CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2018/001561, filed Feb. 6, 2018, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0024941, filed Feb. 24, 2017, whose entire disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an axial air gap motor, and a clothing processing apparatus having the same.

BACKGROUND ART

As is well known, a clothing processing apparatus is a kind of apparatus for treating (washing) clothes or laundry through a washing process and a rinsing process.

The laundry includes not only clothes but also washable items such as bedclothes such as blankets, curtains, stuffed toys and the like.

The clothing processing apparatus, typically, includes a cabinet, a tub provided in the cabinet, a drum rotatably disposed in the tub, and a driving motor configured to rotate the drum.

However, in the related art clothing processing apparatus, the tub is spaced apart from an inner surface of the cabinet with a predetermined interval so as to suppress collision between components, which is generated by vibration during an operation. Accordingly, this makes it difficult to increase a washing capacity (tub and drum) without increasing a size of the cabinet.

Meanwhile, a motor, as is well known, is a device that converts an electrical energy to a mechanical energy.

Such a motor includes a stator and a rotor rotatably disposed with respect to the stator.

The motor is classified into an “inner rotor” type in which the rotor is provided inside the stator and an “outer rotor” type in which the rotor is provided outside the stator.

When the inner rotor type motor is used in the clothing processing apparatus, an axial length thereof should be increased so that an axial length of the tub and the drum are decreased accordingly, thereby reducing the washing capacity.

In view of this problem, the outer rotor type is mainly used for a driving motor of the clothing processing apparatus.

However, in the related art driving motor of the clothing processing apparatus, the stator and the rotor should have a specific axial length in order to output an amount of torque required in a clothing processing process. Thus, there is a limitation in reducing the axial length of the driving motor.

Accordingly, it is difficult to increase the tub (drum) capacity without increasing a size of the cabinet.

Meanwhile, in some of the motors, there is an axial air gap type motor in which a stator and a rotor are disposed to be apart from each other with an axial gap along an axial direction.

However, in this related art axial air gap motor, a rotor is disposed in a radial direction with respect to a shaft, and an inner end thereof is coupled to the shaft but an outer end thereof is not properly supported. Accordingly, it is difficult to constantly (or uniformly) maintain an axial gap due to an attraction or repulsion force between the stator and the rotor.

In addition, as the outer end of the rotor is not sufficiently supported, the rotor can be easily deformed, and vibration and noise generation during an operation are increased.

Further, a motor case (enclosure) for mounting the stator on an object needs to be provided, thereby increasing weight and an external size.

In addition, when the motor case (enclosure) is added, an axial length thereof is increased accordingly.

Further, the stator and the rotor are configured to be supported by the shaft having a relatively longer axial length, which is not only increasing weight of the motor but also making it difficult to reduce the axial length of the motor.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

Therefore, one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a structure of an axial air gap motor capable of suppressing vibration and noise during an operation.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a structure of an axial air gap motor capable of reducing an axial size and a radial size of the motor.

Still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a structure of an axial air gap motor capable of suppressing vibration and noise during an operation even when a radial size of the motor is increased.

Still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a structure of an axial air gap motor capable of reducing weight and an axial length of the motor by eliminating a shaft for supporting a stator and a rotor.

Still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a clothing processing apparatus employing the axial air gap motor with the structure that can reduce an installation space and increase a clothing processing capacity without increasing a size of a cabinet.

Technical Solution

In order to achieve the aspects and other advantages, there is provided an axial air gap motor including a frame coupled to an object, a stator disposed on an outer side of the frame along a radial direction, a first rotor spaced apart from one side of the stator with an air gap along an axial direction and rotatably disposed on one side of the frame, a second rotor spaced apart from another side of the stator with an air gap along the axial direction and rotatably disposed on another side of the frame, and a rotor end supporting portion provided on an outer side of the stator along the radial direction so as to axially support the first rotor and the second rotor.

In one example of the present disclosure, the first rotor and the second rotor are formed to such that areas corresponding to an outer side of the stator along a radial direction are integrally connected to each other.

Accordingly, axial displacement and deformation of the first rotor and the second rotor are suppressed, thereby suppressing vibration and noise generated during an operation.

In one example of the present disclosure, a rotor end supporting portion may be provided on an outer side of the stator along the radial direction so as to axially support the first rotor and the second rotor.

In one example of the present disclosure, the frame may include a frame body with a cylindrical shape, a first rotor supporting portion formed on one side of an outer surface of the frame body, a second rotor supporting portion formed in an inner surface of the frame body, and a stator supporting portion formed on another side of the outer surface of the frame body.

In one example of the present disclosure, the frame may be provided with a mounting surface axially protruding with respect to the first rotor so as to be in contact with the object.

In one example of the present disclosure, the rotor end supporting portion may include a connecting member connecting the first rotor and the second rotor by being disposed therebetween.

In one example of the present disclosure, a connecting portion may be provided on the first rotor or the second rotor.

The connecting member and the connecting portion may be formed in a cylindrical shape, respectively.

The connecting member and the connecting portion may have a rod-like shape, respectively, and be formed in plurality so as to be spaced apart from each other along a circumferential direction of the first rotor and the second rotor.

In one example of the present disclosure, the first rotor and the second rotor may each include a rotor frame with a disk shape and a permanent magnet provided on the rotor frame so as to magnetically interact with the stator.

In one example of the present disclosure, the rotor frame may be formed of a magnetic material.

In one example of the present disclosure, the permanent magnet may be provided with a plurality of magnetic pole portions spaced apart from each other along a circumferential direction.

In one example of the present disclosure, the rotor frame may be provided with a plurality of salient pole portions each protruding toward the stator between the plurality of magnetic pole portions.

In one example of the present disclosure, a first bearing may be further provided between the first rotor and the frame so as to rotatably support the first rotor.

The first rotor may be provided with a first bearing coupling portion so that the first bearing is coupled thereto.

In one example of the present disclosure, a second bearing may be provided between the second rotor and the frame so as to rotatably support the second rotor.

The second rotor may be provided with a second bearing coupling portion so that the second bearing is coupled thereto.

In one example of the present disclosure, the second bearing coupling portion may be inserted into an inner side of the second bearing.

The second bearing coupling portion may be provided with a rotation shaft connecting member to which the rotation shaft provided on the object is connected.

In one example of the present disclosure, the frame may be provided with a fixing member insertion hole in which a fixing member is inserted, the fixing member is coupled to the object through the frame along the axial direction.

The second rotor may be provided with a communicating hole communicating with the fixing member insertion hole so that the fixing member is inserted therein.

In one example of the present disclosure, the stator may include a stator core disposed on an outer side of the frame along the circumferential direction, and a stator coil wound around the stator core.

In one example of the present disclosure, the stator core may be provided with a plurality of teeth disposed to be apart from each other along the circumferential direction.

The stator may be provided with an insulation portion formed by molding around the plurality of teeth.

In one example of the present disclosure, each of the plurality of teeth may include a horizontal section disposed in the axial direction, and a vertical section radially extended from both ends of the horizontal section and spaced apart from the first rotor and the second rotor, respectively.

The stator coil may be wound around the horizontal section.

In one example of the present disclosure, the permanent magnet of the first rotor has a same magnetic pole as the permanent magnet of the second rotor along the axial direction.

In one example of the present disclosure, the stator core may include a yoke portion with a circular shape.

The stator core may include a plurality of teeth protruding from the yoke toward the first rotor and the second rotor, respectively.

In one example of the present disclosure, the stator coil may be wound around the yoke portion.

In one example of the present disclosure the permanent magnet of the first rotor may have an opposite magnetic pole to the permanent magnet of the second rotor along the axial direction.

In order to achieve the aspects and other advantages, there is also provided a clothing processing apparatus including a cabinet, a tub disposed in the cabinet, a drum rotatably disposed in the tub, and provided with a rotation shaft protruding outward of the tub, and the axial air gap motor mounted on an outer surface of the tub and connected to the rotation shaft so as to rotate the drum.

In one example of the present disclosure, the tub may be provided with a housing rotatably supporting the rotation shaft of the drum.

The frame of the axial air gap motor may be coupled to the housing along an axial direction.

Advantageous Effects

As described above, in an axial air gap motor according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a first rotor and a second rotor are provided on opposite sides of a stator along an axial direction, thereby increasing an output of the motor and reducing an axial length of the motor.

In addition, a rotor end supporting portion is provided to axially support the first rotor and the second rotor, respectively, by axially connecting outer ends of the first rotor and the second rotor, thereby offsetting a magnetic force between the stator and the first rotor, and a magnetic force between the stator and the second rotor. Thus, vibration can be suppressed and noise generated by the vibration can be suppressed accordingly.

Further, a hollow frame is provided at a central part, the first rotor is rotatably coupled to an outer side of the frame and the second rotor is rotatably coupled to an inner side of the frame, and at the same time the first rotor and the second rotor are integrally connected to each other by the rotor end supporting portion. Thus, a shaft for supporting the first rotor and the second rotor is not needed.

Accordingly, a total weight and an axial length of the motor can be reduced.

In addition, as the frame is provided at the central part, the first rotor and the second rotor are rotatably coupled to the outer side and the inner side of the frame, respectively, and a mounting surface axially protruding and mounted on an object is provided on the frame, an axial size and a radial size of the motor can be reduced.

As a result, a motor installation space inside a cabinet of a clothing processing apparatus can be reduced, and a capacity of a tub and a drum can be increased accordingly, thereby increasing a clothing processing capacity.

In addition, the first rotor and the second rotor are provided with a rotor frame formed of a magnetic material, respectively, so that a back yoke of a permanent magnet can be reduced, and an axial length (thickness) thereof can be reduced accordingly.

Further, as the stator is provided with a stator core having a plurality of teeth disposed to be apart from each other in a circumferential direction, a stator coil wound around each of the plurality of teeth, and an insulation portion molded to enclose the stator core and the stator coil, an amount of magnetic materials required for generating the stator core can be reduced, and weight of the stator can be reduced accordingly.

