Granted Patent B2

US 12,685,187 · App. 18/514,090 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Inventors: James P. Downs (South Lyon, MI); David Crecelius (Cicero, IN); Jeffrey J. Ronning (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI); Paul J. Valente (Berkley, MI); John C. Morgante (Sterling Heights, MI)

Assignee: AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING, INC.

H10W70/461H02K1/16H02K1/20H02K5/15H02K5/203H02K5/225H02K7/116H02K9/19H02K9/227H02K11/00H02K11/27H02K11/33H02K2211/03H10W40/258H10W70/417H10W70/481H10W72/073H10W72/075H10W72/884H10W90/755

Abstract

Claims (26)

1 . An electric drive unit comprising:

a stator body;

a plurality of sets of field windings mounted to the stator body;

a rotor received in the stator body and rotatable relative to the stator body; and

a plurality of phase terminals, each of the phase terminals being coupled to an associated one of the sets of field windings;

a current sensor assembly having a plurality of current sensor laminations, and a sensor, the current sensor laminations being generally C-shaped and abutted against one another to form a sensor lamination stack, the sensor lamination stack defining a gap, the current sensor laminations being disposed about a corresponding one of the phase terminals, the sensor being disposed in the gap.

2 . The electric drive unit of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is received in a tube formed of a plastic material.

3 . The electric drive unit of claim 2 , wherein the tube has an oval cross- sectional shape.

4 . The electric drive unit of claim 2 , further comprising an end plate, wherein the tube is unitarily and integrally formed with the end plate.

5 . The electric drive unit of claim 4 , wherein the end plate defines a plurality of phase lead bosses and wherein each of the phase terminals is received in a corresponding one of the phase lead bosses.

6 . The electric drive unit of claim 4 , further comprising a plurality of conductor plates and a retaining member, each of conductor plates being electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the phase terminals, the retaining member being fixedly coupled to the end plate, and wherein the conductor plates are received in the retaining member.

7 . The electric drive unit of claim 6 , further comprising a plurality of groups of power semiconductors, each of the groups of power semiconductors having a plurality of power semiconductors, each of the power semiconductors having a terminal, wherein each of the conductor plates is electrically coupled to the terminal of each of the power semiconductors in a corresponding one of the groups of power semiconductors.

8 . The electric drive unit of claim 7 , further comprising a plurality of heat sinks, each of the heat sinks being mounted to one of the power semiconductors and being electrically coupled to the terminal of one of the power semiconductors.

9 . The electric drive unit of claim 1 , further comprising an end plate that defines a plurality of phase lead bosses and wherein each of the phase terminals is received in a corresponding one of the phase lead bosses.

10 . The electric drive unit of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of conductor plates and a retaining member, each of conductor plates being electrically coupled to a corresponding one of the phase terminals, the retaining member being fixedly coupled to the end plate, and wherein the conductor plates are received in the retaining member.

11 . The electric drive unit of claim 10 , further comprising a plurality of groups of power semiconductors, each of the groups of power semiconductors having a plurality of power semiconductors, each of the power semiconductors having a terminal, wherein each of the conductor plates is electrically coupled to the terminal of each of the power semiconductors in a corresponding one of the groups of power semiconductors.

12 . The electric drive unit of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of heat sinks, each of the heat sinks being mounted to one of the power semiconductors and being electrically coupled to the terminal of one of the power semiconductors.

13 . The electric drive unit of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a Hall-effect sensor.

14 . The electric drive unit of claim 1 , further comprising a magnet, which is coupled to the rotor for rotation therewith, and a TMR sensor that is configured to sense a magnetic field of the magnet.

15 . An electric drive unit comprising:

a stator having a stator body and a plurality of sets of field windings mounted to the stator body;

a rotor received in the stator body and rotatable relative to the stator body; and

an inverter having a retaining member, a plurality of power semiconductors, a first bus bar, a second bus bar and a plurality of conductor plates, the retaining member being coupled to the stator, each of the power semiconductors having a plurality of terminals including a first terminal, a second terminal and a third terminal, the first terminals being electrically coupled to the first bus bar, the second terminals being electrically coupled to the second bus bar, each of the conductor plates being electrically coupled to the third terminals of a corresponding sub-set of the power semiconductors, wherein the first and second bus bars and the conductor plates are received within the retaining member.

16 . The electric drive unit of claim 15 , wherein the inverter further includes a plurality of heat sinks, each of the heat sinks being mounted to a corresponding one of the power semiconductors and electrically coupled to the third terminal of the corresponding one of the power semiconductors.

17 . The electric drive unit of claim 16 , wherein the inverter includes an end plate that is coupled to the retaining member, and wherein the end plate defines a coolant port that is in fluid communication with an annular gap into which the heat sinks are disposed.

18 . The electric drive unit of claim 15 , further comprising a magnet, which is coupled to the rotor for rotation therewith, and a TMR sensor that is configured to sense a magnetic field of the magnet.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (7)

References Cited (90)