Control mechanism for accelerating magnetically suspended rotor

摘要

The present invention is a propulsion apparatus that is magnetically maintained and accelerated. The apparatus comprises a rotor rotating in a stator, the rotor magnetically maintained for rotation without friction by magnets situated in and on the rotor and stator. The rotor is rotated by pairs of magnets fixed to the rotor and stator. The first magnet of each magnet pair is fixed at a rotor placement point and the second magnet of each magnet pair is fixed on the stator at a fixed stator point. The second magnet of each magnet pair is an electromagnet that is activated by a control device. A vertical axis is defined such that the vertical axis passes through the center of rotation of the rotor. Each stator placement point is a point on a first line defined by kα, where α is a divisor of 360 degrees. Each rotor placement point is a point on a second line that is rotated β with respect to the first line. The control device selects m≧1 pairs of second magnets for activation to cause rotation of the rotor. If the first of the second magnet pair activated is on a line at γ with respect to the vertical axis, the second of the second magnet pair is on a line at −γ with respect to the vertical axis.