Patent ID: 7646126

Claim:
Apparatus, comprising; at least one permanent-magnet switched-flux (PMSF) device having: a ferromagnetic outer stator mounted to a shaft about a central axis extending axially through the PMSF device; a plurality of top stator poles mounted in a first rotor pole circle radially outwardly in a first transverse plane extending transversely from a first section of the central axis adjacent to an inner surface of the ferromagnetic outer stator; a plurality of bottom stator poles mounted in a second permanent magnet circle radially outwardly in a second transverse plane extending transversely from a second section of the central axis adjacent to the inner surface of the ferromagnetic outer stator; and a ferromagnetic inner rotor coupled to the shaft and comprising: a rotor core having a core axis co-axial with the central axis; a first disc having an outer edge comprising a first plurality of permanent magnets mounted in a first permanent magnet circle radially outwardly from the rotor core axis in the first transverse plane; and a second disc having an outer edge comprising a second plurality of permanent magnets mounted in a second permanent magnet circle radially outwardly from the rotor core axis in the second transverse plane, said first plurality of permanent-magnets and said second plurality of permanent magnets each comprising permanent magnets of alternating polarity from one permanent-magnet to an adjacent permanent-magnet in the corresponding plurality of permanent-magnets.