Permanent magnet motor and washing machine provided therewith

1. A permanent magnet motor comprising:

a rotor including a rotor core; and

a plurality of permanent magnets provided inside the rotor core and establishing a plurality of magnetic poles,

wherein the permanent magnets include a plurality of types of permanent magnets having different coercive forces; and

said plurality of types of permanent magnets is disposed so that each one type constitutes one magnetic pole,

wherein one or more of the permanent magnets having relatively smaller coercive forces have:

a first magnetic characteristic that when a magnetizing field is caused to act on the permanent magnets from a point in a second quadrant in a hysteresis loop showing a relationship between magnetic polarization and field intensity, a magnetic susceptibility is substantially at 0 until reaching an inflection point thereof during magnetization, and when exceeding the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the magnetization to the magnetization side, the magnetic susceptibility enters a loop approximating to the hysteresis loop in a first quadrant; and

a second magnetic characteristic that when a demagnetizing magnetic field is caused to act on the permanent magnets from a point in the first quadrant in said hysteresis loop, a magnetic susceptibility is substantially at 0 until reaching an inflection point thereof during demagnetization, and when exceeding the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the demagnetization to a demagnetization side, the magnetic susceptibility enters a loop approximating to the hysteresis loop in a second quadrant.

2. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 1 , wherein the permanent magnets are arranged into an annular shape.

3. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 1 , wherein the permanent magnets include two types of permanent magnets which have different coercive forces and are disposed alternately so that each one type constitutes one magnetic pole.

4. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 3 , wherein the coercive force of one type of permanent magnet is twice as large as the coercive force of the other type of permanent magnet or above.

5. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 1 , wherein each permanent magnet with a relatively smaller coercive force has a relationship between a flux density and a field intensity that is set so that a bending point is in a second quadrant in a temperature range in which the permanent magnet motor is used.

6. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 5 , wherein a field intensity at the bending point is not more than 500 kA/m.

7. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 5 , wherein each permanent magnet is comprised of a rare-earth magnet.

8. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 1 , wherein the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the magnetization is set so as to be in a first quadrant.

9. The permanent magnet motor according to claim 1 , wherein a field intensity at the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the magnetization is substantially the same as or larger than field intensity at an inflection point of magnetic susceptibility in a fourth quadrant in the hysteresis loop, and a field intensity at the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the demagnetization is substantially the same as or smaller than field intensity at an inflection point of magnetic susceptibility in a second quadrant in the hysteresis loop.

10. A washing machine comprising:

a permanent magnet motor; and

a control unit which controls drive of the permanent magnet motor,

wherein the permanent magnet motor includes a rotor including a rotor core and a plurality of permanent magnets provided inside the rotor core and establishing a plurality of magnetic poles;

the permanent magnets include a plurality of types of permanent magnets having different coercive forces;

said plurality of types of permanent magnets is disposed so that each one type constitutes one magnetic pole;

one or more of the permanent magnets having relatively smaller coercive forces have:

a first magnetic characteristic that when a magnetizing magnetic field is caused to act on the permanent magnets from a point in a second quadrant in a hysteresis loop showing a relationship between magnetic polarization and field intensity, a magnetic susceptibility is substantially at 0 until reaching an inflection point thereof during magnetization, and when exceeding the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the magnetization to the magnetization side, the magnetic susceptibility enters a loop approximating to the hysteresis loop in a first quadrant; and

a second magnetic characteristic that when a demagnetizing magnetic field is caused to act on the permanent magnets from a point in the first quadrant in said hysteresis loop, a magnetic susceptibility is substantially at 0 until reaching an inflection point thereof during demagnetization, and when exceeding the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the demagnetization to a demagnetization side, the magnetic susceptibility enters a loop approximating to the hysteresis loop in a second quadrant; and

the control is arranged so as to change a magnetization state of the permanent magnets having a relatively smaller coercive force.

11. The washing machine according to claim 10 , wherein the control is arranged so as to change a magnetization state of the permanent magnets having a relatively smaller coercive force at every operation step.

12. The washing machine according to claim 11 , wherein the operation step is any one of wash, dehydration and drying.

13. A control unit that controls a permanent magnet motor, wherein:

the permanent magnet motor includes a rotor including a rotor core and a plurality of permanent magnets provided inside the rotor core and establishing a plurality of magnetic poles;

the permanent magnets include a plurality of types of permanent magnets having different coercive forces;

said plurality of types of permanent magnets is disposed so that said one type constitutes one magnetic pole;

one or more of the permanent magnets having relatively smaller coercive forces have:

a first magnetic characteristic that when a magnetizing magnetic field is caused to act on the permanent magnets from a point in a second quadrant in a hysteresis loop showing a relationship between magnetic polarization and field intensity, a magnetic susceptibility is substantially at 0 until reaching an inflection point thereof during magnetization, and when exceeding the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the magnetization to the magnetization side, the magnetic susceptibility enters a loop approximating to the hysteresis loop in a first quadrant; and

a second magnetic characteristic that when a demagnetizing magnetic field is caused to act on the permanent magnets from a point in the first quadrant in said hysteresis loop, a magnetic susceptibility is substantially at 0 until reaching an inflection point thereof during demagnetization, and when exceeding the inflection point of the magnetic susceptibility during the demagnetization to a demagnetization side, the magnetic susceptibility enters a loop approximating to the hysteresis loop in a second quadrant; and

the control unit is arranged so as to change a magnetization state of the permanent magnets having a relatively smaller coercive force.