US 20060091755A1
(i9) United States
(12) Patent Application Publication oo) Pub. No.: US 2006/0091755 Al
Carlisle (43) Pub. Date: May 4,2006
A variable reluctance motor and methods for control. The motor may include N motor phases, where N equals three or more. Each motor phase may include a coil to generate a magnetic flux, a stator and a rotor. A flux-carrying element for the rotor and/or stator may be made entirely of SMC. The stators and rotors of the N motor phases may be arranged relative to each other so that when the stator and rotor teeth of a selected phase are aligned, the stator and rotor teeth in each of the other motor phases are offset from each other, e.g., by an integer multiple of 1/N of a pitch of the stator or rotor teeth. A fill factor of the coil relative to the space in which it is housed may be at least 60%, and up to 90% or more. The stator and rotor flux-carrying elements together may include at most three separable parts.
