Patent ID: 7669311

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a core for an electrical machine, the method comprising the acts of: providing a planar sheet of magnetic material comprising anisotropic grain-oriented steel having a preferred magnetization direction; creating first and second generally U-shaped laminations from the planar sheet, the first and second generally U-shaped laminations resulting from a pattern formed in the planar sheet, the pattern including the first generally U-shaped lamination having a first leg and a second leg, the first leg having a length and the second leg having the length, the length of the first leg and the length of the second leg being oriented along the preferred magnetization direction, the second generally U-shaped lamination rotated one hundred-eighty degrees with respect to the first generally U-shaped lamination, the second generally U-shaped lamination including a third leg and a fourth leg, the third leg having the length and the fourth leg having the length, the length of the third leg and the length of the fourth leg being oriented along the preferred magnetization direction, the third leg being disposed between the first and second legs, the first, second, third, and fourth legs having first, second, third, and fourth inner surfaces, respectively, having first, second, third, and fourth arcuate-shaped recesses, respectively, for receiving a rotor, and the first, second, third, and fourth inner surfaces further having first, second, third, and fourth slots, respectively; and creating the core including stacking the first and second generally U-shaped laminations and inserting a bridge in the first, second, third, and fourth slots, the bridge comprising magnetic material.