US Patent 7965010 Linear motor with patterned magnet arrays

An armature for a linear motor is described. The armature includes a first of a pair of magnetic structures comprising a first plurality of maglettes each having a magnetic polarity vector; an angle between two adjacent magnetic polarity vectors in the first plurality of maglettes having a first magnitude; and a second of the pair of magnetic structures comprising a second plurality of maglettes each having a magnetic polarity vector; an angle between two adjacent magnetic polarity vectors in the second plurality of maglettes having a second magnitude, the first plurality of maglettes including a first outer maglette that is adjacent to a second outer maglette of the second plurality of maglettes, an angle between the magnetic polarity vectors of the first and second outer maglettes having a third magnitude that is different than at least one of the first and the second magnitudes.