The present invention relates to dynamos and, more particularly, to a construction of dynamos which decreases the armature reaction.
Background and Prior Art
Armature reaction is a basic problem both for dynamos using commutators (that is D.C. or single phase A.C. machines) and in synchronous motors and generators. The flux resulting from the armature electromotive force causes a distortion and, because of saturation effects, a weakening of the exciter field. The latter in turn causes a loss of voltage in the armature circuit, that is a decrease in the output of the machine. It is, therefore, highly desirable to keep the armature reaction within reasonable bounds. For this reason, many conventional machines are built with an air gap between the main pole and the armature which is substantially larger than would be required from the purely mechanical point of view. However, under these conditions, a greater exciting current is required, which in turn causes an increase in the size of the machine. This of course also increases its cost.
The Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamo construction which decreases armature reaction.
In a dynamo, the rotor rotates about an axis of rotation. In accordance with the invention, the exciter structure which carries the field winding comprises a plurality of iron lamina arranged parallel to the axis of rotation and separated from each other by nonmagnetic or magnetically weak material resulting in a composite structure, so that the magnetic flux generated in the exciter structure as a result of the armature current encounters a high reluctance. The increased reluctance of the magnetic is obtained by making the non, or weakly magnetic material of the same order of thickness as the iron lamina, but not thicker than the iron lamina.
Brief Description of the Drawing
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the exciter (field) structure associated with one pole of a dynamo;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the exciter (field) structure of a four pole dynamo;
FIG. 3 shows a single iron lamina and associated nonmagnetic material;
FIG. 4, upper half, shows two halves of an iron core separated from each other in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4, lower half, shows the variation of air gap induction for the arrangement of the upper half;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a field structure with commutating poles;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an alternate embodiment of field structures with commutating poles in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a D.C. dynamo without commutating poles;
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an internal pole dynamo with a rotor constructed in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 9 shows a preferred construction of the lamina of the present invention.
In FIG. 1 the individual iron lamina are denoted by reference numeral 1. The iron lamina 1 are separated by magnetically nonconductive or weakly conductive material 5 which are somewhat thinner than the lamina but of the same order of thickness, and, together with this material, constitute composite poles 2 and composite yokes 3 of the exciter or field structure. The field winding is denoted by reference numeral 4. The lamina are arranged parallel to the axis of rotation. With this construction, and due to the pressure of a substantial preparation of nonmagnetic material, the flux created in the field structure as a result of the magnetomotive force in the armature encounters a high reluctance.
In order to form a magnetic return path, the iron core of each pole constructed in accordance with the present invention is split into two halves at the core root 7 in the direction of the axis of rotation. Each half extends to form a single yoke 3 with an adjacent half of a neighboring pole. If necessary, the iron lamina 1 at the pole shoe 8 are expanded corresponding to the arc to be covered by the pole and are maintained in this position. It should be noted that the term "iron lamina" includes material which have a magnetic preferred direction in the direction of the field lines of the exciter flux. Further, the iron lamina 1 as shown in FIG. 3, may already be covered with nonmagnetic or only slightly magnetic material 5 of the requisite thickness during manufacture so that it is only necessary to stack them in accordance with the present invention, paste them together, and form them to constitute a segment 9 for example as shown in FIG. 2.
An additional possibility for decreasing armature reaction is to create a space 11 between the two core halves 10 of each main pole, as shown in FIG. 4. Specifically, the width of space 11 is to exceed the spacing between the iron lamina in this region. Further, the space between the two iron core halves of each main pole is to be kept empty or filled with nonmagnetic or magnetically weak material.
The typical variation of induction in air gap 16 of a main pole constructed as described above is shown in the lower half of FIG. 4. Curve 13 shows the field excitation curve curve 15 of the induction or magnetomotive force due to the field, curve 14 shows the induction in air gap 16 resulting from the current in armature 6 and curve 12 shows the overall variation of induction in air gap 16, both as a function of field current due to armature current and current through the field winding 4.
Commutating poles can be provided in machines constructed in accordance with the present invention. A preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 5. Here the commutating pole 17 comprises two partial segments 18 which are located between the main pole segments and inside the pole shoes thereof. The return path for the commutative flux is no longer through the core root of the neighboring main pole as is the case in conventional dynamos, but takes place through the air gap between the armature and that end of the commutating pole segment which adjoins the respective main pole. The commutating pole segments may be constructed in the same way as are the main pole segments, although the distance between adjacent iron lamina in the commutating pole segments may be less than that in the main pole, or may even be zero. The commutating pole segments can be constructed of solid material and, if desired, the two segments of each commutating pole may be joined to form a single unit. For the latter, it is also possible to make the transition to a laminated structure which is laminated in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation.
An alternate embodiment of the commutating pole structure is shown in FIG. 6. Here a commutating pole system 19, which may be of either a solid or a laminated construction, is arranged as an axial extension on one side of the main pole system 20. Specifically, the commutating poles 17 are located in the axial extension of the gaps between two main poles. Alternatively, a commutating pole system 19 could be arranged on both sides of the main pole system 20. Commutating poles arranged opposite one another and having the same polarity are then connected by bars made of magnetic material of high permeability which thus form the pole shoes of commutating poles effective along the whole length of the armature.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the construction of a D.C. machine without commutating poles. FIG. 8 shows a synchronous machine and, more specifically, an internal field dynamo, with a rotor 21 constructed in accordance with the present invention. The armature reaction in the transverse axis and therefore the corresponding synchronous reactance is substantially lower than for a conventionally constructed machine.
All the above arrangements can be implemented with skewed, as well as with straight rotors and/or stators. The layers of substantially non-magnetic material will have a thickness throughout the entire extent of the yoke 3, that is, between the poles or end portions of the laminae up to and in the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the laminae themselves, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 9, where the substantially non-magnetic material is illustrated in stippled representation. The specific thickness of the substantially non-magnetic material is subject to variation; to obtain the effect of reduced armature reaction, its thickness must be of the same order of magnitude as the laminae themselves, that is, be substantially thicker than the lacquer or other insulating coating used in dynamo electric machines for electrical insulation only. The term "thickness of the same order of magnitude" thus is intended to mean a substantially greater thickness than that of electrically insulating coatings placed on sheet steel or laminae to prevent eddy currents.
For economic reasons it is desirable to manufacture the exciter structures of the present invention as simply as possible. Certain contradictory requirements arise in that particularly thin lamina are desirable to prevent eddy currents, while for manufacturing reasons it would be desirable to make the lamina as thick as possible without defeating the purpose of the arrangement, namely to decrease the armature reaction.
A solution to this problem is to form composite iron lamina from individual lamina sheets 22 (FIG. 9) which are electrically insulated relative to one another by a thin electrically insulating layer (not shown) and, if required, mechanically connected to one another by adhesive. The number of layers of nonmagnetic or only weakly magnetic material 6 substantially thicker than the insulating layer, which must be interspersed with the composite iron lamina 1 can then be substantially reduced thereby simplifying the manufacture and decreasing the manufacturing costs.
The following data applies to a preferred embodiment:
Number of main poles: 4
Ampere turns of field winding: 150 each pole
Thickness of iron lamina: 0.5 mm
Thickness of nonmagnetic material 5 between lamina: .gtoreq.0.2 mm
Width of space 11 between core halves: .gtoreq.0.2 mm