Direct current motor without commutator

An electronic power supply for a commutatorless DC motor which consists of

• (a) a permanently magnetized rotor with north and south poles and a magnetic field,
• (b) a stator winding arrangement consisting of only a single stator winding with two opposed ends,
• (c) a rotor position sensing arrangement consisting of only a single stationary field sensor which responds to said magnetic field to produce a signal having a first magnitude in response to a north pole, a second magnitude in response to a south pole, and at least a third magnitude in response to a transistor between such poles, and
• (d) means for producing a reluctance torque at least during the gaps of the electromagnetic torque generated by the interaction of said rotor magnetic field and said stator winding, consisting of
• only a single bridge cooperating with said single stationary field sensor and having four bridge arms each including a semiconductor switch, the bridge arms being interconnected at a first junction, a second junction, a third junction and a fourth junction to form a bridge network, which bridge network can be so connected that the first and second junctions are each connectable to an individual one of two opposed sides of a DC source and the third and fourth junctions are each connectable to an individual one of the ends of the stator winding;
• and
• a control circuit connecting the semiconductor switches and the field sensor together and operating in a manner that when the sensor produces a signal of the first magnitude, a first pair of semiconductor switches will become conductive and current will flow through the stator winding in a first direction, when the sensor produces a signal of the second magnitude, a second pair of semiconductor switches will become conductive and current will flow through the stator winding in a second direction opposed to the first direction, and when the sensor produces a signal of the third magnitude, all semiconductor switches will become non-conductive and current will cease to flow in the stator winding.