Tau Motors, Inc.

Fallbrook Intellectual Property Company LLC

Gregory Gordon Stevenson

Matthew J Rubin

Walter Wesley Pennington, Iii

Charles B Lohr

Adam Daniel Ambrecht

Michael Parker Owen

Matthias Preindl

Ethan Bagget Swint

Brad Philip Pohl

Jon M Nichols

Fernand A Thomassy

Jeremy Carter

Brian Benjamin Sweet

John W Sherrill

Euzeli Cipriano Dos Santos, Jr

Anthony Da Costa

Walter Wesley Pennington

Walter Wesley Iii Pennington

An electric motor has a stator mechanically coupled to the rotor by a nutating traction interface, such that during nutation of the rotor with respect to the stator a tilt axis of the rotor progresses about the axis of rotation of the output shaft. The rotor and a surface of the stator bound a dynamic gap across which a magnetic field is produced by electrical activation of the motor to generate a force between the rotor and the stator. The traction interface and the gap are arranged such that, in a plane containing the axis of rotation of the output shaft, the traction interface is angled with respect to the stator surface bounding the gap. The rotor is connected to the output shaft by a tiltable connection such as a gimbal.

Electric motor

An electric motor has a stator defining multiple stator poles with associated electrical windings, and a rotor having multiple rotor poles. The rotor has flux barriers between adjacent rotor poles, the flux barriers each having a material with an electrical conductivity higher than the rotor pole material. The flux barriers are electrically isolated from one another external to the ferromagnetic material. Eddy currents are induced in the flux barrier to cause destructive interference of an impending magnetic field, such that the flux barrier effectively acts to inhibit magnetic flux during motor operation, which in some cases will result in a repulsive force that will act to increase an induced motive force on the rotor poles.

Electric motors

An electric machine includes a stator and a rotor energizable by magnetic fields produced by the stator when receiving a stator current to produce relative motion between the rotor and the stator. A controller is configured to send the stator current through the stator at a current angle measured from the closest one of a pole of the rotor, determine a desired operational output of the electric machine, and determine a desired rotor motion corresponding to the desired operational output of the electric machine. The controller is further configured to calculate a vector control modulation applied to the stator that elicits the desired rotor motion, and adjust the current angle of the stator current based on the vector control modulation to cause the rotor to perform the desired rotor motion and achieve the desired operational output of the electric machine.

Power distribution within an electric machine

A reconfigurable electric motor (or machine) that may be reconfigured to improve performance given particular motor conditions. The motor is part of a motor system including a stator, a rotor, a microinverter network including a plurality of microinverters, and a motor controller including processing circuitry. The motor controller controls the plurality of microinverters to drive the motor in accordance with a first configuration of a plurality of motor configurations. The motor controller determines, based on determined motor conditions, to reconfigure the motor from the first configuration to a second configuration, where the first configuration has a first pole count that is different than a second pole count of the second configuration. The motor controller further controls the plurality of microinverters to drive the motor in accordance with the second configuration.

Dynamically configurable hardware system for motor system and method for operating same

An electric machine includes a stator defining multiple stator poles with associated stator windings configured to receive a stator current. The electric machine also includes a rotor defining multiple fixed rotor poles with associated rotor windings, wherein the rotor defines a field energizable by magnetic fields produced by the stator windings when receiving the stator current to produce relative motion between the rotor and the stator and wherein the rotor is maintained in synchronicity with the magnetic fields produced by the stator during operation of the electric machine. The electric machine also includes a rectification system configured control against an alternating current being induced in the rotor poles as the field is energized by magnetic fields produced by the stator windings when receiving the stator current.

Power distribution within an electric machine with rectified rotor windings

A stator defines multiple stator poles with associated electrical windings. A rotor includes multiple rotor poles. The rotor is movable with respect to the stator and defines, together with the stator, a nominal gap between the stator poles and the rotor poles. The rotor poles includes a magnetically permeable pole material. The rotor also includes a series of frequency programmable flux channels (FPFCs). Each FPFC includes a conductive loop surrounding an associated rotor pole. The stator and the rotor are arranged such that the electrical windings in the stator induce an excitement current within at least one of the FPFCs during start-up.

Electric motors having flux shields for motor poles

Electric motors having flux barriers

Electric motor with flux barriers

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Gregory Gordon Stevenson