Patent ID: 8575817

Claim:
An electromechanical apparatus, the apparatus comprising: (a) a first pair and a second pair of substantially parallel and spaced apart stator segments, each of said first and second pairs of stator segments comprising first and second stator segments, each stator segment of said first and second pairs comprising a stator winding; and (b) a plurality of rotor segments slidably coupled between said first and second pairs of stator segments, said rotor segments comprising a plurality of magnets, wherein each said magnet of said plurality is arranged such that a polar orientation of each said magnet alternates with respect to a polar orientation of an adjacent said magnet; wherein said pairs of stator segments form a channel, and said rotor segments form a train operable to move within said channel; and wherein said first and second pairs of stator segments are substantially magnetically decoupled from each other; and wherein each said stator segment is physically separate from each other of said stator segments.