IP Library Patent Application 18551833
Patent Application
App. No. 18/551,833

COOLING FOR AN ELECTRIC DRIVE OF AN AIRCRAFT

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
18/551,833
Abstract

An electric drive with a fan for an aircraft, wherein the electric drive comprises an electric machine, in particular a permanently excited electric machine, with a stator and a rotor, and the propeller comprises a shaft and rotor blades, wherein the rotor blades are attached to the shaft, the rotor comprises a laminated core and magnets, wherein the laminated core forms an annular arrangement around the shaft, and the rotor blades, the shaft, the laminated core and the magnets are connected in a thermally conductive manner so that the rotor blades form a heat sink for the magnets.

Claims (21)

1 . An electric drive with a fan for an aircraft, wherein

the electric drive comprises an electric machine, in particular permanently excited, with a stator and a rotor,

and the fan has a shaft and rotor blades, wherein the rotor blades are attached to the shaft,

the rotor comprises magnets, and

the rotor blades ( 34 ), the shaft, and the magnets are thermally conductively connected so that the rotor blades form a heat sink for the magnets.

2 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the electric machine is formed as an internal rotor.

3 . The electric drive according to claim 2 , wherein the magnets are mounted externally on an iron core in an annular arrangement.

4 . The electric drive according to claim 3 , wherein the iron core is formed of laminated steel sheets.

5 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the electric drive comprises a duct and the fan is a ducted fan arranged to rotate within the duct, wherein the stator is connected to the duct by means of vanes which are arranged in an airflow generated by the rotor blades while the rotor is rotating.

6 . The electric drive according to claim 5 , wherein the vanes are connected fixedly to the stator by means of a hub which comprises a thermally conductive material so that the vanes form a heat sink for the stator.

7 . The electric drive according to claim 6 , wherein a heat transfer coefficient provided by a contact resistance between the stator and the hub, the heat conductivity of the hub material, the heat conductivity of the vane material and the surfaces of the vanes within the airflow generated by the ducted fan is above 100 W/(m 2 *K), and preferably above 200 W/(m 2 *K).

8 . The electric drive according to claim 5 , wherein the vanes and a hub are machined in a single place, preferably made of aluminum or titanium.

9 . The electric drive according to claim 5 , wherein the vanes each include at least one heat pipe.

10 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the magnets are arranged in a Halbach array arrangement.

11 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the shaft is formed as a hollow shaft.

12 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the shaft is connected to the rotor of the electric machine by means of a press fit or by welding, preferably frictional welding.

13 . The electric drive of claim 1 , wherein the rotor blades are connected to the shaft by a disk and the rotor blades, the disk and the shaft are machined in a single piece.

14 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the shaft is connected to the rotor of the electric machine in a material-locking manner.

15 . The electric drive according to claim 1 , wherein the electric machine is an AC synchronous machine.

16 . An aircraft with at least one electric drive with a fan according to claim 1 .

17 . The aircraft according to claim 16 , wherein the at least one electric drive is pivotably connected to a wing of the aircraft.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 12, 2025
From: LILIUM EAIRCRAFT GMBH
To: ARCHER AVIATION INC.
Reel/Frame 073199/0955 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 25, 2023
From: VERMEIREN, SÉBASTIEN; WIEGAND, DANIEL; SHORTTE, MAURICE
To: LILIUM EAIRCRAFT GMBH
Reel/Frame 065344/0192 →