Patent ID: 7641451

Claim:
A turbo pump, comprising: a housing; a plurality of fixed stator rings spaced from each other in a first direction along an inner peripheral surface of the housing; a shaft extending longitudinally in said first direction in the housing, and supported for rotation in the housing; a stator base surrounding the shaft, and having an electric coil; a rotor including a rotor body secured to the shaft, and a set of rotor blades connected to the rotor body, respective ones of the rotor blades each being interposed between a respective pair of the stator rings adjacent one another in the first direction; and an electrode disposed at an outer wall surface of the housing at such a location that when electric charges of opposite types are applied to the electrode and the set of blades of the rotor, an electrostatic force of attraction between the electrode and the rotor will stop the rotor from rotating.