Actuator design based on flux path switching for high energy utilization

There is a growing demand for the actuators that could fulfill the discontinuous operation requirement of holding at a certain position for a desired period of time. This can be found application in power assistive devices and switching adapters. Recently, the use of appropriate cogging torque to affix the actuator at a fixed position without electric energy became an attractive solution of concern in energy saving [1][2]. In this paper, an improved design of flux switching device which is able to provide high/low cogging torque is proposed. This improved design, achieves the required high cogging torque in the holding state, and can also be controlled to operate at the lower cogging torque to achieve smooth running using the axial windings design in the moving state.