Improve Thermal Performance for Ironless Brush DC and Brushless DC Motors
Electric motor manufacturers must ensure that a motor’s instant internal temperature never exceeds its various components’ maximum allowable temperature. Depending on the design of the motor and the materials used, thermal phenomena will dictate the motor’s performance. Motor designers typically have two options to enhance motor performance without overheating and damaging its components: increase power conversion efficiency by generating less heat for a given mechanical power output or improve the motor's cooling capability through heat dissipation.
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Topics:
brushed DC motors,
Portescap,
Brushless DC motors,
DC motors,
iron losses,
power conversion,
heat dissipation,
spotless brushless motors,
motor design,
thermal management,
power losses,
temperature rise,
steady state operation,
heat transfer,
thermal resistance,
excessive temperature,
electrical resistance,
thermal conductivity,
transient operation,
peak torque,
periodic duty cycle
Understand the Effect of PWM When Controlling a Brushless DC Motor
Designers of motion systems often face challenges when selecting or developing electronics using pulse width modulation (PWM) to drive brushless DC motors. To avoid unexpected performance issues, it’s important to understand some of the basic concepts.
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Topics:
PWM drive,
pulse width modulation,
Portescap,
brushless DC motor,
DC motors,
PWM regulations,
PWM method,
PWM frequency,
chopper amplifiers,
ripple,
joules losses,
iron losses,
Faraday-Lenz law of induction,
linear amplifiers,
eddy currents
Advantages of Gearheads: What to Choose and Why
We know that the purpose of a motor is to provide a certain amount of power to produce a specified amount of speed and torque. In applications requiring a large torque load at slow speeds, it is more economical to use a gear motor (aka gearhead) rather than a large enough motor to provide the specified torque. The gearhead is mounted on the front end of the motor and specific gearing provides the overall speed and output torque. There are various types of gearhead technologies. Here, we will focus on Spur compound and Planetary. Spur gears are designed with the concept of having only one transmission point per train.
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Topics:
gearhead,
spur,
planetary technology,
gear performance,
gearmotor,
spur compound
A Historical Swiss R&D Center to Develop Performance-Critical Miniature Motors
Founded in 1931 in Switzerland as The Universal Escapement Ltd., Portescap was devoted exclusively to manufacturing products for the clock and watch industry. Our company became quickly famous for the Incabloc shock absorber system which was breakthrough for mechanical watches designs.
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Topics:
Ultra EC,
Brushless DC motors
A Case Study for Infusion Systems: Coreless Brush DC Motor Controls Nutrient Flow for Medical Feeding Pumps
Enteral feeding pumps are medical devices with a built-in tube used to deliver nutrients directly to the stomach of patients who are unable to safely consume food by mouth. The motor systems in these small, lightweight devices must also deliver sufficient torque to ensure continuous flow. The pumps also must be able to adjust flow rates — depending on the nutrition formula and patient needs — with accuracy and precision.
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Topics:
Coreless brush DC motor,
medical pump,
enteral feeding pump,
mini motor
Efficiency and Power Density Redefined in Harsh Surgical Environments
Since the advent of civilization, the art of motion has been a critical part of human life in the quest to save, improve, and enhance lives. With advances in technology, motors are playing a very important part in our day to day lives, at times very subtly without our knowledge. Technology has helped improve motor power density and has enabled usage in various applications that once used pneumatic controls. OEM’s around the world developing motion applications in medical and industrial markets require the best power density, efficiency, and reduced envelope with lowered overall cost of ownership.
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Topics:
Surgical Motor Solutions,
Brushless DC motors,
motors for surgical hand tools
DC Motors with Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
In today’s technological world of electronic systems, we deal with a lot of electrical frequencies and currents. There are many electronic systems fitted in proximity. All these electronic systems generate electromagnetic interference or EMI.
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Topics:
electromagnetic compatibility,
electromagnetic noise,
decoupling capacitors,
low EMI motion solution,
Electromagnetic interference,
EMI,
EMC,
radiated noise,
arcing,
conductive emissions,
chokes suppression
Role of Tribology in Performance of Miniaturized Electrical Motors
Tribology is the multi-disciplinary subject that deals with wear and friction of the surfaces in motion. Miniaturized electrical motors contain tribological components like sliding contacts (brushes), rolling contacts (ball bearings and bush bearings), damping rings, seals, washers and gears. These tribological components tend to fail before other components of the motor mainly because of friction and wear. Thus, life of the motor is very much dependent on the performance of the tribological components. Let’s look at a few tribological motor components which impact overall life.
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Topics:
motor brush wear,
motor commutation
New Engineering Lab at Portescap Now Open
After a year in the making, Portescap is pleased to announce the opening of our newest Engineering Lab in our Mumbai, India office. Our team worked very diligently over the past year, including planning, shifting of existing equipment, procurement of new equipment and installation. Our new lab will provide our engineers with improved tools and procedures, including enhanced Analysis & Reliability test capabilities.
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Topics:
Industrial Power Tools,
proof of concept motors,
Medical Infusion Systems,
rapid prototyping
What to look for in a Miniature Motor When Designing Your Next Robotic Application
Advancements in automation and artificial intelligence are driving innovation in robotics. New developments in vision systems and sensor technologies require inventive applications for robots in the medical, warehousing, security and process automaton fields. These disruptive technologies are are creating new opportunities for miniature motors in the medical, warehousing, security and process automation fields.
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Topics:
Automation,
Robotics,
electric motors,
brushed DC motors,
brushless DC coreless
Choosing a Motor for Electronic Pipettes
When it comes to dispensing a specific volume of liquid in a lab environment, pipettes are essential. Electronic air displacement pipettes have taken the lead due to the needfor a high level of precision and accuracy required for repeated use over a periodof time. With the improvement of a digital interface for adjusting aspiration or dispensing, electronic pipettes offer a huge advantage and relief from ergonomic methods.
The motor is the key element in the design. When design engineers specify a motor they must consider factors such as motor power, size and weight, and control electronics. Let’s look at the two most considered motor options - stepper motors and DC motors to help determine the fit for your application.
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Topics:
miniature motors,
Stepper Motors,
Brush DC Motors,
Portescap,
brushless DC motor,
pipettes,
laboratories,
accuracy,
precision,
automated systems
Reducing Surgical Hand Tool Size Without Sacrificing Performance
For the surgical hand tool designer looking to deliver all of the performance objectives in the most sleek and lightweight package possible, the choice of electric motor is a key consideration.
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Topics:
miniature motors,
Surgical Motor Solutions,
BLDC Motors,
Brushless DC motors,
surgical hand tool design,
precision manufacturing,
surgical instruments,
hand tool manufacturing
Disposable Medical Tools for Minimally Invasive Surgeries: Selecting the Optimum BLDC Motion Solution
Minimally invasive surgery refers to any surgical procedure that is performed through tiny incisions instead of a large opening in the body. Portescap’s focus over the past few years has been to design and develop innovative motion solutions for minimally invasive medical tools for treating various diseases.
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Topics:
Medical
Motors for Drone Applications
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones, as they are generally known, are becoming more common. This technology is adding value in many markets including aerospace and defense, agriculture, surveillance and even e-commerce.
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Topics:
Aerospace & Defense
Commutated Resistance Change of Portescap Brush DC Motors
For a one brush pair Portescap DC motor, the catalog value for resistance is specified assuming that all coils are active (that is, no coil is short circuited by the brush, which would occur if the brush were simultaneously touching two commutator segments).
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Topics:
Coreless brush DC motor
Sterilizable Encoders and BLDC Motors Drive Surgical Hand Tool Advances
As handheld surgical tools gain wider adoption, there’s a growing demand for smaller, lightweight devices that can offer more capability and precise motion profiles. When it comes to brushless DC motors (BLDC) commonly used in handheld surgical tools, magnetic encoders provide the high-resolution feedback that makes high-performance drive systems possible, and they offer many benefits. However, not all encoder/feedback technologies are the same. Here are some situations that call for an encoder as part of a drive system:
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Topics:
BLDC Motors,
Encoders,
feedback sensors,
motion system,
brushless DC motor,
angular position control,
torque control,
integrated BLDC motor and encoder,
surgical hand tools,
magnetic encoders,
motor feedback,
high resolution feedback,
motor position,
velocity control,
motor control,
motion control
Controlling Brushed DC Motors with Pulsed-width Modulation (PWM)
The enduring popularity of coreless brushed DC motors comes from a combination of their simplicity of design, fast transient responses, negligible iron losses and ease of control. With speed proportional to applied voltage, the motor can be simply driven using a continuous linear regulation power supply. But is this always the best solution?
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Topics:
pulse width modulation,
PMW,
motor performance,
Coreless brush DC motor
DC Coreless Motors Reduce TCO and Weight of Solar Panel Cleaning Robots
Solar panels are growing in popularity as effective choices for large solar farms generating renewable energy. They do require regular maintenance and cleaning to ensure efficient use and long life. Currently solar power cleaning units (SPCRs) use large, heavy DC motors that weigh upwards of 1kg+ that make these robots cumbersome, inefficient and difficult to maintain.
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Topics:
Motors for wheels,
Motors for cleaning axis,
Motors for brush
Experimental Approach For Solving Side Band Noise of Miniature Planetary Gearbox
Vibration and noise spectra from miniature planetary transmissions commonly exhibit components at distinct frequencies around the gear mesh (tooth passing) frequency and its higher harmonics, called modulation sidebands. They constitute a significant portion of the vibration and noise generated by the transmission. Sidebands have influence on noise quality measures as well as having great potential to provide valuable clues regarding gear tooth combinations, phasing of planets, manufacturing errors like eccentricity, run out present in the gear set, planet pin position error, etc.
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Topics:
gearhead,
side band noise
Delivering the Ultimate Motor for Craniotomy Hand Tools
Craniotomy hand tools are high speed drills used in neuro (skull) surgeries. These complex procedures require the ultimate in accuracy, precision and balancing. Even minor vibrations or jerks could impact the outcome of surgeries.
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Topics:
motor for craniotomy hand tools,
motors for surgical hand tools,
craniotomy drill motors
