US Patent 7489060 Superconducting rotating machines with stationary field coils

A machine includes a shaft adapted to rotate about a longitudinal axis and formed of a magnetic material and a rotor assembly rotationally engaged with the shaft The rotor assembly includes a pair of rotor disks comprising a magnetic material, each of the rotor disks having a number of magnetic poles, the magnetic poles being spaced apart circumferentially. The rotor disks are coupled to the shaft for rotation about the shaft and generation of a rotating permeance wave. The machine further includes a stator assembly that includes a magnetic core stator disposed between the rotor disks, a number of armature windings supported on the magnetic core stator, and a stationary superconducting field coil disposed between the magnetic core stator and the shaft. The stationary superconducting field coil is configured as a stationary magneto-motive force (MMF) source for the rotating permeance wave produced by the rotor assembly to produce a rotating magnetic field.