Patent ID: 8264105

Claim:
A drive system for a personal care appliance, comprising: a housing; a first opposing pair of permanent magnets positioned longitudinally along an interior surface of the housing, each first permanent magnet having a first portion with a north polarity and a second portion with a south polarity, the first and second portions each extending the length of the first permanent magnet; a second opposing pair of permanent magnets, generally orthogonal with the first pair of permanent magnets, positioned longitudinally along the internal surface of the housing, each second permanent magnet having a plurality of parts along the length thereof, alternating between north and south polarities, the first part of one second permanent magnet having a north polarity and the first part of the other second permanent magnet having a south polarity; a first moving armature mounted within the housing for moving rotationally, when energized, the first armature extending longitudinally of the housing; and/or a second moving armature mounted within the housing for moving axially when energized; at least one drive winding positioned around at least one of the moving armatures; a spindle element to which the first and/or second armatures are connected or form a part of, the spindle element extending outwardly from one end of the housing and adapted to be connected to an output assembly which includes a workpiece, wherein the spindle rotates when the first armature rotates and moves axially when the second armature moves axially; a source of power; and programmable control means for applying the power to the drive winding in a selected manner to produce rotational and/or axial movement of the workpiece on the output assembly.