Patent ID: 7148600

Claim:
In combination with an electric motor having: a rotor to which electrical current is transmitted from a stator through brushes attached to an interlocking brush ring assembly positioned within the stator through which the electrical current is conducted to the brushes in sliding contact with the rotor; said interlocking brush ring assembly comprising: a segmented annular conductor comprising a plurality of individual ring sections to which the brushes are respectively attached; attachment means for interconnecting the individual ring sections; and spring means attached to the individual ring sections for exerting pressure on the brushes to maintain said sliding contact thereof with the rotor during operation of the motor, wherein the spring means are attached to a first side of the individual ring sections of the segmented annular conductor by hard solder joints having a first melting point and the brushes are attached to a second side of the individual ring sections of the segmented annular conductor by soft solder joints having a second melting point that is lower than the first melting point of the hard solder joints.