Ironcore linear brushless DC motor with reduced detent force

1. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape, and

further wherein a length of the stack in any cross-section in the direction of motion is selected so that the stack covers an area of a plurality of magnets in a field assembly corresponding to a non-integer number of magnets which area is substantially the same over a range of motion and

further wherein the first and second end teeth each have a portion which extends outwardly beyond the base portion in the direction of motion.

2. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape; and

wherein the armature has a length in a direction of motion which is approximately equal to (N p +½) × pole pitch, where N p equals a number of poles underneath the armature, and the pole pitch equals a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in a field assembly.

3. The armature assembly of claim 2 , wherein the stack has N p +1 teeth.

4. A stack for use in an armature assembly including a plurality of windings, wherein the stack comprises

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are wedge shaped, and further wherein the stack has a uniform length along a direction of motion approximately equal to (N p +½) ×t p , where N p corresponds to a number of poles underneath the armature, and t p corresponds to a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in a field assembly.

5. The stack of claim 4 in which t p is approximately equal to t t .

6. The stack of claim 4 , wherein t p and t t , and the length of the stack are dimensioned so that a fractional number of magnets of the field assembly are covered by pole pitches of the stack.

7. A linear brushless DC motor, comprising

a field assembly, including a plurality of magnets of alternating polarity positioned along a direction of motion to define a plurality of poles; and

an armature assembly including a plurality of windings and a stack, wherein the stack comprises:

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion and about which the windings can be positioned, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in the direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to be wedge shaped, and further wherein the stack has a uniform length along the direction of motion approximately equal to (N p +½) ×t p , where N p corresponds to a number of poles underneath the armature, and t p corresponds to a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in the field assembly.

8. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , that is less than t p .

9. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 8 , further wherein t t and t p are selected so that the stack covers an area of the plurality of magnets that is substantially the same over a range of motion of the motor.

10. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 8 , further wherein t t and t p are selected so that in any position over a range of motion of the motor at least one of the plurality of magnets is covered by no more than one of the plurality of teeth.

11. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 8 , wherein the first and second end teeth have a cross section in a plane parallel to the base in the shape of a right triangle having a base parallel to the direction of motion and an apex opposite the base, and further wherein the base is substantially equal in length to t p .

12. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of teeth, other than the first and second end teeth, have a cross section in a plane parallel to the base which is substantially equal in area to an area of the cross sections of the first and second end teeth.

13. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 8 , wherein internal teeth of the stack have a cross sectional width of approximately one half t p and the plurality of magnets have a cross sectional width approximately equal to but greater than t t .

14. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 8 , wherein a ratio of t t to is 7:8.

15. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 7 , wherein the stack has N p+ 1 teeth.

16. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of teeth include parallel faces transverse to the direction of motion and having a predetermined height, and further wherein the first and second end teeth have at least one face which is angled with respect to the direction of motion and which has a height less than the predetermined height of the parallel faces.

17. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 16 , further including a step having a thickness x and extending in the direction of motion from the base of each of the first and second end teeth.

18. The linear brushless DC motor of claim 7 further including a unitary mounting bracket extending substantially the length of the stack in the direction of motion and coupled to the stack with dove-tail type structures, and further wherein the unitary mounting bracket is adapted to accommodate mounting holes for the linear brushless DC motor.

19. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape;

wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , that is less than a pole pitch, t p , wherein the pole pitch equals a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in a field assembly; and

further wherein t t and the pole pitch are selected so that in any position over a range of motion of the motor at least one of the plurality of magnets is covered by no more than one of the plurality of teeth.

20. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape;

wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , that is less than a pole pitch, t p , wherein the pole pitch equals a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in a field assembly; and

wherein the first and second end teeth have a cross section in a plane parallel to the base in the shape of a right triangle having a base parallel to the direction of motion and an apex opposite the base, and further wherein the base is substantially equal in length to the pole pitch.

21. The armature assembly of claim 20 , wherein the plurality of teeth, other than the first and second end teeth, have a cross section in a plane parallel to the base which is substantially equal in area to an area of the cross sections of the first and second end teeth.

22. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape;

wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , that is less than a pole pitch, t p , wherein the pole pitch equals a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in a field assembly; and

wherein internal teeth of the stack have a cross sectional width of approximately one half the pole pitch and the plurality of magnets have a cross sectional width approximately equal to but greater than t t .

23. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape;

wherein the plurality of teeth include parallel faces transverse to the direction of motion and having a predetermined height, and further wherein the first and second end teeth have at least one face which is angled with respect to the direction of motion and which has a height less than the predetermined height of the parallel faces; and

further including a step having a thickness x and extending in the direction of motion from a base of each of the first and second end teeth.

24. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape. and

further wherein a length of the stack in any cross-section in the direction of motion is selected so that the stack covers an area of a plurality of magnets in a field assembly corresponding to a non-integer number of magnets which area is substantially the same over a range of motion and

further wherein a unitary mounting bracket extending substantially the length of the stack in the direction of motion and coupled to the stack with dovetail type structures, and

further wherein the unitary mounting bracket is adapted to accommodate mounting holes for a linear brushless DC motor formed with the armature assembly.

25. An armature assembly including

a plurality of windings;

a base portion;

a plurality of teeth extending from the base portion to form a stack and about which the windings can be positioned, and wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other to define slot openings at ends of and between adjacent teeth, and including a first end tooth positioned at one end of the stack in a direction of motion and a second end tooth positioned at another end of the stack in the direction of motion; and

wherein the first and second end teeth are formed to have a wedge shape;

wherein the plurality of teeth are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined pitch, t t , that is less than a pole pitch, t p , wherein the pole pitch equals a distance between centers of two adjacent magnets of opposite polarity in a field assembly; and

wherein a ratio of t t to the pole pitch is 7:8.