Patent ID: 7557482

Claim:
An axial-flux electric machine, comprising: a stator; a rotor that is rotatable about a rotor rotation axis, wherein at least a portion of the stator faces at least a portion of the rotor at an axial interface between the stator and the rotor, and wherein the rotor includes a rotor body including a rotor core, and a permanent-magnet cluster including a plurality of permanent magnets mounted to the rotor body, wherein the permanent-magnet cluster causes magnetic flux to flow across the axial interface between the permanent-magnet cluster and the stator, and wherein the plurality of permanent magnets includes one or more permanent magnets forming a first axial permanent-magnet layer, and one or more permanent magnets forming a second axial permanent-magnet layer disposed between the first axial permanent-magnet layer and the axial interface, a portion of the rotor core disposed between the first axial permanent magnet layer and the second axial permanent magnet layer.