Electric machine with reconfigurable rotor poles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12483099-B2
Application number	US-202318483553-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 10, 2023
Priority date	Oct 10, 2023
Publication date	Nov 25, 2025
Grant date	Nov 25, 2025

Abstract

An electric machine with reconfigurable rotor poles. The machine may include a stator including a plurality of stator windings configured for generating a rotating magnetic field (RMF) and a rotor configured for rotating within the stator according to a torque induced by the RMF. The rotor may include a plurality of rotor windings wrapped around a plurality of circumferentially spaced rotor protrusions. The electric machine may include a rotor power transfer circuit operable for reconfiguring electrical excitation of the rotor windings according to a plurality of excitation modes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A separately excited machine (SEM) with reconfigurable rotor poles, comprising:
a stator including a plurality of stator windings configured for generating a rotating magnetic field (RMF); a rotor configured for rotating within the stator according to a torque induced by the RMF, the rotor including a plurality of rotor windings wrapped around a plurality of circumferentially spaced rotor protrusions, the rotor windings providing a plurality of rotor poles when electrically excited; and a rotor power transfer circuit operable for reconfiguring electrical excitation of the rotor windings according to a plurality of excitation modes, wherein the rotor power transfer circuit includes a plurality of winding circuits connected to the rotor windings, and wherein the winding circuits include one or more non-reconfigurable winding circuits and one or more reconfigurable winding circuits.

2 . The SEM according to claim 1 , wherein:
the excitation modes include a polarity excitation mode operable for reconfiguring a magnetic polarity of one or more of the rotor poles from a North magnetic polarity to a South polarity.

3 . The SEM according to claim 1 , wherein:
the excitation modes include a quantity excitation mode operable for reconfiguring a quantity of the rotor poles from a first quantity to a second quantity.

4 . The SEM according to claim 3 , wherein:
the quantity excitation mode reconfigures the rotor poles from an alternating magnetic polarity to a paired magnetic polarity, the paired magnetic polarity resulting in adjoining pairs of the rotor poles having matching magnetic polarities.

5 . The SEM according to claim 4 , wherein:
the matching magnetic polarity of the adjoining pairs each respectively combine to form a plurality of equivalent rotor poles such that the first quantity corresponds with the rotor poles having the alternating magnetic polarity and the second quantity corresponds with the rotor poles having the paired magnetic polarity.

6 . The SEM according to claim 3 , wherein:
the quantity excitation mode reconfigures the rotor poles from a balanced excitation to an unbalanced excitation, the unbalanced excitation resulting in one or more of the rotor windings being unexcited relative to the balanced excitation.

7 . The SEM according to claim 6 , wherein:
the balanced excitation includes exciting each of the rotor windings such that the first quantity corresponds with each of the rotor poles being excited and the second quantity corresponds with one or more of the rotor poles being unexcited.

8 . The SEM according to claim 1 , wherein:
the rotor power transfer circuit additionally includes a controller and a plurality of switches connected between one or more of the winding circuits and a source of direct current (DC) power, and wherein the controller is operable for selectively controlling the switches between opened and closed states to reconfigure the electrical excitation of the rotor windings associated therewith.

9 . The SEM according to claim 8 , wherein:
the non-reconfigurable winding circuits connecting directly to the source independently of the switches and the reconfigurable winding circuits connecting to the source via one or more of the switches.

10 . The SEM according to claim 8 , wherein:
the switches for each of the winding circuits are arranged according to an H-bridge, the H-bridge configuration including a top-left switch, a top-right switch, a bottom-left switch, and a bottom-right switch.

11 . The SEM according to claim 10 , wherein:
the winding circuits each include a first terminal and a second terminal; and the first terminals each connect between the top-left switch and the bottom-left switch of the H-bridge configuration associated therewith; and the second terminals each connect between the top-right switch and the bottom-right switch of the H-bridge configuration associated therewith.

12 . The SEM according to claim 11 , wherein:
the source provides the DC output relative to a positive rail and a negative rail; the top-left switches and the top-right switches connect to the positive rail; the bottom-left switches and the bottom-right switches connect to the negative rail; the top-left switch of each of the H-bridge configurations connects to the bottom-left switch of the H-bridge configuration corresponding therewith; and the top-right switch of each of the H-bridge configurations connects to the bottom-right switch of the H-bridge configuration corresponding therewith.

13 . The SEM according to claim 12 , wherein:
the switches are included within an external portion of the rotor power transfer circuit external to a shaft of the rotor.

14 . The SEM according to claim 12 , wherein:
the switches are included within an internal portion of the rotor power transfer circuit internal to a shaft of the rotor.

15 . The SEM according to claim 12 , wherein:
the rotor protrusions each include no more than one of the rotor windings; and the rotor windings each connect to a different one of the winding circuits such that each of the rotor poles correspond with a separate one of the winding circuits.

16 . The SEM according to claim 12 , wherein:
the rotor power transfer circuit includes an electrical interface for each of the winding circuits, each electrical interface transferring electrical power between the switches and the winding circuit associated therewith.

17 . The SEM according to claim 16 , wherein:
wherein the electrical interfaces are configured to provide mechanical transport of electrical power with brushes and slip rings; inductive transport of electrical power with transformers; and/or capacitive transport of electrical power with capacitors.

18 . An electric machine with reconfigurable rotor poles, comprising:
a stator including a plurality of stator windings configured for generating a rotating magnetic field (RMF); a rotor configured for rotating within the stator according to a torque induced by the RMF, the rotor including a plurality of rotor windings wrapped around a plurality of circumferentially spaced rotor protrusions, the rotor windings providing a plurality of rotor poles when electrically excited; and a rotor power transfer circuit including:
a plurality of winding circuits connected to the rotor windings, wherein the winding circuits include one or more non-reconfigurable winding circuits and one or more reconfigurable winding circuits;
a plurality of switches connected between one or more of the winding circuits and a source of direct current (DC) power; and
a controller operable for reconfiguring a quantity and/or a polarity of the rotor poles by varying electrical excitation of the rotor windings.

19 . The electric machine according to claim 18 , wherein:
the source provides the DC output relative to a positive rail and a negative rail; the rotor protrusions each include no more than one of the rotor windings; the rotor windings each connect to a different one of the winding circuits; the winding circuits each include a first terminal and a second terminal; the switches for each of the winding circuits are arranged according to an H-bridge, the H-bridge configuration including a top-left switch, a top-right switch, a bottom-left switch, and a bottom-right switch, wherein:
the first terminals each connect between the top-left switch and the bottom-left switch of the H-bridge configuration associated therewith;
the second terminals each connect between th

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Luo Yilun
• Alam Khorshed Mohammed
• Zahid Muhammad A
• Chowdhury Mazharul
• Peng Peng
• Nehl Thomas W
• Kim Junghoon

Classifications

• H02K1/12 Primary

  Stationary parts of the magnetic circuit · CPC title

• H02K1/22

  Rotating parts of the magnetic circuit · CPC title

• H02K11/30 Primary

  Structural association with control circuits or drive circuits · CPC title