A significant application for an electric motor is to operate a pump or a blower. This type of electric motor typically utilizes a permanent magnet electrical motor and would preferably utilize a planar array of magnets. A typical permanent magnet electrical motor can include an alternating current induction motor. One type of alternating induction motor is a radial flux motor, where the flux extends radially outward from the axis of rotation. Another type of electric motor is an electronically commutated motor. An electronically commutated motor may include a permanent magnet alternating current motor, a variable reluctance motor, and a brushless direct current motor. An electronically commutated motor typically operates at a higher efficiency than an alternating current induction motor. There is an axial flux configuration for an electronically commutated motor in which the flux in the air gap extends in a direction that is parallel to the axis of rotation for the rotor of the electronically commutated motor.
The electric motor could rotate an impeller within a pump or blower, which creates a flow of fluid. There are a variety of gas burning appliances that use an electric motor, which includes furnaces, radiant heaters, boilers, water heaters, and pool heaters. This also includes a wide variety of blower applications, where the electric motor powers a blower to move air and/or an air/fuel mixture either through or out of an appliance.
One typical type of axial flux configuration for an electronically commutated motor for the applications above includes an electric motor having a rotor comprising a rotor disk and a plurality of permanent magnets magnetically coupled to the rotor disk. The plurality of permanent magnets include a substantially flat profile and is aligned in a substantially planar array. The electric motor also includes a stator comprising a solid stator core and a plurality of coils each wound around a coil insulating member. The stator core includes a plurality of stator teeth extending substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of the rotor. This type of motor is disclosed in PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2011/119574 A1, International Application No. PCT/US2011/029378, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A major problem with this motor is that the load is placed on a single bearing on the shaft end of the motor. There is also a complex and costly sleeve and opposite end shaft plate. Moreover, the shaft for the rotor is a costly and complex structure to manufacture.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.