Alternator starter

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The alternator starter according to one embodiment of the present invention is primarily designed to replace the ring gear which is positioned between the conventional engine and a transmission in a typical automotive drive train assembly.
The invention may also be designed to be positioned about the power shaft on any internal combustion engine.
Other embodiments may be designed for use as an integral motor generator unit wherever space is at a premium.
The invention as described below illustrates the important features of the invention.
In a conventional engine-transmission drive train assembly, the ring gear is removed.
Bolted to the end of the crankshaft is a pair of offset magnetically permeable disc shaped metal plates.
When bolted together at the center to the crankshaft, these plates form an annular channel between them.
One plate has a set of ring shaped switch contact members mounted on one side of the plate.
On the other side of this plate are positioned a series of flat rare earth metal alloy permanent magnets.
The outer periphery of the other plate is in turn bolted to the torque converter cover of a conventional automatic transmission torque converter.
Disposed between the two plates, within the channel, and mounted stationery to the vehicle engine is an ironless three phase stator assembly.
The stator assembly is a generally ring shaped molded disc structure having a plurality of flat windings made from copper sheet stampings embedded in an insulation matrix.
These flat copper stampings are insulated from one another and positioned in a stacked relationship within the molded stator assembly.
Each winding forms a single pass around the ring shaped disc and each winding undulates from the outer diameter of the ring shaped disc to the inner diameter as it forms its single pass.
Several windings are connected at their ends in series to form each of the phase windings of the three phase stator assembly.
The unique construction of the ironless stator windings using nonmagnetic materials keeps the axial thickness of the stator as small as possible