Patent ID: 7382072

Claim:
A permanent magnet generator comprising: an exciter mainframe comprising at least one exciter element; and a permanent magnet subassembly comprising a plurality of magnets that are arranged to form at least one air gap between facing magnetic poles in which the at least one exciter resides, the plurality of magnets comprising a first toroidal magnet of the plurality of magnets having a first magnetic pole and a second magnetic pole, and a second toroidal magnet of the plurality of magnets having a first magnetic pole and a second magnetic pole, the first and second magnetic poles of the second magnet facing the magnetic poles of the first magnet; wherein the plurality of magnets are reconfigurable for alternating current operation wherein the magnetic poles of the first magnet are opposite in polarity to the magnetic poles of the second magnet to induce current in a first direction for a first 180 degrees and in a second opposite for the other 180 degrees of a 360 degree rotation of the permanent magnet subassembly, or direct current operation wherein the magnetic poles of the first magnet are matched in polarity to the magnetic poles of the second magnet to induce current in a single direction for the entire 360 degrees of rotation of the permanent magnet subassembly.