Three magnetic substrates are provided, the first substrate forms the rotor and the other two form the outer stator. A series of spaced concentric grooves and spaced spiral grooves are formed in the central region of both faces of the first substrate. A hole is placed at the center of the spiral grooves, and filled with magnetic material. A conductor is then deposited into the spiral grooves, forming a central wheel. A series of spaced serpentine grooves and generally radial grooves are formed on each active face of the other two substrates. A conductor is then deposited into the serpentine grooves, and a magnetic material is deposited into the generally radial grooves. The two outer substrates are then bonded against the first substrate such that the outer end of each magnetic path overlays a filled hole in the first substrate, creating the stator of an axial air gap reluctance motor.

An integrated MAGLEV (Magnetic Levitated Vehicle) system consists of permanent or preferably superconducting vehicle-mounted magnets which interact with both active and induced track-based currents. The magnets on the vehicle which are used for propulsion serve the dual purpose of realizing both levitation and lateral stabilization (guidance). The contribution offered by this invention is that it is able to provide propulsion, levitation, and guidance using a single type of track-based coil interacting with a singular type of magnetic field which is affixed to the vehicle. The realization of multiple functions with a single coil reduces the cost and enhances the efficiency of this MAGLEV system. In the main embodiment of this invention, propulsion currents are injected into brushes sliding along brush contact surfaces on the rail, series winding further eliminates the intermediate brushes leaving only the leading set of brushes and the trailing set. Motion induced currents in the coils realize both the necessary levitation and guidance forces for the vehicle. The propulsion system is a linear DC motor and requires no power handling along the track. Necessary operating power can either be carried on the vehicle or collected by a third rail pickup system. All coils in the track are supported by a reinforced recycled plastic matrix (polyvinyl fiberglass) or similar material.

This invention provides a geometrical structure configuration of maglev forces in a maglev rotational bearing apparatus. The bearing apparatus uses the magnetic forces as the suspension support for the rotational shaft, and utilizes a radial maglev support module to provide two maglev constraint forces perpendicular to and crossing on the axis of rotating shaft and an axial maglev support module to provide three maglev constraint forces parallel to the axis but non-coplanar. From the viewpoint of kinematical geometry, this machine has five linearly independent constraint forces so that the main axis is allowed to be suspended without contact and friction with static elements, and the suspension force in axial direction is better than currently available maglev bearings. The rotational shaft can be driven by a motor to perform high-speed rotational motion with noises free and vibrations free. This technique can be applied to high-speed rotational machines such as turbo molecular vacuum pumps, the spindle of high-speed machine tools, inertial gyroscopes, etc.

An electromagnetic drive apparatus and method are operative to rotate a magnetically levitated object for an indefinite period of time. The object, such as a spinning magnetic top with a spindle, is levitated over a base magnet and a horizontal component of a pulsed magnetic field is applied at the region of the spinning magnetic top to maintain the top spinning and levitating indefinitely. The pulsed magnetic field is generated by applying a pulsed dc voltage or an ac current to a coil situated in proximity to the top. The coil may have a cylindrical or oblong shape and a core may be provided in the coil. Levitation stability and duration are improved by positioning a loosely fitting washer on the spindle of the spinning magnet so as to permit relative rotation therebetween during application of the pulsed magnetic field.

The present invention is directed to an electric motor for rotating an object around a central axis. The electric motor includes a motor casing. A circular segmented rail element is disposed within the motor casing about the central axis. The circular segmented rail element includes metallic non-ferrous segments interleaved with non-metallic segments. Each of the metallic non-ferrous segments has a predetermined segment length. At least one coil element is connected to the motor casing. The circular segmented rail element is disposed adjacent the at least one coil element. The at least one coil element has a predetermined coil length that is less than or equal to the predetermined segment length. The at least one coil element is configured to apply electromagnetic energy to the circular segmented rail element, such that the circular segmented rail element rotates around the central axis.