The present invention relates to a rotating electrical machine of the kind set forth in the preamble of Claim 1. The object of the invention is to provide such a machine, and then particulary a motor, which develops a high torque in relation to its volume and weight.

Modern electric motors which develop high torques in rela¬ tion to their weight and volume are normally fitted with field poles in the form of permanent magnets.

It is known that high quality permanent magnets can be pla¬ ced in the air gaps of electrical machines, without the risk of residual demagnetization. A parallelepipedic perma¬ nent magnet pole comprised of a material whose permeability is close to that of air and which is magnetized homogenous- ly at right angles to its pole faces will act upon its sur¬ roundings in essentially the same manner as if it were re¬ placed with a current conducting ribbon which extends along the edge surfaces of the pole and conducts an electric cur- rent whose strength is equal to the product of the coercive field strength of the material of the permanent magnet and the edge height of the pole thereof. This fictitious cur¬ rent conductor which leads the aforesaid fictitious cur¬ rent around the peripheral edge of the pole is referred to in the following as the edge conductor. Considered in this way, the force exerted on a permanent magnet pole under the influence of an externally applied magnetic field is under¬ stood to be the force exerted on the edge conductor under the influence of the external field . The edge conductors which bound the space between the two adjacent permanent magnet poles having mutually opposite polarities will therewith conduct edge currents in the same direction. An external magnetic field which penetrates through such an

interspace will give rise to coacting forces of mutually equal value in those parts of the two edge conductors which lie adjacent this inter- space. The manner in which the magnetic field varies within the periphery of respective pole faces has no effect on the force development.

A row of mutually adjacent permanent-magnet poles with alternately mutually opposite polarities gives rise to the largest combined driving force for a given absolute value of the external field which penetrates through the magnet pole interspaces, when the external field is directed per¬ pendicularly to the pole faces and changes polarity from pole interspace to pole interspace. In other words, such a row of permanent magnet poles will be driven by the magne- tic field which prevails at the edge lines of the pole interspaces, i.e. at the pole edges located adjacent the pole interspaces. One surprising result of this particular consideration is that for a given total size, volume and weight, of the permanent magnetic and an external field of given size, the resultant force will be proportional to the number of pole interspaces and therewith the number of poles, and consequently this force, in principle, can be increased beyond all limits, by increasing the number of pole interspaces, i.e. the number of poles, without changing the combined total weight and volume of the perma¬ nent-magnet poles.

Naturally, the same reasoning can be applied when the afo¬ resaid ficititious edge conductors are replaced with fac- tual superconductive conductors in which large currents are able to flow with substantially no loss. Thus, in princip¬ le, permanent magnet poles can be replaced with supercon¬ ductive conductors which extend around the circumference of the pole faces and conduct a direct current which corres- ponds to the product of the coercive field strength of the

permanent magnet material and the edge height of the permanent magnet poles.

However, in the case of present day conventional electric motors equipped with permanent magnets, it is only possible to utilize to a limited extent the aforesaid circumstance that the resultant force at a given total volume and weight of the permanent magnets and a given size of the external field is proportional to the number of pole interspaces and can therefore in principle be increased by increasing the number of pole interspaces, i.e. the number of permanent magnet poles used.

The most common permanent magnet motors known at present have stator windings of the same kind as those used with asynchronous or synchronous motors. In the case of such motors, only a proportion of the total copper cross-section of the winding is effective in generating the external field which penetrates through the pole interspaces and therewith gives rise to said force development, this pro¬ portion being inversely proportional to the total number of poles present, i.e. 1/4 p, where £ is the number of perma¬ nent magnet poles. The product of the number of pole inter¬ spaces, i.e. the number of permanent magnet poles, and the strength of the external field is therefore essentially independent of the number of poles at a given total copper loss. Consequently, those improvements in the specific tor¬ que generated by the motor, i.e. torque in relation to volume and weight, which can be achieved by increasing the number of poles without, at the same time, increasing the volume and weight of the active motor components depend mainly on the possible decrease in the height dimension of the stator yoke and the length of the coil ends, which will only provide a marginal improvement when more than eight poles are included.

With regard to the relationship between the magnetic field generated In the permanent magnet pole intersDaces by the stator windings and the number of permanent magnet poles, permanent magnet motors equipped with salient stator poles each having its own coil winding have essentially the same properties as the type of motor discussed In the precedin ^g paragraph.

Consequently, the object of the present invention is to provide a rotating electrical machine, and in particular an electric motor, which is so constructed as to enable the before discussed fact that the resultant force generated by permanent magnet field poles or by field poles formed by superconductive coils which extend around the periphery of the pole faces is proportional to the number of pole inter¬ spaces, and therewith the number of poles, to be utilized much more effectively than is possible in present day con¬ ventional motors, so as to provide a motor which is capable of developing very high torques in relation to Its volume and weight.

This object is achieved, in accordance with the invention, with a rotating electric machine constructed in accordance with the appended claims.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a schematic partial axial sectional view of one embodiment of a motor constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a radial sectioned view of the motor shown in Figure 1, taken on the line II-II in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic, expanded illustration of the arrangement of field poles and ferromagnetic components co-acting with said poles in the motor according to Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a schematic, expanded illustration of another conceivable configuration of the ferromagnetic components co-acting with the field poles in an inventive motor;

Figure 5 is a schematic, expanded illustration of a further conceivable configuration of the field poles and the ferro¬ magnetic components co-acting with the field poles in an inventive motor;

Figure 6 is a schematic, expanded illustration of still another conceivable configuration of the field poles and the ferromagnetic components co-acting with the field poles in an inventive motor; and

Figure 7 illustrates the wave shape of the electric cur¬ rents supplied to the motor windings in the case of an embodiment according to Figure 6.

The exemplifying, preferred embodiment of an inventive motor illustrated schematically in Figures 1-3 includes a rotor, generally referenced 1, and a stator which coaxiall surrounds the rotor and which is generally referenced 2. The rotor 1 includes a shaft 3 on which there is mounted firmly a ferromagnetic core which comprises three mutually identical rings or annuli Rl, R2 and R3, which are toothed around their outer circumferences and made of an isotropic ferromagnetic material, preferably of high volumetric resistivity, e.g. a material sold under the trade name COROVAC, and further comprises two rings 4 of ferromagnetic material disposed between said rings Rl , R2, P3. The stator 2 includes a tubular stator core 5 which is made of an iso-

tropic ferromagnetic material similar to that of the rings Rl, R2, R3, and which carries on its inner surface three rings or annuli PI, P2 and P3 of permanent magnets of alternate opposite polarities, said pole rings being loca- ted opposite respective toothed rings Rl, R2 and R3 on the rotor 1. Each of these rings of permanent magent poles PI, P2, P3 may comprise a single permanent magnetic ring magne¬ tized with alternate opposite polarities, or may be built- up of a number of individual permanent magnets which are joined to form a ring or annulus and the number of which corresponds to the number of poles. In order to reduce eddy current losses, the permanent magnets may, advantageously, be laminated, in which case the laminations will be paral¬ lel with the direction of the field and preferably extend peripherally. Alternatively, the permanent magnets may com¬ prise mutually joined, electrically insulated grains or rods, for the same purpose as that given above.

The ferromagnetic stator tube 5 also carries two coil wind- ings LI and L2 hich are disposed between the magnet pole rings PI, P2 and P3 and which are advantageously so mounted on the stator tube 5 as to obtain a good thermic connection between the coils and the stator tube.

As seen best from Figure 2, each of the ferromagnetic rotor rings Rl, R2, R3 has evenly spaced around its periphery teeth or pole bodies 6 which define respective interspaces 7 therebetween, the number of teeth 6 coinciding with the number of magnet poles in the permanent magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3.

The various magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3 and/or the various toothed ferromagnetic rings Rl, R2, R3 are so displaced peripherally in relation to one another that the mutual position between the magnet pole ring and the toothed ring of each associated pair, e.g. Pl/Rl , is displaced

peripherally relative to the corresponding mutual position between the magnet pole ring and the toothed ring in each of the remaining associated pairs P2/R2 and P3/R3, through an angle corresponding to a third of the peripheral exten- sion of the magnet pole pair. This is illustrated by way of example in Figure 3, where the magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3 are mutually displaced peripherally through an angle which corresponds to one third of a magnet pole pair. Naturally, the toothed rings Rl, R2, R3 may, instead, be displaced peripherally in relation to each other, in a corresponding manner. Alternatively, both the magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3 and the toothed rings Rl , R2, R3 may be displaced peri¬ pherally in relation to each other to an extent which will satisfy the aforesaid condition concerning the mutual posi- tion between magnet pole ring and toothed ring of each co- acting pair.

The two coil windings LI, L2 are supplied with alternating current governed by the angular position of rotation of the rotor 1, such that the frequency will be proportional to the speed of the rotor and to the number of poles in the magnet pole rings, and such that the mutual phase position between the supply currents in the two coil windinsgs LI, L2 corresponds to the phase position between two phase cur- rents in a symmetric three phase system.

The external fields generated by the coil windings LI, L2 are closed through the stator tube 5, the ferromagnetic rings 4 and Rl, R2, R3, and the teeth 6 of the rings Rl, R2, R3, and thereby coact with the permanent magnet poles in all magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3 in the previously described manner. This enables the total force developed, and therewith the motor torque, to be increased in a verv effective manner, by increasing the number of magnet Doles in the magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3. It will also be under¬ stood that the copper volume in the coil windings LI, L2

will be utilized very effectively, since these coil win¬ dings contain no coil ends, such coil ends being of no use in the development of force and merely constituting a loss creating factor. Furthermore, these coil windings LI, L2 can be wound readily with a very high fill factor, in that they are composed of profiled conductors.

Furthermore, because the permanent magnet poles PI, P2, P3 can be arranged together with the coil windings LI, L2, on the outer, preferably stationary, part of the motor, i.e. the outer stator, the pole interspaces of the permanent magnet poles, where the actual force development takes place, will be located at the furthest possible distance from the rotor shaft, which affords the longest possible lever arm for torque generation.

The permanent magnetic flux which passes through each of the ferromagnetic rings Rl, R2, R3 when no current passes through winding coils LI, L2 can be caused to vary as a sine function of the angular position of the rotor in rela¬ tion to the associated magnet pole ring, by judicious con¬ figuration of the surfaces of the teeth 6 which face to¬ wards the magnet pole rings PI, P2, P3 and/or of the indi¬ vidual pole faces of the permanent magnet poles. This, together with the aforedescribed mutual displacement between the various pairs of coacting magnet pole rings and toothed rings, i.e. the pairs Pl/Rl, P2/R2, P3/R3, illu¬ strated by way of example in Figure 3, means that the sum of the permanent magnetic fluxes which pass through respec¬ tive toothed rings Rl, R2, and R3, and vary as sinus func¬ tions, will always be zero, i.e. that the permanent magne¬ tic flux which enters a given toothed ring R will pass through the connections 4 and exit through the other two toothed rings R.

This sinusoidal variation of the Dermanent magnetic flux

through a toothed ring R as a function of the angular posi¬ tion of the rotor can be achieved, for instance, by giving the surface of each of the teeth 6 of the toothed ring R which faces the permanent magnet pole ring P an axial extension which varies as a function of the centre angle, in the same manner as the amplitude of a positive half period of a sinus curve, while the permanent magnet poles are rectangular. This is illustrated schematically in Figu¬ re 4.

The same result can be achieved with a particularly advan¬ tageous embodiment in which the peripheral extension of the permanent magnet poles is only two thirds of the pole pitch, as illustrated in Figure 5. In this case, the sur- faces of the teeth 6 of the toothed rings R which face towards the permanent magnet pole rings have an axial ex¬ tension which varies as a function of the centre angle in the same way as the sum of one half period of a sine wave and its third and related harmonics. In other words, when proceeding in this manner the permanent magnetic flux in the ferromagnetic toothed rings R will vary as a function of the rotor angle in accordance with the desired sine curve. One example of such beneficial configuration of the axial extension of the teeth 6 as a function of the rotor angle is

for 01 pα -H

where b = the axial extension of the tooth b.M,A, _v X = the maximum axial extension of the tooth p = the number of teeth a - the centre angle of the toothed ring ^k 3 19 __ - 0.75 12 v 3 Kq = 0.25 -

12 \ 3

One such embodiment is illustrated schematically in Figure 5. Thus, this embodiment makes possible a saving of one third of the permanent magnet material, without detriment to the torque generating ability of the motor. This can have considerable significance economically, since the per¬ manent magnetic material is expensive.

A further conceivable configuration of the pole faces of the magnet poles and of the tooth surfaces facing the roag- net pole rings is illustrated in Figure 6. In this case, the pole faces of the magnet poles are rectangular with a peripheral extension that corresponds to one single magne¬ tic pole pitch, In a similar manner to the embodiments of Figures 3 and 4, whereas the teeth 6 in the toothed rings R have a surface which is trapezoidal and varies in its axial direction. That part of the tooth surface 6 which is of uniform width in the axial direction has a peripheral extension corresponding to two thirds (2/3rds) of the pole pitch, whereas those parts of the trapezoidal tooth surface 6 which tapers in the axial direction will each have a peripheral extension which corresponds to one sixth (l/6th) of the pole pitch. Tooth surfaces 6 of this configuration can be used, advantageously, when the current supplied to the coil windings LI and L2 does not have a sine waveform, but a stepped waveform, as illustrated in Figure 7. Each of the "steps" in these stepped currents supplied to the coil windings LI and L2 have a length which corresponds to 60 electric degrees.

Naturally, the same result as that described above with reference to Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 can be achieved, by pro¬ viding the teeth 6 of the toothed rings R with rectangular surfaces, and by varying the axial extension of the pole faces of the permanent magnet poles in the oole rings F, in the aforedescribed manner. This is less advantageous constructively, however, since it is easier to make the

permanent magnets rectangular, owing to the fact that it is difficult to produce more complicated forms from the magnetic material.

As will be understood from the aforegoing, in the case of a motor which is constructed in accordance with the invent¬ ion, the permanent magnet poles can, in principle, be replaced wiht field poles which are composed of supercon¬ ductive coils which extend around the face of the poles.

It will also be understood that other embodiments of the inventive rotating electrical machine are conceivable, and that modifications can be made to the illustrated and described embodiments, without departing from the concept of the invention. For instance, it will be understood that the magnet pole rings P and the ferromagnetic toothed rings R can change places, without altering the principal func¬ tion of the machine. Similarly, it will be realized that the coils L can be located on the rotating part of the machine, although this would require the provision of slip rings or like devices for leading the current into the coils.

Neither is there anything in principle which will prevent a machine constructed in accordance with the invention from being provided with a greater number of magnet pole rings, toothed rings and coil windings. Thus, generally speaking, an inventive machine may be provided with n-number of coil windings L, where ri is an integer equal at least to two, and (n+1) pairs of coacting magnet pole rings P and toothed rings R, wherein each of the pairs of coacting magnet pole rings and toothed rings P/R is displaced peripherally in relation to another said pair through an angle correspond¬ ing to l/(n+l) of the peripheral extension of a magnet pole pair, and wherein the various coil windings are supplied with alternating currents having mutual phase positions

which correspond to the phase positions for τ_ phase currents in a symmetric (n+l)-phase system. It will also be understood from the aforegoing that the magnet pole rings may have any desired number of magnet poles and that similarly the ferromagnetic toothed rings may have any desired number of teeth.