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US-12620854-B2 - Combined spring and retaining ring

US12620854B2US 12620854 B2US12620854 B2US 12620854B2US-12620854-B2

Abstract

A rotor assembly includes a rotor for an electric motor, a rotor carrier non-rotatably connected to the rotor, a rotor carrier flange, and a split spring. The rotor carrier includes a groove and a castellated portion and the split spring is disposed in the groove and arranged to clamp the rotor carrier flange against the castellated portion. The split spring may include an annular portion disposed in the groove and a tapered portion extending radially inwards from the annular portion. The split spring may also include a cut portion separating opposite circumferential ends of the annular portion.

Inventors

  • Mohammad Moasher

Assignees

  • Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20231102

Claims (9)

  1. 1 . A rotor assembly, comprising: a rotor for an electric motor; a rotor carrier non-rotatably connected to the rotor, the rotor carrier comprising a groove and a castellated portion; a rotor carrier flange; and a split spring arranged to clamp the rotor carrier flange against the castellated portion, the split spring comprising: an annular portion disposed in the groove; and a tapered portion extending radially inwards from the annular portion, the tapered portion comprising a plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs.
  2. 2 . The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein the split spring further comprises a cut portion separating opposite circumferential ends of the annular portion.
  3. 3 . The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein a quantity of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs is at least 35.
  4. 4 . The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein a quantity of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs is at least 50.
  5. 5 . The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs comprises a planar portion disposed parallel to the annular portion.
  6. 6 . The rotor assembly of claim 5 wherein the planar portions contact the rotor carrier flange.
  7. 7 . The rotor assembly of claim 1 wherein the tapered portion comprises radial slots disposed between respective pairs of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs.
  8. 8 . The rotor assembly of claim 7 wherein the tapered portion comprises teardrop cutouts on a radial outside of the radial slots.
  9. 9 . The rotor assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a torque converter comprising a housing forming a hydraulic chamber, wherein the housing is fixed to the rotor carrier.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to a retaining ring, and more specifically to a combined spring and retaining ring. BACKGROUND A rotor assembly including a spring clamping a rotor carrier flange is known from commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 10,352,422 titled ROTOR CARRIER AND FLANGE ASSEMBLY to Satyaseelan et al., hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein. SUMMARY Example embodiments broadly comprise a rotor assembly including a rotor for an electric motor, a rotor carrier non-rotatably connected to the rotor, a rotor carrier flange, and a split spring. The rotor carrier includes a groove and a castellated portion and the split spring is disposed in the groove and arranged to clamp the rotor carrier flange against the castellated portion. In some example embodiments, the split spring includes an annular portion disposed in the groove and a tapered portion extending radially inwards from the annular portion. In an example embodiment, the split spring also includes a cut portion separating opposite circumferential ends of the annular portion. In some example embodiments, the tapered portion includes a plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs. In an example embodiment, a quantity of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs is at least 35. In an example embodiment, a quantity of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs is at least 50. In some example embodiments, each of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs comprises a planar portion disposed parallel to the annular portion. In an example embodiment, the planar portions contact the rotor carrier flange. In some example embodiments, the tapered portion includes radial slots disposed between respective pairs of the plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs. In an example embodiment, the tapered portion includes teardrop cutouts on a radial outside of the radial slots. In an example embodiment, the rotor assembly includes a torque converter with a housing forming a hydraulic chamber, and the housing is fixed to the rotor carrier. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a prior art hybrid module assembly. FIG. 2 illustrates a detail view of boxed region 2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a rotor carrier with a split spring disposed in a groove. FIG. 4 shows a perspective section view of the rotor carrier and split spring of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the split spring of FIG. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It should be appreciated that like drawing numbers appearing in different drawing views identify identical, or functionally similar, structural elements. Also, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Although any methods, devices or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the disclosure, the following example methods, devices, and materials are now described. The following description is made with reference to FIGS. 1-2. FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of prior art hybrid module assembly 100. FIG. 2 illustrates a detail view of boxed region 2 in FIG. 1. Hybrid module assembly 100 includes rotor assembly 102. Rotor assembly 102 includes rotor 104 for electric motor 106, rotor carrier 108 non-rotatably connected to the rotor for cojoint rotation, rotor carrier flange 110, disc spring 112 and snap ring 114. The rotor carrier includes groove 116 and castellated portion 118. Castellated portion 118 includes axial slots arranged to receive clutch plat