Patent ID: 8373319

Claim:
A modular pancake-type electrical generator comprising: a rotor having a plurality of spaced-apart magnets around its perimeter; a modular stator comprising a plurality of coil modules; and a support for the modular stator that is configured for receiving and retaining the plurality of coil modules; wherein the support comprises a plurality of support sections, each support section configured to individually receive and retain a given one of the coil modules, and wherein the support sections form a circular array of support sections, for surrounding the rotor; and wherein each support section comprises an interior receptacle formed in a generator housing, and wherein each support section includes a set of coil module mounting points and electrical contacts that are molded into or otherwise anchored within the interior receptacle; and wherein the generator is a multi-phase generator and wherein phase buses are mounted to or otherwise integrated within an interior surface of the generator housing, and are positioned to run through or proximate said interior receptacles, such that one or more of said electrical contacts in each said receptacle housing comprises one or more phase bus contacts, for electrically connecting the module coils to the respective phase buses.