Abstract: An electric motor/generator includes a rotor with magnets mounted on the surface of the rotor, the magnets facing the stator over a gap. The magnets have a very high flux density but a limited ability to withstand high stator currents at high temperatures, preferably magnets made of the N48H material. By providing rotor magnet cooling means that reduces the temperature of the magnets by a cooling fluid, use of magnets with lower maximum working temperature and higher flux density is permitted and thereby higher flux can be obtained from the magnets.

Abstract: An electrically controlled brake includes a rotatable first mechanical system and a second mechanical system that is stationary or fixed. The two systems have friction surfaces/parts that can be made to come in engagement with each other, providing a braking effect, and be withdrawn from each other releasing the braking effect. In the second system, windings can be wound around two braking shoes made from soft magnetic material so that an electric current flowing in the windings affects magnetic fluxes through the soft magnetic parts to move at least one thereof. The movement is in a direction that affects the effective width of an air gap in the closed main magnetic path. The electric current gives attraction forces over the air gap which tend to move the braking shoes to reduce the length of the air gap. A spring that e.g.

Abstract: An electrically controlled brake or clutch includes a rotatable first mechanical system (101, 108) and a second mechanical system that is stationary for the case of a brake but rotatable for the clutch case. In the second system windings are wound around two soft magnetic parts (102, 103) so that electric current flowing in the windings affects magnetic fluxes through the soft magnetic parts to move them in a direction that affects the effective length of an air gap in the closed main magnetic path. A spring (401) creates a force acting in a direction opposite that of the attraction force. The soft magnetic parts are arranged so that the main magnetic flux path passes along a closed loop about the rotational axis of the first mechanical system, this giving a compact design of the brake or clutch.

Abstract: A position transducer for a rotary member such as the rotor of a motor has a rotating encoder disc and flat, disc-shaped elements interacting with the encoder disc to produce position dependent signals. The encoder disc has at least one active element such as metal surfaces configured so that signals from one of several portions or sectors of the encoder system are not transferred to another portion or sector, thus permitting the position transducer to be split into several position detectors that can operate independently of each other without having signals from one position detector affecting the other position detectors. The position detectors can cover individual circular sectors or concentric rings and e.g. be based on sensing the capacitive coupling between transmitter and sensor electrodes located on opposite sides of the encoder disc.

Abstract: An actuator and movement linkage system for moving a load, such as a control surface of aircraft, in relation to a carrying structure includes an electric motor system, an actuator device connectable or connected to the load to move the load, the actuator device connected to the electric motor system to be driven thereby, and transfer units provided for mechanically connecting the actuator device to move the load.

Abstract: An actuator and movement linkage system for moving a load, such as a control surface of aircraft, in relation to a carrying structure includes an electric motor system, an actuator device connectable or connected to the load to move the load, the actuator device connected to the electric motor system to be driven thereby, and transfer units provided for mechanically connecting the actuator device to move the load.

Abstract: A position transducer for a rotary member such as the rotor of a motor has a rotating encoder disc and flat, disc-shaped elements interacting with the encoder disc to produce position dependent signals. The encoder disc has at least one active element such as metal surfaces configured so that signals from one of several portions or sectors of the encoder system are not transferred to another portion or sector, thus permitting the position transducer to be split into several position detectors that can operate independently of each other without having signals from one position detector affecting the other position detectors. The position detectors can cover individual circular sectors or concentric rings and e.g. be based on sensing the capacitive coupling between transmitter and sensor electrodes located on opposite sides of the encoder disc.

Abstract: An electromagnetic rotary actuator is driven by a single-phase voltage. Permanent magnets on a rotor interact over a part-cylindrical small airgap with a soft-iron stator having pole teeth that carry at least one winding for rotating the rotor within a limited angular range, the airgap having a high flux density. The windings are applied around those of the pole teeth that are centrally located. The permanent magnets and stator poles have the same angular pitch. The actuator is compact having a low total length and has a high output power/loss ratio and allows a fast response. It can be built with a low thermal resistance to an enclosure or casing by having the coils being in direct mechanical contact therewith.

Abstract: A brushless electric motor system comprises a rotor and a stator comprising poles. Electrical phase windings have coils (U1-6, V1-6, W1-6) wound around the poles. Power switches (T1-24) controlled by a control device supply electric current the windings from positive and negative rails connected to power supply. For each phase at least one group of four power switches arranged in a H-bridge configuration is provided. The coils of each phase winding are preferably divided into winding group (U1-3, Ua-6, V1-3, V4-6, W1-3, W4-6) and the electric conductor of each winding group is then electrically conductor of the other winding groups. Then four power switches arranged in an H-configuration is provided for each winding group. The use of power switches in H-bridge configurations allows the faulty windings or winding groups to be disabled and that the rest of the windings or coils can be used for driving the rotor, this giving the motor system a high reliability.

Abstract: A powertrain for a vehicle is of the combined serial and parallel hybrid type. It comprises a thermal engine (403), an electric generator/motor (409) mechanically coupled to the output shaft of the engine, a clutch (407) which can connect the two portions of the output shaft rigidly to each other, and an electric motor (401) mechanically connected to the distant portion of the output shaft. Both the generator/motor (409) and the electric motor (401) can be driven by the engine to charge an electric accumulator (404) and can receive electric power therefrom to provide extra torque to the output shaft. The output shaft of the engine drives the wheels of the vehicle through a differential. A mechanical gearbox (406) connects the output shaft to the differential and wheels (408). The use of a gearbox and two electric motors significantly improves the total performance of the powertrain. In the powertrain standard components already used for driving vehicles can be used.

Abstract: An encoder for detecting the angular position of a shaft of an electric motor comprises an encoder disc (101) having tracks (515) sensed by detectors in reading heads (106a, 106b). Analog position signals from the detectors are sampled in sampling circuits (1701-1704) at times given by sampling pulses issued by a device such as a counter (506). The sampled analog values are converted to digital values by a converter (1706) and provided to a local processor (1707) calculating position values. The local processor sends commands to the device (506) to issue sampling pulses at accurately defined times, normally regularly spaced in time. The local processor also receives, from a central processor, read command signals commanding to it provide position values. These read command signals normally arrive rather regularly but are not synchronised.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus control a car equipped with an automatic transmission having a lockup clutch. When the lockup clutch is in the lockup state, a variation of a generated torque is detected. When the range of the torque variation detected exceeds a predetermined value, an engine torque is reduced by controlling the engine, and the automatic transmission is controlled to compensate for a reduction of the driving torque due to a reduction of the engine torque. Thus, the speed change ratio is changed to the low gear side.

Abstract: A compact position and velocity transducer having a high speed resolution and a fast speed response and that does not place much demand on the precision of the bearings. The transducer includes an optical encoder that, when assembled in motors, is assembled on a short protruding part of the rotor close to the torque-creating parts. The optical incremental encoder signals are fed both to a moderate frequency digital counter that counts 4 counts per basic encoder period and to an A/D-converter that samples and digitizes the primary encoder analog signals. A processor uses a linearization algorithm on the sampled and digitized signals that yields position information that is locally highly continuous.

Abstract: A position transducer has a moving modulating portion that can move to various positions through rotation, for example. The position transducer provides at least one analog signal that varies periodically with the moving position of the modulating portion, where the movement of the modulating portion has a period. The analog signal is provided to a converter that converts the analog signal into digital information which is applied to a computing arrangement to provide information as to the position of the modulating portion by using at least one transformation including stored information as to deviations of the periodic variation of the analog signal relative to a sinusoidal shape having a constant amplitude for all periods of movement of the modulating portion.

Abstract: An encoder disc (101) of an optical position transducer is mounted on a short protruding part (102a) of a rotor (102) of an electric motor close to torque creating parts. One part of the optical system, normally the light emitter part (108, 115), is insertable between the rotor (102) and the encoder disc (108) after the insertion of the rotor-encoder disc assembly into the motor stator case (113). The optical incremental encoder signals are fed both to a moderate frequency digital counter that counts 4 counts per basic encoder period and to an A/D-converter that samples and digitises the primary encoder analog signals. A synchronising network ensures that the primary encoder digitised signal corresponds to the correct state of the digital counter. More than one decoder head can be used to compensate for the bearing play common in servo motors having varying axial loads.

Abstract: A position transducer is provided that includes an encoder disc and at least two detector devices arranged to read at least one track on the encoder disc having low resolution in order to produce position signals. The detector devices each provide position signals to a processing device having a substantial phase difference therebetween. The signal processing device can determine movements of the encoder disc based upon the signals provided by the detector devices and the detector devices can be energized with a low duty cycle during a low power mode.

Abstract: An encoder disc (101) of an optical position transducer is mounted on a short protruding part (102a) of a rotor (102) of an electric motor close to torque creating parts. One part of the optical system, normally the light emitter part (108, 115), is insertable between the rotor (102) and the encoder disc (108) after the insertion of the rotor-encoder disc assembly into the motor stator case (113). The optical incremental encoder signals are fed both to a moderate frequency digital counter that counts (4) counts per basic encoder period and to an AD converter that samples and digitises the primary encoder analog signals. A synchronising network ensures that the primary encoder digitised signal corresponds to the correct state of the digital counter. More than one decoder head can be used to compensate for the bearing play common in servo motors having varying axial loads.

Abstract: An improved connection coupling for providing rotary motion from an electric motor rotor to a load wherein a mechanical coupling element is attached to an end of the rotor and to the shaft of the load. The free end of the rotor includes a cavity which extends axially from the end surface of the rotor inward to allow for insertion of a portion of the mechanical coupling element in the cavity. The walls of the cavity do not contact the portion of the mechanical coupling element to allow this mechanical coupling element to move freely in the rotation direction.

Abstract: In a rotational/linear brushless DC motor/generator the rotor/slide has many equally spaced permanent magnet poles of alternating polarity and it has no or few magnetically permeable iron parts. These magnets cover typically slightly more than half the pole pitch in trapezoidal embodiments. The stator consists of one or several pairs of two stator parts facing each other. Each stator part has a plurality of poles with the same pitch as the rotor/slide poles. The stator parts in a pair are arranged on each side of the rotor/slide and are displaced 180 electrical degrees from each other. Each one of the two stator parts in a pair has windings for one phase in order to polarize the poles in the stator part in alternating polarity. The gaps between the stator poles facing the rotor/slide in the same stator part are small compared to the pole pitch. In this way high torque/force DC motors/generators with low weight and high efficiency are provided.