Patent ID: 9559574
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: H02K,H02P

Claim:
1. A motor comprising: a rotor comprising a plurality of rotor poles; a stator comprising a plurality of stator poles, a first subset of the plurality of stator poles being energized during a first mode of operation of the motor and a second subset of the plurality of stator poles being energized during a second mode of operation of the motor; a powering circuit comprising a plurality of charge storage devices, in the first mode of operation the powering circuit being operable to discharge a first subset of the plurality of charge storage devices to energize the first subset of the plurality of stator poles, with the first subset of the plurality of charge storage devices being discharged in series, and the powering circuit being further operable to charge a second subset of the plurality of charge storage devices while connected in parallel using at least a portion of the discharge of the first subset of the plurality of charge storage devices, and in the second mode of operation the powering circuit being operable to discharge the second subset of the plurality of charge storage devices to energize the second subset of the plurality of stator poles, with the second subset of the plurality of charge storage devices being discharged in series, and the powering circuit being further operable to charge the first subset of the plurality of charge storage devices while connected in parallel using at least a portion of the discharge of the second subset of the plurality of charge storage devices; and a proximity sensing circuit operable to detect a relative position of a rotor pole of the plurality of rotor poles to a stator pole of the plurality of stator poles, wherein the powering circuit comprises a switching circuit and a controller, the controller configured to receive an indication of the relative position from the proximity sensing circuit and determine based on the position whether to operate the motor in the first mode of operation or the second mode of operation, when the motor is to be operated in the first mode of operation, the controller is operable to send to a first signal to the switching circuit to energize the first subset of the plurality of stator poles, and when the motor is to be operated in the second mode of operation, the controller is operable to send to a second signal to the switching circuit to energize the second subset of the plurality of stator poles.