Patent ID: 7482899

Claim:
A magnetic device, comprising: a substrate; a movable body attached to said substrate having a rotational axis, said movable body having at least a first end and a second end and comprising a first permanent magnet having a first magnetic field and a permanent magnetization moment; a second magnetic element; a third switching magnet having a coil, wherein passing a current through said coil generating a third switching magnetic field which has a main component primarily perpendicular to said permanent magnetization moment in the region where said third switching magnetic field goes through first permanent magnet, and as a result of the vector-cross product of said third switching magnetic field and said permanent magnetization moment producing a torque on said first permanent magnet and causing said movable body to rotate about said rotational axis; wherein said second magnetic element is arranged with said movable body to maintain said movable body in at least one stable state related to said second magnetic element with or without the presence of said third magnetic field.