Armature construction

May 28, 1946.

2,400,902

E. J. ALLEN

ARMATURE CONSTRUCTION

Filed Sept. 6, 1944

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F/g.3 Edv/brd J. Allen

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Patented May 28, 1946

2,400,902

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,400,902

ARMATURE CONSTRUCTION

Edward J. Allen, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Leece-Nevllle Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio

Application September 6, 1944, Serial No. 552,873

Claims.

This invention relates to armatures for rotary electric machines such as generators, motors arid the like, and aims to provide an improved construction for connecting the conductors of the armature with the commutator segments. 5

In the building of armatures of the kind having paired conductors lying in axial slots of the armature body, difficulty has been encountered heretofore in connecting the ends or terminal portions of the conductors with the commutator 10 segments. This has beeen particularly true in regard to the underlying or so-called “submerged” conductor because it is not readily accessible for performing a welding operation.

The present invention seeks to eliminate this difficulty and provides an improved construction for an armature of this type, wherein the terminal portions of the conductors are constructed and disposed so as to facilitate the formation of a strong welded connection between the conductors and commutator segments.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved construction for an armature of the character mentioned, in which the terminal portion of the underlying conductor has an upstanding angular lug of a height to provide excess material for forming a weld for connecting the conductors with each other and with the commutator .

As another of its objects the present invention provides an improved construction for an armature of this character, in which the segments of the commutator have portions defining a riser having slots into which the terminal elements of the conductors extend and the terminal element of the underlying conductor has a radial lug extending across the end of the overlying conductor and which is preferably of a length to provide excess material for forming a weld.

The invention can be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and particularly set out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings,

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation with certain portions broken away, showing an armature embodying the novel construction of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a developed view, somewhat diagrammatic in form, showing the paired conductors and the relative positions of their terminal elements.

Fig. 3 is a partial end view of the armature.

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view showing the terminal portions of the conductors ready for welding to a commutator segment, and

Fig. 5 is a similar partial plan view after the 55 (CI. 171—206) terminal portions of the conductors have been welded to the commutator segment.

Proceeding with a more detailed description of the invention, I show an armature 10 having a body 11 of a conventional construction and provided with axial slots 12. The armature 10 is provided with a commutator 13 comprising individual segments 13a insulated from each other and having upstanding portions disposed in an annular series and defining a slotted riser 14. Each of these upstanding portions comprises a pair of. lugs 13b having a space or slot 13c between such pair of lugs. The armature 10 also includes pairs of conductors 15 and 16 disposed 15 in the axially extending slots 12 and forming the winding of the armature.

As shown in the drawing, a pair of the conductors i 5 and 16 is disposed in each of the armature slots 12 and the paired conductors are 20 arranged so that the conductor 15 is above or outwardly of the conductor 16. For convenience of description the conductor 15 is referred to as the overlying conductor and the conductor 16 is referred to as the underlying or submerged con25 ductor. The conductors 15 and 16 have ends or terminal elements 15a and 16a which extend into the slots i 3c of the commutator riser ί 4 for forming an electrical connection between the conductors and the commutator segments.

To facilitate the connecting of the terminal elements 15a and 16a with each other and with the commutator segments, I provide the terminal element 16a of the underlying or submerged conductor with an upstanding angular lug or pro35 jection 11 which extends across the end face of the terminal element 15a and in a direction outwardly or substantially radially of the commutator 13. The lug il is of a length such that its free end will project somewhat above the periph40 ery of the riser 14 thus providing excess material for the formation of a weld 18 for connecting the terminal portions 15a and 16a with each other and with their corresponding commutator segment 13a.

As shown in the drawing, the end of the terminal element 15a lies in substantially abutting relation to a side face or edge of the lug 17 and such lug and adjacent end of the terminal element 15a are both located so as to lie in one of the slots i3c of the riser 14. The terminal elements 15a and 16a are of a thickness in comparison with the width of the slot 13c so as to be snugly received in the latter and the lug 17 is of a width approximately equal to one-half the axial length of the lugs 13b of the riser.

2,400,802

In Figs. 1, 3 and 4 of the drawing I show a pair of the terminal elements 15a and 16a in position in one of tne slots 13c of the riser and ready to be welded. The welding operation can be carried out by any suitable welding equipment such as the welding tool 20b shown in Fig. 1 and which is provided with a suitable electrode or welding rod 21 for application to the projecting end of the upstanding lug II. The welding circuit is established through a conductor 22 connected with the welding tool 20 and a conductor 23 having a terminal member 24 thereon for engagement with the commutator segment to which a particular pair of the conductors of the armature are being welded. During the welding operation the terminal portions 15a and 16a become softened or fused and are joined or welded to each other and to the adjacent lugs 13b of the commutator riser Γ4. The excess metal contained in the upstanding lug IT spreads or flows over and between the terminal elements 15a and 16a and the adjacent lugs 13b of the riser so as to integrally unite all of such parts into a strongly welded electrical connection. The weld 18 as thus formed is shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 of the drawing.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing it will now be readily seen that the present invention provides an improved construction for an armature of this character in which the underlying or submerged conductor is more readily accessible for performing a welding operation. It will be seen also that the improved construction reduces the time and labor required in producing armatures of this kind and results in a stronger and more satisfactory connection between the conductors and the commutator segments.

In the specification and claims I have referred to the connection between the armature conductors and the commutator segments as being formed by means of a weld” but it will be understood, of course, that this connection can also be formed by soldering, fusing, brazing or the like and that my invention includes all equivalent connections of this kind.

While I have illustrated and described my improved armature construction in more or less detail it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be correspondingly limited but regard my invention as Including all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims.