Electric motor with rotor being a drive wheel

An electric motor, which comprises:

• a drive wheel;
• a structure to which said drive wheel is rotatably attached;
• one or more permanent magnets attached to said drive wheel with opposite magnetic poles adjacent to one another;
• one or more electromagnets attached to said structure and arranged generally in a plane that is substantially parallel to, but not within, the plane or planes containing said permanent magnets, said electromagnets being sufficiently close to said permanent magnets that the magnetic fields of said electromagnets and said permanent magnets will interact with one another;
• a sensor that produces a current only so long as a pole, having a given polarity, of one of said permanent magnets is near said sensor;
• a switch for activating said electromagnets by connecting said electromagnets to a source of electrical power;
• and
• a timing circuit, said timing circuit being in communication with said sensor, said timing circuit also being in communication with said switch in order to close said switch, said timing circuit producing a periodic signal to close said switch only while said sensor produces a current, and said timing circuit producing a periodic signal to close such switch wherein the total period said switch is closed is fixed by the value of an electronic component within said timing circuit.

An electric motor, which comprises:

• a drive wheel;
• a structure to which said drive wheel is rotatably attached;
• one or more permanent magnets attached to said drive wheel with opposite magnetic poles adjacent to one another;
• one or more electromagnets attached to said structure and arranged generally in a plane that is substantially parallel to, but not within, the plane or planes containing said permanent magnets, said electromagnets being sufficiently close to said permanent magnets that the magnetic fields of said electromagnets and said permanent magnets will interact with one another;
• a sensor that produces a voltage only so long as a pole, having a given polarity, of one of said permanent magnets is near said sensor;
• and
• a switch for activating said electromagnets by connecting said electromagnets to a source of electrical power, said switch being in communication with said sensor and said switch being closed when and only when said switch receives voltage from said sensor.

A process for electrically powering a drive wheel, which comprises:

• rotatably attaching a drive wheel to a structure;
• attaching to said drive wheel one or more permanent magnets with opposite magnetic poles adjacent to one another;
• attaching to said structure one or more electromagnets arranged generally in a plane that is substantially parallel to, but not within, the plane or planes containing said permanent magnets, said electromagnets being sufficiently close to said permanent magnets that the magnetic fields of said electromagnets and said permanent magnets will interact with one another;
• determining the location of said permanent magnets with a sensor;
• connecting a switch for activating said electromagnets between said electromagnets and a source of electrical power;
• inputting to a computer the desired speed of rotation for said drive wheel;
• having said sensor inform said computer about the location of said permanent magnets;
• connecting said computer to said switch;
• programming said computer to produce a signal to close said switch periodically from the time a pole of one of said permanent magnets has approached said sensor until the opposite pole of said permanent magnet approaches said sensor;
• and
• producing with said computer such a periodic signal to close said switch so that the total period said switch is closed will create an average voltage that produces the desired speed of rotation for said drive wheel.

A process for electrically powering a drive wheel, which comprises:

• rotatably attaching a drive wheel to a structure;
• attaching to said drive wheel one or more permanent magnets with opposite magnetic poles adjacent to one another;
• attaching to said structure one or more electromagnets arranged generally in a plane that is substantially parallel to, but not within, the plane or planes containing said permanent magnets, said electromagnets being sufficiently close to said permanent magnets that the magnetic fields of said electromagnets and said permanent magnets will interact with one another;
• producing a current with as sensor that creates such current only so long as a pole, having a given polarity, of one of said permanent magnets is near said sensor;
• connecting a switch for activating said electromagnets between said electromagnets and a source of electrical power;
• connecting said sensor to said timing circuit;
• connecting said timing circuit to said switch;
• and
• producing with said timing circuit a periodic signal to close said switch only while said sensor produces a current, wherein the total period for which said periodic signal closes said switch is fixed by the value of an electronic component within said timing circuit.

A process for electrically powering a drive wheel, which comprises:

• rotatably attaching a drive wheel to a structure;
• attaching to said drive wheel one or more permanent magnets with opposite magnetic poles adjacent to one another;
• attaching to said structure one or more electromagnets arranged generally in a plane that is substantially parallel to, but not within, the plane or planes containing said permanent magnets, said electromagnets being sufficiently close to said permanent magnets that the magnetic fields of said electromagnets and said permanent magnets will interact with one another;
• producing a voltage with as sensor that creates such voltage only so long as a pole, having a given polarity, of one of said permanent magnets is near said sensor;
• connecting a switch between said electromagnets and a source of electrical power;
• and
• connecting said sensor to said switch so that said switch closes when and only when said switch receives voltage from said sensor.