Power blade for throttle assembly

A method and apparatus is provided for driving a throttle blade (14) about an axis of rotation (24) between maximum and minimum airflow positions. The throttle assembly includes a throttle body (12) with an airflow passage (18) and a bore (22) intersecting the airflow passage for supporting a throttle shaft (16). The throttle blade is mounted on the throttle shaft for rotation with respect to the shaft between the maximum and minimum airflow positions. The throttle blade has a disc-shaped body (32) with a central bore (34) extending therethrough for receiving a drive mechanism (26). The drive mechanism includes a motor (28) operably connected to a gear drive (30) to move the throttle blade between the maximum and minimum airflow positions. A position sensor (42) is also mounted within the bore to monitor the position of the blade relative to the shaft.