Patent ID: 8602964

Claim:
An electromechanical actuator comprising: first and second magnets arranged to provide a biasing field in a field region between two substantially opposed pole faces of said first and second magnets, said opposed pole faces facing in a longitudinal direction of the actuator; a magnetically permeable armature located in said biasing field region between said opposed pole faces, the location of the magnetically permeable armature defining a first and second working gap between the magnetically permeable armature and said opposed pole faces of the first and second magnets; a magnetically permeable armature shaft assembly extending in said longitudinal direction of the actuator and supporting said magnetically permeable armature, said magnetically permeable armature shaft assembly arranged to allow movement of said magnetically permeable armature between said opposed pole faces in said longitudinal direction; biasing means for providing a biasing force to said magnetically permeable armature shaft assembly to bias said magnetically permeable armature to a predetermined location between said opposed pole faces; and magnetic flux generating means responsive to an input signal to generate a signal flux to modulate said biasing field in said field region thereby providing an unbalanced force to said magnetically permeable armature causing actuation of said magnetically permeable armature shaft assembly, wherein said opposed pole faces of the first and second magnets are oriented facing toward each other in said longitudinal direction.