Abstract: A rotary electric machine includes a stator housed in a housing, the stator having a stator body formed by a stack of stator laminations, the laminations are generally non-circular and being angularly offset with respect to each other, so as to form spaces with the housing, the housing having ducts for the flow of a coolant, and said spaces also being used for the flow of the coolant.

Abstract: A rotor of a rotating electric machine with flux concentration, including: a rotor body including recesses, and permanent magnets arranged in the recesses of the rotor body, said permanent magnets being arranged in the shape of a V oriented towards the air gap, each V defining an elementary polar portion, at least two consecutive elementary polar portions having an identical polarity.

Abstract: An electrical machine has a rotor position transducer which provides output signals to a control system. The output signals contain errors due to component shortcomings and manufacturing imperfections. A method is disclosed which is able to determine the errors in the signals by the use of a position detection algorithm so as to provide compensations to the control system of the machine. The compensations may be stored in the control system and used to improve the accuracy of the transducer output signals, thus improving the output of the machine.

Abstract: An electrical machine is controlled with a combination of a physical rotor position transducer and a software position detection algorithm. The physical transducer has a reduced number of sensors, so that it will only give accurate information at high speeds. The software algorithm is executed by a low-cost processor which cannot provide sufficient information at high speeds. The controller blends the information from the two position detectors to produce an economic drive which operates over a large speed range.

Abstract: An electrical machine is controlled without using a physical rotor position detector. When more than one phase is used simultaneously to produce sufficient torque for the application, the increased leakage flux and the reduced permeability of parts of the magnetic circuit distort the information gleaned from diagnostic pulses. By storing sets of characterizing data appropriate to the number of phases in use, the control system is able to determine the rotor position more accurately.

Abstract: A switched reluctance drive, operating either as a motor or a generator, is controlled in a stable manner in the continuous current mode in the presence of supply voltage or electrical load variation. The use of a current control parameter Ix in addition to the conventional on- and off-angles ?on, ?off gives the ability to operate smoothly in the continuous current mode and to transition smoothly between operating modes. Once the phase current reaches a pre-determined level Ix, the phase winding may be placed in a freewheel state, thereby controlling the standing current in the phase winding and/or the output voltage.

Abstract: An electrical machine is coupled to a load which has a torque profile which varies with angle. The machine is coupled so that the torque ripple of the machine is synchronized with the torque ripple of the load in such a manner as to provide an efficient drive system which can start at any angular position. This allows the size of the electrical machine to be reduced to a point where its average torque may be below the peak requirement of the load.

Abstract: An electrical machine has phase windings composed of coils connected in parallel. A current transducer is arranged to measure the current in only one of the coils and the total phase current is determined by scaling the output of the transducer according to the number of parallel branches in the phase winding.

Abstract: A switched reluctance drive is supplied from a voltage source which varies from the voltage at which the control laws for the drive were determined. The control system compensates for this by modifying both the speed and torque values used to determine the correct firing angles for the demanded load. The system works over a very wide range of voltage variation and is independent of the shape of the torque/speed curve of the drive.

Abstract: An electrical machine is coupled to a load which has a torque profile which varies with angle. The machine is coupled so that the torque ripple of the machine is synchronized with the torque ripple of the load in such a manner as to provide an efficient drive system which can start at any angular position. This allows the size of the electrical machine to be reduced to a point where its average torque may be below the peak requirement of the load.

Abstract: A switched reluctance drive is supplied from a voltage source which varies from the voltage at which the control laws for the drive were determined. The control system compensates for this by modifying both the speed and torque values used to determine the correct firing angles for the demanded load. The system works over a very wide range of voltage variation and is independent of the shape of the torque/speed curve of the drive.

Abstract: A switched reluctance machine has a stator or rotor lamination with pole arcs that are wider than necessary to fulfill the starting requirement of producing torque in the required direction at every rotor angle. On this lamination, preferably the rotor lamination, the surface is continuously graded over the entire pole pitch so that the first derivative of air gap length with angle is continuous. This allows control of the harmonics in the torque/angle curve and enables the production of smooth torque as the rotor rotates.

Abstract: A reluctance motor rotor is formed by sandwiching a stack of thin ferromagnetic laminations between two end caps. Each lamination has a series of slots formed in it, with the ferromagnetic material between these slots providing a flux guide. A rib is formed around the periphery of each lamination, thereby enclosing the slots. The slots are then filled with an epoxy resin through holes in the end cap. The resin, which is initially in the liquid state, is then cured in an oven. Once the resin is hard, the outer rib can be machined off to expose the resin. A rotor formed in this manner exhibits significantly higher output than prior art rotors of similar dimensions using magnetic bridges, and is relatively cheap to produce.

Abstract: A rotor for a switched reluctance or synchronous reluctance machine includes a central member from each end of which extends a rotor pole. The rotor is made up of continuous laminations which each define a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotor. A reluctance machine is also disclosed in which the rotor is used. The rotor has radially inner pole faces which cooperate with the pole faces of an inner stator.

Abstract: A rotor for a reluctance machine comprises a rotor made up of a stack of laminations defining a cross-sectionally integral rotor profile consisting of rotor poles arranged about a rotor core. A non-magnetic insert is arranged axially along the stack of laminations and a filler spans the interpole region between rotor poles. The filler is attached at either end of the rotor to an end cap and is secured to the insert intermediate the rotor ends. The insert provides a means of securement for the filler to provide stability at high speed.