Drive arrangement for a washing or dry cleaning machine

Claim 1

Cleaning apparatus comprising a housing, a drum member mounted in said housing, and drive means for rotating said drum member, the drive means including: a. an eddy current rotor disc mounted on said housing for rotation about an axis and including an induction disc of electrically conductive, non-magnetic material, and a yoke disc of ferro-magnetic material in intimate contact with said induction disc; b. a multi-pole stator mounted proximate said rotor disc in a position to induce eddy currents in said induction disc, 1. said stator including a plurality of rod-shaped electromagnets and at least one soft-iron yoke, 2. each electromagnet including a soft-iron core and an electromagnetic winding thereabout, 3. said windings being arranged in a plurality of conductively connected groups constituting respective pluralities of poles when said windings are energized, 4. the number of poles constituted by a first one of said groups being different from the number of poles constituted by a second group, 5. each soft-iron core having a first pole end facing said induction disc and a second pole end in abutting engagement with said soft iron yoke, 6. the electromagnets associated with said first group being radially spaced from said axis a first distance, and the electromagnets associated with said second group being radially spaced from said axis a second distance different from said first distance; and c. connecting means drivingly connecting said rotor disc to said drum member.