Flywheel energy storage device

Claim 1

An energy-storing flywheel device for a motor vehicle comprising: a rotary flywheel on a vertical shaft, said flywheel being releasably couplable to a drive means and being adapted to drive a driven mechanism; said shaft having a shaft axis; a bearing means for journally supporting said shaft, said flywheel including a rotatable magnetic ring structure supporting a plurality of permanent magnets; and a spacing piece disposed between said rotatable magnetic ring structure and said shaft; and a magnetic supporting means for said rotatable magnetic ring structure, said magnetic supporting means comprising a stationary magnetic ring structure concentric about said shaft axis and below said rotary ring structure; said stationary magnetic ring structure supporting a plurality of permanent magnets; said rotatable magnetic ring structure having an outer diameter; said stationary magnetic ring structure having an inner cavity, said inner cavity having an inner diameter; wherein said inner diameter of said inner cavity of said stationary ring structure is greater than said outer diameter of said rotatable magnetic ring structure, and said permanent magnets of both magnetic ring structures are radially magnetized, with the respective magnetic poles thereof disposed on radial inner and outer surfaces of each of said pluralities of permanent magnets, wherein like poles of said permanent magnets in the respective ones of said stationery magnetic ring structure and said rotatable magnetic ring structure, such that repulsive magnetic forces arise between the permanent magnets of said stationary magnetic ring structure and the permanent magnets of said rotatable magnetic ring structure face each other; whereby said rotatable ring structure is suspended by magnetic repulsive forces arising between said like poles which face one another; each of said magnetic ring structures having its respective plurality of permanent magnets disposed as an annular series of separate bar magnets, and including respective soft iron cylinders for supporting said bar magnets; on of said cylinders forming an outer circumference of said rotatable magnetic ring structure and the other of said cylinders forming an interior circumference of said stationary magnetic ring structure.