Magnetically assisted stepping motor

Claim 2

A stepping motor, comprising: a stator; a plurality of poles on said stator; a winding on each of said poles; a plurality of spaced stator teeth on said poles, each of said poles having at least one tooth; a mover movable relative to said stator; said mover having a plurality of spaced mover teeth located for movement along a first direction past said stator pole teeth; said mover teeth and said stator teeth forming spaces along a path of relative mover-stator movement and depths transverse to the path of movement; a plurality of permanently magnetic inserts located adjacent the plurality of mover teeth or the plurality of stator teeth and poled in the direction of the depth of the spaces.

Claim 3

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said inserts are located in spaces adjacent the stator teeth.

Claim 4

A motor as in claim 1, said inserts are located in spaces adjacent the mover teeth.

Claim 5

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said inserts are located in the spaces adjacent the mover teeth and stator teeth.

Claim 6

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said mover teeth extend substantially transverse to the path of movement and the direction of the depth.

Claim 7

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said mover teeth are skewed relative to the transverse direction of the path of movement by a fraction of a tooth pitch.

Claim 8

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said permanently magnetic insert includes samarium cobalt.

Claim 9

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said permanently magnetic insert includes a neodymium-boron alloy.

Claim 10

A motor as is claim 2, wherein said mover teeth extend transverse to the path of movement and the direction of the depth.

Claim 11

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said mover teeth are skewed relative to the transverse direction of the path of movement by a fraction of a tooth pitch.

Claim 12

A motor as in claim 9, wherein said magnetic insert includes samarium cobalt.

Claim 13

A motor as in claim 10, wherein said mover teeth extend transverse to the path of movement and the direction of depth.

Claim 14

A motor as in claim 9, wherein said magnetic insert includes a neodymium-boron alloy.

Claim 15

A stepping motor, comprising: a stator; a plurality of poles on said stator; a plurality of spaced stator teeth on each of said poles; winding means for energizing each of said poles so as to magnetize the plurality of teeth on any one of said poles in the same direction at any one time; a mover movable relative to said stator; said mover having a plurality of spaced mover teeth located for movement along a first direction past said stator pole teeth; said mover teeth and said stator teeth forming spaces having widths along the direction of movement and depths transverse to the direction of movement; and a plurality of permanent magnet structures each located adjacent to one of the plurality of said stator teeth and poled in the direction of the depth of the spaces, each of said structures being located adjacent said teeth along the direction of movement.

Claim 16

A stepping motor, comprising: a stator; a plurality of poles on said stator; a plurality of spaced stator teeth on each of said poles; winding means for energizing each of said poles so as to magnetize the plurality of teeth on any one of said poles in the same direction at any one time; a mover movable relative to said stator; said mover having a plurality of spaced mover teeth located for movement along a first direction past said stator pole teeth; said mover teeth and said stator teeth forming spaces having widths along the direction of movement and depths transverse to the direction of movement; and a plurality of permanent magnet structures each located adjacent to one of the plurality of said stator teeth and poled in the direction of the depth of the spaces, each of said structures being located adjacent said teeth along the direction of movement.

Claim 17

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said rotor is linear and said poles are linearly aligned.

Claim 18

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said rotor rotates about an axis relative to said stator.

Claim 19

A motor as in claim 2, wherein said rotor rotates about an axis relative to said stator.

Claim 20

A motor as in claim 3, wherein said rotor rotates about an axis relative to said stator.

Claim 21

A motor as in claim 16, wherein the inserts in said stator valleys and the inserts in said mover valleys are poled so that when a mover insert faces a stator insert the magnetization of the poles facing are of opposite polarity.

Claim 22

A motor as in claim 1, wherein the coercive force and dimensions of the inserts is sufficiently great to produce a significant improvement in the operation of a hybrid motor of the same size, weight, and electrical power input.

Claim 23

A motor as in claim 1, wherein said structures are located adjacent said teeth in the direction of the path of movement.

Claim 24

A motor as in claim 1, wherein each of said structures is located adjacent a different one of the plurality of stator teeth or a different one of said mover teeth.

Claim 25

A stepping motor, comprising: a stator; a plurality of poles on said stator; a first set of spaced teeth on said poles, each of said poles having at least one tooth; a second set of spaced teeth on said mover at locations for movement along a direction past said first set of teeth, said first and second set of teeth forming a gap with each other and having lengths extending along the gap in a direction substantially parallel to the gap; said first set of teeth and said second set of teeth having widths along the direction of movement and depths transverse to the direction of movement of the mover relative to the stator; a permanently magnetized material contiguously adjacent a plurality of the teeth in one of the sets of teeth; and said magnetized material being poled in the direction of the depth of the teeth.

Claim 26

A stepping motor, comprising: a stator; a plurality of poles on said stator; a first set of spaced teeth on said poles, each of said poles having at least one tooth; a second set of spaced teeth on said mover at locations for movement along a direction past said first set of teeth, said first and second set of teeth forming a gap with each other and having lengths extending along the gap in a direction substantially parallel to the gap; said first set of teeth and said second set of teeth having widths along the direction of movement and depths transverse to the direction of movement of the mover relative to the stator; a permanently magnetized material contiguously adjacent a plurality of the teeth in one of the sets of teeth; and said magnetized material being poled in the direction of the depth of the teeth.

Claim 27

A motor as in claim 23, further comprising magnetized magnetic material contiguously adjacent a plurality of the teeth in the other of the sets of teeth.

Claim 28

A motor as in claim 23, wherein permanently magnetized material is contiguously adjacent each of the teeth in the one of the sets of teeth.

Claim 29

A motor as in claim 24, wherein permanently magnetized material is contiguously adjacent each of the teeth in the one of the sets of teeth and in the other of the sets of teeth.

Claim 30

A motor as in claim 23, wherein the one of the sets of teeth is on said stator.

Claim 31

A motor as in claim 25, wherein the one of the sets of teeth is on said stator.

Claim 32

A motor as in claim 24, wherein the other one of the sets of teeth is on said mover.

Claim 33

A motor as in claim 26, wherein the other one of the sets of teeth is on said mover.

Claim 34

A motor as in claim 23, wherein said magnetized material extend contiguously from one tooth to another at a plurality of said teeth.