Alternator-starter for motor vehicle with mechanical static converter

Multiphase rotary electrical machine which can be associated with an internal combustion engine and is able to be used on the one hand as an electrical generator when it is driven by the internal combustion engine and on the other hand as an electric motor for starting the engine with which it is associated, the machine comprising a shaft carrying a rotor with magnetic poles surrounded by a multiphase stator constituting an armature and provided with windings defining the phases of the machine, a diode bridge for rectifying the current generated by the stator windings when the machine is functioning in generator mode and a device for supplying electric current to the stator windings when the machine is functioning in motor mode, wherein the shaft of the machine comprises an extension, and wherein the device (3) for supplying current to the stator windings is mounted outside that machine and comprises a mechanical inverter (2) able to be coupled to the extension of the shaft of the machine and connected to the windings (12-14) of the stator,and

• further comprising an alternator (1) with a conventional structure, coupled to the mechanical inverter (2) through the shaft of the rotor (5) when the machine is functioning in motor mode.