Annular heat sink, electric motor, and drive arrangement with an annular heat sink

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12483097-B2
Application number	US-202218291262-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2022
Priority date	Jul 23, 2021
Publication date	Nov 25, 2025
Grant date	Nov 25, 2025

Abstract

An annular heat sink for fastening to an outer shell wall of a heat-emitting electric motor includes at least one guide wall portion which is arranged on the annular heat sink and covers portions of at least one flow duct, delimited laterally by peripheral cooling fins, from the outside, in such a way that an air flow which has entered into a flow duct in a first region of a side of the annular heat sink which faces the incoming air is deflected into a second region of a side of the annular heat sink which faces away from the incoming air. The heat sink may be used in an electric motor, which may in turn be used in a drive arrangement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An annular heat sink for fastening to an outer shell wall of a heat-emitting electric motor, the heat sink comprising:
a peripheral inner wall having a cross-sectional contour adapted to the shape of the outer shell wall of the electric motor, such that the annular heat sink can be pushed onto the outer shell wall of the electric motor in an axial direction; a plurality of peripheral cooling fins arranged peripherally over a circumference of the annular heat sink and extending radially outwardly, the plurality of peripheral cooling fins oriented parallel to one another and spaced a distance apart from one another such that each two directly adjacent peripheral cooling fins delimit a corresponding flow duct for radially and/or tangentially incoming air; and at least one guide wall portion arranged on the annular heat sink and covering portions of at least one flow duct from the outside such that an air flow which has entered into the flow duct in a first region of a side of the annular heat sink that faces the incoming air is deflected into a second region of a side of the annular heat sink that faces away from the incoming air.

2 . The annular heat sink of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one guide wall portion is detachably fastened to one or more peripheral cooling fins for reattachment in such a way that an existing guide wall portion can be removed from its current position on the peripheral cooling fins and reattached at another position on the peripheral cooling fins; or the at least one guide wall portion is formed in one piece on the annular heat sink.

3 . The annular heat sink of claim 1 , wherein the flow ducts are open, at least in portions, toward the inner wall such that on the inner peripheral side, the flow ducts are not delimited by the inner wall of the annular heat sink, but, in a fastened state of the annular heat sink on a motor, the flow ducts are delimited at least in portions by the outer shell wall of the motor.

4 . The annular heat sink of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one end wall portion extending transverse to the peripheral inner wall; and a plurality of end wall cooling fins arranged on the at least one end wall.

5 . The annular heat sink of claim 4 , wherein:
the end wall cooling fins are configured and arranged to guide air flow that has entered in the first region of the side of the annular heat sink that faces the incoming air into the second region of the side of the annular heat sink that faces away from the incoming air; and at least some of the end wall cooling fins extend obliquely or in an arc-shaped manner such that air flow that has entered over the width of the first region is concentrated the into a central portion of the second region.

6 . The annular heat sink of claim 4 , wherein end wall cooling fins arranged on a second surface half of the at least one end wall portion have asymmetrical courses compared to the courses of end wall cooling fins arranged on a first surface half of the at least one end wall portion.

7 . The annular heat sink of claim 1 , wherein the annular heat sink is configured to be spring-elastic, such that the annular heat sink can be clamped to a heat-emitting electric motor with the peripheral inner wall against an outer shell wall of the heat-emitting electric motor.

8 . An electric motor assembly, comprising:
an electric motor comprising a rotor having a motor shaft, a stator in which the rotor is rotatably arranged, and a motor housing having an outer shell wall; and an annular heat sink according to claim 1 arranged on the outer shell wall of the electric motor.

9 . A drive arrangement, comprising:
a heat-emitting electric motor; an annular heat sink according to claim 1 arranged on the electric motor; and a cooling device comprising at least one additional heat sink and at least one fan acting on the additional heat sink with air; wherein the additional heat sink has a niche into which the annular heat sink projects, such that air introduced by the fan into ducts of the additional heat sink enters the annular heat sink on one side, and exits from the annular heat sink on an at least substantially opposite side in order to reenter the additional heat sink.

10 . The drive arrangement of claim 9 , wherein at least one of:
the peripheral cooling fins have recesses on peripheral outer edges thereof, the recesses aligned with one another in the axial direction such that one or more channel-like undercuts are formed into which lamellae of the additional heat sink protrude; or each two adjacent end wall cooling fins delimit an end wall flow duct of the annular heat sink, wherein the end wall flow ducts of the annular heat sink are at least one of aligned with flow ducts of the additional heat sink or open into the flow ducts of the additional heat sink.

Assignees

• Kuka Deutschland Gmbh

Inventors

• Riedel Martin

Classifications

• H02K5/18 Primary

  with ribs or fins for improving heat transfer · CPC title

• H02K2213/09

  Machines characterised by the presence of elements which are subject to variation, e.g. adjustable bearings, reconfigurable windings, variable pitch ventilators · CPC title

• H02K5/207

  with openings in the casing specially adapted for ambient air · CPC title

• H02K9/227 Primary

  Heat sinks · CPC title

• H02K9/14 Primary

  wherein gaseous cooling medium circulates between the machine casing and a surrounding mantle · CPC title