Automated contacting technology for needle winding applications with distributed windings

The contacting process of the stator windings is one of the key processes regarding quality and lifetime of an electric machine. Especially in automotive applications, where vibrations and challenging temperature profiles are straining the joint, a stable contacting process is needed. As of yet, the contacting process for round wire applications with distributed windings includes many manual actions. As manual operations are always afflicted by varying results, these actions are conflicting with the aim of a stable process. Additionally, the manual processes lead to larger labor cost in the high volume production of manufacturers. For these reasons, a stable, automatable contacting process for round wire applications with distributed windings brings advantages. In combination with the needle winding technology and its feature of exact wire placement, a different way of contacting process was proposed. The main focus was put on the quality of the joint on the one hand and on the manufacturability with needle winding on the other hand. In several iterations a stable process and a corresponding tool geometry could be derived. In winding tests the manufacturability was ensured. The influence of different welding parameters on the joint quality was investigated. The result builds a basis for further automation of different processes in the manufacturing of stators with distributed round-wire windings.