Low-loss switched reluctance motor with minimal stator core
This technology is a redesigned electric motor — specifically a switched reluctance machine — that replaces the traditional continuous steel ring stator with separate, disconnected core segments shaped like E, L, or I structures. By shortening the internal path that magnetic flux must travel, the motor wastes less energy as heat and requires significantly less steel and copper wire to build. The design also allows both electrical phases to be activated simultaneously, which smooths out the jerky torque that typically makes two-phase switched reluctance motors less attractive. The result is a motor that is cheaper to manufacture and more efficient to run than conventional designs of the same type.
What you could build
A cost-reduced, higher-efficiency motor for small appliance drives, HVAC fans, or light industrial automation equipment; target buyers would be appliance OEMs and motor drive manufacturers looking to undercut permanent-magnet motor costs without sacrificing performance.
Who in Virginia should care
Defense and government contractors in Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads working on auxiliary power systems, plus industrial automation suppliers along the I-81 corridor, would find cost-reduced motor designs relevant.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Krishnan Ramu, Nimai Lobo, Cheewoo Lee
- Granted
- December 2, 2014
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 8901798
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.