JP2001095201A - Connecting method for motor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connecting method for motor, by which the efficiency of work for electrically connecting armature windings to connectors, etc., provided outside a motor housing and the reliability of connection can be enhanced. SOLUTION: In a tube housing 80, constituting a steering mechanism 10, a brushless DC motor 20 is set up. An end section 24V of a V-phase armature winding is connected to an end section 24C of a C-phase armature winding 24C via a bus bar 25V, which is integrally modularized with a bus bar module 32 and connected to a modularized first terminal bar 33V. With a connector module 35 attached to the external surface of the tube housing 80, a second terminal bar 34V, which comes into contact with the first terminal bar 33V, is modularized integrally. A spot P1 to be welded is fusion-welded, by inserting a first electrode 60 from the window 36 and hole 80b of the tube housing 80 and a second electrode 61 from the opened end section 80a of the housing 80.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a motor connection method for electrically connecting an armature winding wound around an armature core to a connector or the like provided outside a motor housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electric power steering device (EP) provided in a vehicle such as an automobile has been used as the motor.
Brushless DC motors used in S) are known. FIG. 5 is a partially sectional explanatory view of a steering mechanism to which the brushless DC motor is mounted. FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram of the connector module provided in the steering mechanism shown in FIG. 5 as viewed from above (in the direction indicated by arrow D).
FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 5 shows a partial cross section of a V-phase portion of the U-phase, V-phase and W-phase. As shown in FIG.
Has a hollow, substantially cylindrical tube housing 80 and an end housing 95 connected to the tube housing 80. A brushless DC motor 90 is mounted inside the tube housing 80. The brushless DC motor 90 has an armature core 92V around which an armature winding 91V is wound, and a ring magnet 93 provided on the inner peripheral surface of the armature core 92V. Ring magnet 93
A motor shaft 81 is inserted through the inside of the motor shaft 81, and a rack shaft (not shown) is inserted through the inside of the motor shaft 81, and the rotational torque (steering torque) of the rack shaft is applied to the rotational torque of the brushless DC motor 90. The configuration is assisted by

[0003] At the longitudinal end of the armature core 92V,
An end form 94V made of synthetic resin for insulating the armature winding 91V is formed. The end form 94V has an end of a terminal 83V for leading the V-phase armature winding 91V to the outside. The terminal is 83 V, and the lower end of a plate-shaped terminal 84 V is attached to the end of the terminal 83 V by silver brazing. The upper end of the terminal 84V protrudes into a terminal block 85 attached to the outer surface of the tube housing 80, and a lead wire 87V connected to a motor controller (not shown) is attached to the protruding portion by silver brazing. . Also, as shown in FIG.
Terminal 83U silver soldered to the terminal of the U-phase armature winding
Is connected to the lead wire 87U by a terminal 84U, and the terminal 83W, which is connected to the terminal of the W-phase armature winding by silver, is connected to the lead wire 87W by a terminal 84W. Further, the terminal block 85
Are fastened and fixed to the outer surface of the tube housing 80 by bolts 88 inserted at both ends thereof.

Next, a description will be given of a method of connecting the U-phase, V-phase and W-phase armature windings with the lead wires 87U, 87V and 87W. First, before attaching the terminal block 85 and the end housing 95 (FIG. 5),
U is inserted into the tube housing 80, the lower end of the terminal 84U is aligned with the terminal 83U,
In FIG. 5, a silver brazing tool is inserted from the direction indicated by arrow C, and both are brazed to silver. Next, terminal 84
V and bus bar 83V, terminals 84W and 83
Silver is brazed by the same operation for W. Then, the terminal block 85 is fastened and fixed to the outer surface of the tube housing 80 by bolts 88 (FIG. 6).
The ends of the lead wires 87U, 87V, 87W are inserted into the terminal block 85, respectively, and a window 86 (see FIG.
(A)) while looking into the inside state from each of the lead lines 87
U, 87V, 87W and terminal 84U, 84V, 84
The upper end of W is aligned, a silver brazing tool is inserted through the window 89 (in the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 5), and each lead wire and terminal are each silver brazed.

[0005]

However, since the positioning and silver brazing that are performed many times during the above-described steps are all performed manually, the production efficiency of the steering mechanism 100 cannot be increased. There is. It is also conceivable to automate each operation, but it is difficult to automate, especially since silver brazing requires skill. In addition, since there are many manual operations, there is a possibility that a contact failure or a rare short circuit may occur due to an alignment error or a shortage of silver. As another connection method, a lead wire is connected to the armature winding, and the lead wire is connected to the tube housing 80.
And a method of attaching a terminal block to the end of the armature winding and screwing the terminal inserted from outside into the tube housing 80 and the terminal block. However, it is difficult to automate lead wires to the outside and terminal screws.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to realize a motor connection method capable of improving the efficiency of connection and the reliability of connection.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems, Functions and Effects of the Invention
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the first conductor electrically connected to the armature winding inside the motor housing and the first conductor are electrically connected to the first conductor.
A first positioning member for positioning the conductor at a predetermined position inside the motor housing, and a first positioning member provided outside the motor housing to hold the second conductor, and the tip of the second conductor is A second positioning member that positions the first conductor positioned inside the motor housing so as to come into contact with the first conductor, so that the first and second conductors contact each other inside the motor housing. And the first and second conductors are welded to each other at the above-mentioned contact portion.

In other words, the first and second conductors are positioned by the first positioning member and the second positioning member so as to be in contact with each other inside the motor housing. Since this can be omitted, the efficiency of the operation of electrically connecting the armature winding with a connector or the like provided outside the motor housing can be improved. In addition, since the positioning accuracy can be improved by using the positioning member as compared with the case where the positioning is performed by visual measurement, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of poor connection and rare short circuit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for connecting a motor according to the first aspect, a hole through which a first electrode for welding is inserted is formed through the motor housing. A first electrode for welding is inserted from the opening, a second electrode for welding is inserted from the open end of the motor housing, and the first and second electrodes are used for the first electrode.
And the second conductor is welded to each other at the contacting portion.

That is, since welding can be performed in a state where positioning has already been completed, the first welding electrode is inserted into the motor housing through the hole, and the second welding electrode is inserted.
If the method of inserting the electrode from the open end and welding the first and second conductors to each other is used, welding can be automated. And, by automating the welding, the working efficiency of the motor connection can be further improved. In addition, if the welding is automated, the connection can always be made with higher quality than when the connection is made manually, so that the occurrence of poor connection and rare short-circuit can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method of connecting a motor according to the first or second aspect, the ends of the first and second conductors extend in the direction of the rotation axis of the motor. The technical means of using.

That is, the tips of the first and second conductors are:
Since each extends in the direction of the rotation axis of the motor, for example, by inserting a first electrode for welding from the hole formed through the motor housing into the interior of the motor housing so as to be orthogonal to the rotation axis of the motor, The first electrode can be pressed against one surface of the contact portion of the first and second conductors. Also, by inserting an L-shaped second electrode for welding from the open end of the motor housing,
The tip of the second electrode can be pressed against the other surface of the contact portion between the first and second conductors. And the first
And the second electrode can be welded by sandwiching the contact portion. In particular, the motor housing cannot be provided with a large hole in order to prevent the strength from being reduced. However, if the above method is used, the first electrode to be inserted from the hole of the motor housing will Since the direction in which the contact portions of the first and second conductors are pressed can be made the same, a rod-shaped material can be used,
The hole can be made as small as possible. Further, since the opening end of the motor housing has a certain size as compared with the original, the L-shaped electrode can be inserted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method of connecting a motor according to any one of the first to third aspects, the first positioning member integrates a plurality of the first conductors. The second positioning member employs a technical means of integrally holding a plurality of the second conductors.

That is, by integrally holding the plurality of first conductors, each of the first conductors can be positioned at a time. Similarly, by integrally holding the plurality of second conductors, each of the second conductors can be positioned at a time. Therefore, even in the case of a multi-phase motor in which a plurality of armature windings need to be connected, the work efficiency of the connection can be further improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method of connecting a motor according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a technical means is used in which the welding is fusing welding.

That is, since the fusing welding is a technique of welding by applying pressure and heating to a welding object, it can be welded with a smaller pressing force than spot welding, so that a tube housing constituting a steering mechanism of a vehicle is provided. It is possible to perform welding even in a place where a large pressing force cannot be used in a narrow space such as the inside of a space.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method for connecting a motor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a brushless DC motor used in an electric power steering device (EPS) provided in a vehicle such as an automobile is a motor to which the motor connection method according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied. Will be described as an example. The conventional steering mechanism 10 shown in FIGS.
The same reference numerals are used for the configurations common to 0, and the description of the common portions will be simplified. FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a steering mechanism to which the brushless DC motor is mounted, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. FIG.
Are the first terminal bar 33V and the second terminal bar 34V
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state of welding the parts shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the state shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow E in FIG.

[Structure of Steering Mechanism] First, the structure of the steering mechanism will be described. As shown in FIG.
Includes a tube housing 80 and an end housing 54 connected to the tube housing 80. Inside the tube housing 80, a brushless D
The C motor 20 is mounted. The brushless DC motor 20 has an armature core 22V and a ring magnet 23 provided inside the armature core 22V. A motor shaft 81 is inserted inside the ring magnet 23, and the ring magnet 23 is fixed to the motor shaft 81.
The motor shaft 81 is rotatably fixed to a bearing 52. A rack shaft 53 is inserted inside the motor shaft 81, and the rack shaft 53 is
A plurality of balls 51 are inserted through a ball screw nut 50 having a thread groove. That is, the rotation torque of the rack shaft 53 is assisted by the rotation torque of the brushless DC motor 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, an end 24V of a V-phase armature winding wound around the armature core 22V is formed at the longitudinal end of the armature core 22V. From the end 24V, the terminal of the V-phase armature winding (not shown)
Is derived. Further, the armature core 22C constituting the C phase for the neutral point has an armature core 22C at the longitudinal end.
An end 24C of the C-phase armature winding wound around C is formed, and a terminal (not shown) of the C-phase armature winding is led out from the end 24C. These terminals are electrically connected by a V-phase bus bar 25V, and the bus bar 25V is connected to the bus bar module 3
2 are modularized. The bus bar module 32 integrally holds a plurality of bus bars electrically connecting the U-phase, the V-phase, and the W-phase, and the respective phases and the C-phase with a synthetic resin so as to have a predetermined positional relationship (hereinafter, referred to as a synthetic resin). As shown in FIG. 4, each armature core is formed in a ring shape to cover the endform.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bus bar module 3
Inside 2, a first terminal bar 33V electrically connected to the tip of the bus bar 25V is modularized. The first terminal bar 33V is formed by bending a conductive plate-shaped member, and its base end is folded back into a substantially U-shape inside the bus bar module 32, and its front end is formed on the plate surface. Extends upward from the bus bar module 32 toward the open end 80a of the tube housing 80 and in the direction of the rotation axis of the brushless DC motor 20. Further, as shown in FIG.
A connector module 35 is attached to the outer surface of the connector module by bolts 40.
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper end of a second terminal bar 34V in which both ends of a plate-like member are bent at substantially right angles in opposite directions to each other is modularized. The lower end of the second terminal bar 34V extends in the same direction as the first terminal bar 33V with its plate surface facing upward, and the lower surface of the first terminal bar 33V is connected to the second terminal bar 34V. To form a welding target location P2. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the first terminal bar 33U for the U phase
The terminal bars 34U, the W-phase first terminal bar 33W, and the second terminal bar 34W also have their plate surfaces at the tips thereof in contact with each other to form welding target locations P1, P3, respectively. Further, as shown in FIG.
Upper ends 34U1, 34V1, 34 of 4U, 34V, 34W
W1 protrudes into a space 35a formed in the connector module 35, and lead wires connected to a motor controller (not shown) are connected to them. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a lead wire 37V is connected to the V phase. The tube housing 80
On the outer surface of is formed, for example, an elliptical hole 80b through which the first electrode 60 for fusing welding (FIGS. 3 and 4) is inserted into the welding target locations P1, P2, and P3 (FIG. 1, FIG. 3), a window 36 for inserting the first electrode 60 is formed through the connector module 35 at a position communicating with the hole 80b.

[Connection Method] Next, a method of connecting the first and second terminal bars will be described. Here, the first terminal bar 33V electrically connected to the V-phase armature winding is used.
And the case where the second terminal bar 34V is connected. (Step 1) First, before performing the operation of housing the brushless DC motor 20 and the rack shaft 53 in the tube housing 80 and the operation of connecting the end housing 54 to the tube housing 80, each armature winding of the brushless DC motor 20 is performed. Bus bar module 32 is welded to the end of. (Step 2) Next, the bus bar module and the armature windings integrated with each other are housed and fixed at predetermined locations in the tube housing 80. (Step 3) Next, the connector module 35 is attached to the outer surface of the tube housing 80 with bolts 40. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4, the 1st and 2nd terminal bar mutually contact each other, and form the welding target location P2. (Step 4) Next, with the tube housing 80 fixed at a predetermined position, the rod-shaped first electrode 60 attached to the first arm (not shown) of the welding robot is connected to the connector module 35 from the direction indicated by the arrow F1. Of the tube housing 80 through the hole 80b of the tube housing 80.
a is brought into contact with the upper surface of the first terminal bar 34V. At the same time, an L-shaped second electrode 61 attached to a second arm (not shown) of the welding robot is pointed by an arrow F.
2 into the opening end 80a, and
When 1a reaches below the first terminal bar 33V, the movement in the direction of arrow F2 is stopped, and the movement is raised in the direction indicated by arrow F3, so that the upper end 61a contacts the lower surface of the second terminal bar 33V. (Step 5) Next, the first electrode 60 and the second electrode 61
The first terminal bar 34V and the second terminal bar 3
3 V is applied while being pressed, and a voltage is applied to both electrodes to weld a welding target portion P2 of the first terminal bar 34V and the second terminal bar 33V. (Step 6) Next, a lid 38 is attached to the opening of the window 36, and the lid 38 is potted with a synthetic resin. Although the connection of the V phase has been described as an example here, actually, as shown in FIG. 2, since the welding target locations are arranged in the vicinity, for example, the welding target locations P1, P
Welding in the order of 2, P3 or vice versa enhances the efficiency of the welding process.

As described above, if the motor connection method according to this embodiment is used, the first terminal bar and the second terminal bar are connected inside the tube housing 80 by the bus bar module 32 and the connector module 35, respectively. Because they are positioned to touch each other,
Since the conventional positioning operation can be omitted, the efficiency of the connection operation of the brushless DC motor 20 can be improved. In addition, since the positioning can always be fixed at a fixed position, the positioning accuracy can be increased as compared with the case of positioning by visual measurement, and the occurrence of poor connection and rare short circuit can be reduced. Further, since the bus bar module 32 modularizes the first terminal bars for three phases, each first terminal bar can be positioned at a time. Similarly, the connector module 35
Since the second terminal bars for the phases are modularized, each second terminal bar can be positioned at a time. Therefore, the connection work efficiency can be further improved.

Further, since the fusing welding can be automatically performed by using the welding robot, the connection can always be made with higher quality than in the case where the connection is made manually. The occurrence of a short circuit or the like can be further reduced. In particular, by using fusing welding, welding can be performed even in a narrow space such as the inside of the tube housing 80.
In the above embodiment, a method of connecting a brushless DC motor used in an electric power steering device (EPS) provided in a vehicle such as an automobile is described as an example of a method of connecting a motor according to the present invention. Although the present invention has been described, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other motors such as other brushless DC motors or AC servomotors.

Incidentally, the tube housing 80 corresponds to the motor housing of the present invention, and the first terminal bar 3
3U, 33V, 33W correspond to the first conductor, and the second terminal bars 34U, 34V, 34W correspond to the second conductor. In addition, the bus bar module 32 corresponds to a first positioning member, and the connector module 35 corresponds to a second positioning member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a steering mechanism equipped with a brushless DC motor.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a manner of welding a bus bar 33V and a terminal bar in the same cross section as FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the state shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from a direction indicated by an arrow E in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partially sectional explanatory view of a conventional steering mechanism equipped with a brushless DC motor.

6A is an explanatory view of a connector module provided in the steering mechanism shown in FIG. 5 as viewed from above (in a direction indicated by an arrow D), and FIG. A-A of (A)
It is arrow sectional drawing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 steering mechanism 20 brushless DC motor 22V armature iron core 23 ring magnet 24V end form 25V V-phase bus bar 32 bus bar module (first positioning member) 33V first terminal bar (first conductor) 34V second Terminal bar (second conductor) 35 Connector module (second positioning member) 36 Window 53 Rack shaft 60 First electrode 61 Second electrode 80 Tube housing (motor housing) 80b Hole

Claims (5)

[Claims] A first conductor electrically connected to an armature winding inside the motor housing; a first positioning member for positioning the first conductor at a predetermined position inside the motor housing; It is provided outside the motor housing, holds the second conductor, and positions the tip of the second conductor so as to contact the first conductor positioned inside the motor housing. And a second positioning member, wherein the first and second conductors are arranged so as to be in contact with each other inside the motor housing, and the first and second conductors are mutually connected at the contacting portion. A motor connection method characterized by welding. 2. The motor housing has a hole through which a first electrode for welding is inserted, and the first electrode for welding is inserted from the hole, and an opening end of the motor housing is formed. Insert a second electrode for welding from
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second conductors are welded to each other at the contact portion by the first and second electrodes. 3. The motor connection method according to claim 1, wherein tips of the first and second conductors extend in a rotation axis direction of the motor. 4. The first positioning member integrally holds the plurality of first conductors, and the second positioning member integrally holds the plurality of second conductors. The method of connecting a motor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: 5. The method for connecting a motor according to claim 1, wherein the welding is fusing welding.