inertia), the impressed centrifugal force is limited, and so is the leaf distortion or contraction (fig. 8), and finally the extraction sliding run of said rotor, relevant to said leaf contraction, is correspondently limited.

So, in order to avoid such drawback, it is provided that said ends be really apt to be properly shaped and formed; according to the instant improvement, such result is achieved by splitting the leaf into two separate parts 4h and 4k as in fig. 9, wherein said ends 13 and 14 are still common ends for both said parts 4h and 4k.

Said parts 4h and 4k are then connected to a respective hinge wing of two hinges 48, 49 (fig. 7) respectively placed at said ends 13, 14, so as to restore the basic body unity of said spring leaf 4.

It will be then apparent that, due to action of these hinges 48, 49, said two leaf parts 4h and 4k may more easily change their positions with respect to said ends 13, 14, said change being caused no more by the distortion, but simply due to the simple reciprocal rotation action of the wings of said hinges 48, 49, so remarkably reducing the resistance to contraction of said spring leaf 4.

As a conclusion such motor offers a particularly efficient operation both at low and at high speed, as said motor becomes a "variable-geometry motor" and such variation is being implemented in a fully automatic way by simply changing its rotation speed to the spinning speed, exactly what needed.

Therefore a washing machine may be provided, whose rotating drum and associated electric motor be able of rotating at low speed during the washing phase, and at high speed during the spinning phase, and moreover provided with a type of motor generally as described.

Moreover said result may be obtained by keeping unchanged the axial position of the pulley 51 keyed to the motor shaft, what is strongly required by the specific use.

This washing machine shows then a precise and measurable improvement of their general performances, and particularly in its aptitude of quickly reach the spinning speed, keeping the energy losses low enough; a further advantage of such machine is moreover offered by the fact that such machines may work with such kind of motor, without any design or constructional change or adjustment, so achieving a precise advantage in terms of investment and design.