Sliding Contact Assemblies for Rotary Electric Machines

This invention relates to sliding contact assemblies, primarily for a rotary electric machine.

According to the present invention, there is provided a sliding contact assembly comprising first and second electrically conductive rings disposed co-axially and rotatable about their comman axis, and a pair of brushes in sliding contact with the radially outer surfaces of the rings respectively, the first ring surrounding and being electrically insulated from an axial portion of the second ring.

Preferably, the first ring is approximately half the axial length of the second ring.

In one particular construction, the second ring is axially stepped so that it has a smaller diameter portion which is surrounded by the first ring and a larger diameter portion which is in sliding contact with the respective brush.

The present invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of a first embodiment of a sliding contact assembly for a rotary electric machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the sliding contact assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar view to FIG. 1 but showing a second embodiment of the sliding contact assembly; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the sliding contact assembly shown in FIG. 3.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sliding contact assembly shown therein comprises a pair of electrically conductive rings 10 and 11 which are mounted co-axially on a shaft (not shown) of a rotary electric machine for rotation about a common axis 12. The ring 10 is of slightly greater diameter than the ring 11 and approximately half the axial length of the latter, and is mounted so that it surrounds an axial portion of the ring 11. The rings are respectively provided with tags 13 and 14 whereby external electrical connections can be made thereto, for example from armature windings of the machine. The tags can be integral with the rings or can be welded-on. The rings are preferably angularly oriented so that the tags 13 and 14 lie diametrically opposite one another in the finished assembly.

A thin annular layer 15 of electrically insulating material is interposed between the rings 10 and 11 to insulate the latter from one another, and a similar but longer annular layer 16 is provided internally of the ring 11 to insulate the latter from the shaft. The layers 15 and 16 may be provided as a coating on the rings, or may be in the form of separate pieces of insulating tubing. In a particular example, the layers are formed by adhesive which also serves to secure the various components together.

A pair of brushes 17 and 18 (not shown in FIG. 2) are in sliding contact with the radially outer surfaces of the rings 10 and 11 respectively, to enable electricity to be supplied to the rotary parts of the machine in a conventional manner.

In order to facilitate assembly of the above construction, the ring 10 can be an interference fit on the ring 11, and the latter can itself be made an interference fit on the shaft. Whether or not such an interference fit is provided, the whole assembly is preferably secured together by expanding the shaft or by radially contracting the rings mechanically or magnetically. Advantageously, the rings are contracted by a magnetic setting operating using a MAGNEFORM machine, for example. After the various parts have been secured together, the rings can be machined so that their radially outer surfaces are accurately concentric with the axis 12.

In the above-described construction, the radially outer surfaces of the rings 10 and 11 where they are contacted by the brushes 17 and 18 are of different diameters. FIGS. 3 and 4 show an arrangement wherein these surfaces are of substantially the same diameter. More particularly, the ring 11 is now axially stepped so that it has a smaller diameter portion 19 which is surrounded by the ring 10 and a larger diameter portion 20 whose radially outer surface is contacted by the respective brush 18, the outer surface of the portion 20 being of approximately the same diameter as the outer surface of the ring 10.

The sliding contact assemblies described above are very simple in construction and have only a small number of component parts, making their assembly simple and cheap. More particularly, the present construction utilises only two conductive components, whereas most conventional constructions use at least three. There are also no problems of joining one of the slip rings to a conductive carrier with the resultant risk of a bad electrical contact therebetween, since in the present assembly the slip ring forms an integral part of what would otherwise be the carrier. Moreover, there is no need to provide an insulating moulding for mounting the rings, as is often the case with conventional sliding contact assemblies, and therefore the problems attendant on the production of such a moulding are avoided.