Alternator, in particular for a motor vehicle including an improved arrangement of rectifier diodes

Claim 1

An alternator, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising a front half-shell and a back half-shell to which stator windings are fixed and which ratably receives a rotor shaft, and a rectifier circuit comprising a plurality of power diodes each having a generally cylindrical body constituting a first connection terminal and a lead extending axially from said body and constituting a second connection terminal, the diodes comprising first diodes whose bodies are connected to ground and second diodes whose bodies are connected to an output voltage terminal of the alternator, the diodes being held in place by their respective bodies, the bodies of the first diodes being fixed to said back half-shell and the leads of said first diodes extending away from the interior of said back half-shell, while the bodies of the second diodes are fixed to a plate-shaped dissipating support which is located on the outer side of said back half-shell and spaced therefrom, and which is electrically insulated from said back half-shell, and the leads of said second diodes extending toward said back half-shell, said back half-shell including a plurality of alternator cooling openings respectively receiving said second diodes, wherein said leads of said second diodes project directly into their respective cooling openings in said back half-shell without contacting the edges of said openings, whereby the overall axial length of the alternator is reduced, and said second diodes are effectively cooled, wherein the first and second diodes are arranged in adjacent pairs, wherein an intermediate connecting plate is provided between said back half-shell and said plate-shaped dissipating support, and wherein said intermediate connecting plate includes a plurality of openings respectively associated with the pairs of adjacent diodes, said openings accommodating part of the first and second diodes of the associated pair, said intermediate connecting plate comprising in association with each pair of diodes a connector extending between said first and second diodes and having a first protruding part for connection to the lead of the first diode of said pair and a second protruding part for connection to the lead of the second diode of said pair.