NON-CONTACTING "SNUBBER BEARING" FOR PASSIVE MAGNETIC BEARING SYSTEMS

摘要

A new non-contacting magnetic “snubber” bearing is provided for application to rotating systems such as vehicular electromechanical battery systems subject to frequent accelerations. The design is such that in the equilibrium position the drag force of the snubber is very small (milliwatts). However in a typical case, if the rotor is displaced by as little as 2 millimeters a large restoring force is generated without any physical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of the snubber bearing.

主权项

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a rotor; a stationary support structure; a first plurality of (Halbach) HB arrays attached to only one of said rotor or said stationary support structure; and a first array of closed circuits attached to only the one of said rotor or said stationary support structure to which said first plurality of HB arrays is not attached, wherein said first plurality of HB arrays and said first array of closed circuits face each other and are separated by a gap, wherein said gap is characterized by a first boundary next to said plurality of HB arrays and a second boundary next to said array of closed circuits, wherein only one of said first boundary or said second boundary is circular and only the other of said first boundary or said second boundary is elliptical, wherein each Halbach array of said first plurality of HB arrays has a wavelength that is less than said gap, selected to produce, when said rotor is rotating, repelling forces that increase exponentially when said first plurality of HB arrays is displaced laterally with respect to said first array of closed circuits.