Patent attributes
A system for generating an electrical current in a circuit includes a rotor, a stator and a motor for rotating the rotor about a rotation axis. A plurality of permanent magnets are mounted on the rotor and radially distanced from the rotation axis. With this structure, the permanent magnets rotate with the rotor to establish a time-varying magnetic field. A winding is attached to the stator, connected to the circuit and immersed in the time-varying magnetic field generated by the permanent magnets. In one implementation, a switch is provided to reconfigure the circuit between a first, open-circuit configuration in which little or no current flows through the circuit, and a second closed-circuit configuration in which a current is generated at the winding for flow through the circuit.