Patent ID: 8754566

Claim:
A method for making a laminated stator of an electric motor, the method comprising: arranging a plurality of stator laminations into lamination stacks spaced axially from one another, each lamination stack comprising: a first group of stator laminations of said plurality including an annular portion having a central axis and a plurality of tooth portions extending from a periphery of the annular portion; and a second group of stator laminations of said plurality including only tooth portions positioned to correspond with the tooth portions of said first group of stator laminations, wherein the tooth portions of the first and second groups of laminations collectively form a plurality of stator teeth; winding stator windings around selected subsets of the plurality of teeth while the lamination stacks are spaced axially from one another, wherein the winding comprises winding a continuous wire around a first tooth of the plurality of teeth on a first stack of said lamination stacks and winding said continuous wire around a first tooth of the plurality of teeth on a second stack of said lamination stacks; and meshing the lamination stacks with one another so that the annular portions of the lamination stacks are axially adjacent one another and the plurality of teeth of the first lamination stack are intermeshed with the plurality of teeth of the second lamination stack.