Why Use an Electromagnetic Brake with Your Electric DC Motor?

Electromagnetic brakes are used in industrial and medical equipment to consistently hold a load in position at a specific stopping point. The brake hollow shaft is mounted on an electric motor shaft for a compact integration.

Portescap Design Partnership Among Multiple Stakeholders

Medical device development normally involves the coordination of many stakeholders. Original equipment or device manufacturers (OEMs or ODMs) are increasingly utilizing design and manufacturing partners to develop and launch their products. Additionally, start-up companies typically work with investors and incubators to support their nascent businesses. All of these stakeholders add value to the development process, but they also bring unique needs and goals for the project that an OEM or ODM must accommodate.

Portescap E-Store – Mini Motor Purchasing Available On-Line

Portescap has opened our new E-Store where you can find and purchase miniature motion technologies to suit any configuration, environment, or envelope. All Portescap motor technologies are available for review including Brushless DC, Coreless Brush DC, and Stepper (Can Stack, Disc Magnet, and Linear Actuator). You can view all motors within a technology and drive down to an individual motor page for a deeper evaluation. Once your selection is ready, you can purchase directly in the store if available or submit a request for a quote on the product.

Miniature Motor Selection on Demand

Portescap has released the MotionCompass™, a virtual environment that allows users to configure specific motion needs, compare performance across motor technologies and select an optimal mini motor solution. By inputting the basic application parameters (speed and torque), the MotionCompass generates motor recommendations for Brushless and Coreless Brush DC motors. All data is dynamically generated in real-time based on the product specifications. Users can compare performance metrics (Speed, Efficiency, Power and Current) and confirm the optimum solution for their application.

Brushless DC Motors Achieve ISO 13485 Certification for Respirators

 We’re excited to announce that our slotless brushless DC motors for respirators have recently received ISO 13485:2016 certification. Thanks to this compliance, medical device original equipment manufacturers (OEM) can be confident their motion control system has been manufactured to the highest quality standards.

Motor Sterility Management: Protecting vs. Autoclaving

Surgeries must be performed using sterile equipment to prevent infection. While some simple surgical tools can be manufactured inexpensive enough to be economically thrown away after each use, more sophisticated tools such as drills, saws, and shavers must be reusable and therefore sterilized. The motor is a critical part of these tools, and if not protected properly, its electronic components can be susceptible to the moisture and temperature of the steam sterilization process (autoclave).

How to Optimize Your Product or Device Output

Early engagement with an Application Engineers (AE) can be a valuable first step when working on your application design and looking for the optimal motion solution. Our AEs will gather valuable information during the motor selection process, to ensure that they use the right motor for the allotted space and application.  After a thorough analysis and discussion, they can provide speed/torque curves for various motor options. If they know the duty cycle, they can help to determine whether or not to use a smaller motor in a temporary overdrive application.

Seeing beyond what's in the catalogue: Why it's important to get in touch with Portescap

Finding the right motor can be a challenge. Often a product catalog only lists a selection of available motors and coils, so the ideal solution can't be found by browsing through available standard options. Some motor manufacturers offer customizations, which require time and money to be invested and might not always be an option depending on the size of the project.

The type of application being designed will dictate different factors be considered for the motion solution.  Will the product be stationary?  Is the product mobile - being moved by an apparatus or on a person?  The typical usage of the product brings forth different factors to prioritize for your motion solution.

The next factor to review is the duty cycle for the motion solution in the application.  The duty cycle is defined as the ratio of the time the motor operates divided by the amount of total time for the cycle.  Typically, the motor does not run continuously but rather operates for a period (on-time) and then rests for a period (off-time).  The duty cycle affects the selection of the optimum motion solution, so it is important to understand the details and factors to consider.

The definition of innovating is to make changes to what is already establish. At Portescap we are always innovating, improving upon our processes and products to add value. Community organizations across the country are doing the same thing, they are changing our community and our world by building upon what is established. A Day of Caring is an opportunity where our team of innovators can come together with community innovators to help make our community a better place. 

Another factor to review is the accuracy required from the motion system in the application.  Is the motion continuous or incremental?  What is the resolution needed from the motor during incremental operation?  Does the motor need to have different resolutions for different points in the operation?

The next factor for consideration is the mechanical envelope for the motion system.  What is the space in the product that is dedicated to the motion system?  Is there flexibility on the diameter or length?

What is rotor balancing?

Rotor balancing is the process of bringing the mass center axis of a rotor in line with the rotor’s shaft axis, within certain industry balance standards. A rotor, balanced or unbalanced, wants to revolve around its mass center axis. The balancing process brings these two axes together. As illustrated below, when the mass that causes the imbalance is removed, the two axes merge.

The Past

From Portescap’s inception in 1959 to 2000 there were countless innovations and moves all over the world. It goes without saying that the start of our continuous improvement business system, could not have flourished without the vision created during this time. In March 2000¹, American Precision Industries (API), later to be na

Over the past few months, our Portescap office in West Chester, Pennsylvania went through some major renovations! We worked hard in 2018 organizing, planning, and researching to transform our manufacturing floor. Our office focused on upgrades that will give us the best productivity and while meeting the needs of our growing team.

As a design engineer, there is always excitement when you get to work on new product development. But when you get to the motion portion of the design, there are several technologies to consider, primarily Brushless DC, Coreless DC and Stepper. Which technology is best and where do you start? The challenge can be difficult as there are several factors to consider including output speed, torque, lifetime, mechanical envelope, noise, weight, cost and precision. It is not practical to analyze, purchase and test multiple technologies as this would be expensive and time consuming. Fortunately, there are guidelines that can assist in the initial review of the different technologies to narrow the selection.  

Portescap invites you to learn about the Ultra EC Brushless DC motors, which contain three optimizations to meet all application requirements. These two videos from Design World cover the 16ECP, balanced performance between torque and speed, and the 22ECS, optimized for speed and responsiveness.

In our blog post DC Coreless Speed vs Torque Curves, we talked about how to read speed vs torque curves and the linear relationship of speed and torque for a DC motor.  When comparing speed vs torque curves for various motors, the range of torque required in the application should be identified to ensure a proper comparison.  The curves will show the torque capability of the motor over the entire speed range, but the application torque range is typically limited to a narrow band.

Portescap is pleased to announce, along with Kollmorgen, Thomson, and Jacobs Vehicle Systems that we are now part of Altra Industrial Motion Corp (NASDAQ: AIMC), making Altra a global leader in the power transmission and motion control market.