Auxiliary starting switched reluctance motor

A switched reluctance system comprising:

• a reluctance machine including a rotor defining a plurality of rotor poles, a stator defining a plurality of stator poles, a single-phase winding positioned within the stator and adapted to be energized to establish rotation of the rotor, and an auxiliary winding positioned within the stator, the auxiliary winding being positioned such that energization of the auxiliary winding will energize at least one stator pole;
• a first control circuit coupled to the single-phase winding to selectively energize the single-phase winding to establish rotation of the rotor in a desired direction with a given torque;
• and
• a second control circuit coupled the auxiliary winding to energize the auxiliary winding in such a fashion that the rotor tends to rotate to a position where at least some of the rotor poles are in alignment with the stator pole energized by the auxiliary winding with a given peak torque that is greater than the peak magnitude of the torque imparted on the rotor when the single-phase winding is energized.

A method of operating a single-phase reluctance machine, the machine comprising a rotor, a stator, a single-phase main winding positioned within the stator, and an auxiliary winding positioned within the stator, the method comprising the acts of:

• receiving AC power from an AC power source;
• converting the AC power to DC power and providing a DC power bus;
• energizing the auxiliary winding with the AC power to cause rotation of the rotor towards a desired rotor position;
• and
• selectively energizing the single-phase main winding with power from the DC bus to establish rotation of the rotor relative to the stator.

A switched reluctance machine system comprising:

• (i) a power controller;
• and
• (ii) a switched reluctance machine coupled to the power controllers the switched reluctance machine comprising:
• a stator assembly including a stator having a central bore and a plurality of inwardly salient poles extending into said bore;
• a rotor mounted on a shaft and installed in said central bore for rotation of said rotor relative to the stator, said rotor having a plurality of outwardly salient poles extending into said bore, there being an air gap between the respective outer ends of said stator and rotor poles;
• stator windings installed on the stator assembly, said stator windings being energized by the power controller when said machine is running to produce a magnetic field producing a rotation of the rotor at a given peak torque;
• and
• an auxiliary winding installed on said stator assembly, said auxiliary winding being adapted to be energized by the power controller when the machine is not running to produce rotation of the towards a position where the inductance of the auxiliary winding is maximized to facilitate starting of the machine, the peak torque produced by energization of the auxiliary winding being greater than the peak torque produced by energization of the stator winding.

An improved blender comprising:

• a chopping member;
• a reluctance machine having a stator, a rotor mounted to a shaft and positioned to rotate relative to the stator, a single-phase winding positioned within the stator, and an auxiliary winding positioned within the stator, the chopping member being coupled to the rotor shaft;
• a first control circuit for selectively energizing the single-phase winding to produce rotation of the rotor with a given average running torque;
• and
• a second control circuit for selectively energizing the auxiliary winding to produce a peak torque that tends to move the rotor to a desired position relative to the stator that is greater than the average running torque produced when the single-phase winding is energized.