Patent ID: 8312590

Claim:
A switched reluctance motor of an integrated vacuum system in a vehicle, comprising: a rotor, including a rotor core disposed on a rotor shaft, the rotor shaft configured to drive an impeller of the integrated vacuum system and the rotor core including a plurality of rotor poles; a stator fixedly surrounding the rotor and including a plurality of stator poles; a different stator pole reference line corresponding to each of the plurality of stator poles, wherein each different stator pole reference line bisects the rotor shaft and a corresponding stator pole of the plurality of stator poles; a control circuit configured to receive an input voltage directly from an electrical power storage device of the vehicle and configured to control energization of the plurality of stator poles, wherein the electrical power storage device is configured to provide electrical power required to start an engine of the vehicle; a slotted disk disposed to rotate in conjunction with the rotor, the slotted disk including a plurality of lobes; and an optical sensing assembly angularly disposed in advance of a first stator pole of the plurality of stator poles and behind a second stator pole of the plurality of stator poles, the optical sensing assembly including a light and a phototransistor disposed on opposite sides of a plane of the slotted disk, and including an optical sensing assembly reference line wherein when a leading edge of a first lobe of the slotted disk is aligned with the optical sensing assembly reference line, the optical sensing assembly triggers the phototransistor to change a state and the optical sensing assembly sends a corresponding signal to the control circuit, wherein the slotted disk is mechanically disposed with respect to the rotor so that when a leading edge of a first rotor pole of the plurality of rotor poles is aligned with a first stator pole reference line corresponding to the first stator pole, the leading edge of the first lobe of the slotted disk is angularly disposed in advance of the optical sensing assembly reference line by a phase advance, and wherein the phase advance is greater than 7 degrees and is less than a magnitude of an angle corresponding to an arc length of the first lobe of the slotted disk.