Product category:
Motors and Variable speed drives
News Release from: Oriental Motor | Subject: Alpha Step
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 09 December 2003
An even greater step towards higher
performance
Oriental Motor has announced an enhanced version of its Alpha Step range of stepping motors and drivers, offering even more functionality
Oriental Motor, Japan's largest manufacturer of stepper and AC motors, has announced an enhanced version of its Alpha Step range of stepping motors and drivers The Alpha Step Plus range offers even more functionality to what was already a revolution to the world of stepping technology
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 14 Dec 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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When Oriental Motor Alpha Step motors first appeared on the market they generated a significant level of interest due to their novel method of operation.
They combined the best of stepper motors with the best of servomotors within the same unit.
Using a special sensor and closed-loop operation, they are able to work without any loss of synchronisation.
Further reading
Field experience leads to specification upgrade
Oriental Motor, Japan's largest manufacturer of Stepper and AC motors, has increased the IP rating on a selection of its products, reaffirming its position as a supplier of quality technical hardware
Largest range of stepper and AC motors in Europe
With new models and variants, Oriental Motor, Japan's largest manufacturer of stepper and AC motors, can now offer what it believes to be Europe's broadest range of two-phase hybrid stepping motors
They do not require gain tuning and 'hunting' is eliminated leading to stable dead-stop positioning.
Thanks to a unique rotational sensor design, which mimics a thin slice of the stepping motor, the motors are also able to offer precision rotor position detection by measuring the change in inductance, due to the distance between the stator 'teeth' and sensor 'teeth'.
The use of a built-in feedback device also removes the need for encoders and resolvers, cutting down on the overall motor package.
Reliability is also enhanced thanks to an inherent immunity to shock and temperature fluctuations that often affect encoders and resolvers.
The new Alpha Step Plus range takes these defining performance characteristics and improves on them further, thanks to enhancements to both the motor and its associated driver.
The Alpha Step Plus drivers have seen significant development thanks to the incorporation of a controller.
The controller, which can be programmed via HyperTerminal on a PC, can accommodate 14 programmes, each comprising 64 lines with one command per line.
All commands can be entered using intuitive, easy-to-use PC-based software.
The drive also accepts eight input signals direct from sensors or other devices, so all control and feedback can now be fed to and from a single source.
The accompanying geared motors now come with enhanced backlash characteristics, thanks to the incorporation of a twin planetary gearing system.
Rather than exhibiting two geared stages in series, the gear sets work in parallel, but slightly offset, circumferentially, relative to each other.
One reduces backlash clockwise, the other anti-clockwise, resulting in a combined backlash figure of just three arc minutes.
In addition, this new arrangement not only offers higher levels of torque capability - 5Nm compared with 3.5Nm offered by the original Oriental Motor single planetary arrangement - but it also runs at higher speeds, 600rev/min compared to 360rev/min.
It also enables higher positioning accuracy as well as an extensive range of low gear ratios that would be difficult to achieve with harmonic gears.
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