AllMotorsareSteppingMotors In1938,GeneralElectricbeganproductionofatwophasesynchronousinductionmotorwhich,at60Hz,ranat

75RPM.Thelowspeedresultedfromtherebeingadifferentnumberofrotortostatorpolesorteethwhichmadethe motoragoodbidirectionalcontrolmotor.ThismotorwasusedbySuperiorElectricCompanyofBristol,CTforrunning powerdrivenautotransformersusedtodimlightsinauditoriumsandsimilarapplications.GeneralElectricceased productiononthismotorinthemid1950sbecausesaleswerenothighenoughtosupportproduction. SuperiorElectricengineersredesignedthemotortorunat72RPMon60Hzandbegantoconsiderusingafour

stepDCvoltagesequencetohavethemotormoveinincrementsof1.8degreesperstepor200stepsperrevolution. Microswitches,magneticreedswitchesandrelayswereusedtodemonstratethebasicoperationatengineering conferencesandseminars.Intheearly1960stransistorsmadeoperatingthesteppingmotorpracticalandapplications quicklydeveloped.Thehybridsteppingmotorcamealive. Theprincipleofthesteppingmotor Ifyoucreatetwomagneticfieldsofoppositepolarities,theywillattracteachothercreatingmotion.Ifoneof

themagneticfieldsisfixedonashaft,youhaverotarymotionofsomeangle.Now,tocontinuethisrotarymotion,you havetocreateanewmagneticfieldatadifferentposition.

Figure 1

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Figure1illustratesatypicalstepsequenceforatwophasemotor.InStep1phaseAofatwophasestatoris energized.Thismagneticallylockstherotorinthepositionshown,sinceunlikepolesattract.Instep2,phaseAisturned offandphaseBisturnedon.Therotorrotates90clockwise.InStep3,phaseBisturnedoffandphaseAisturnedon butwiththepolarityreversedfromStep1.Thiscausesanother90rotation.InStep4,phaseAisturnedoffandphaseB isturnedon,withpolarityreversedfromStep2.Repeatingthissequencecausestherotortorotateclockwisein90 steps.SeeFigure2foranelectricalrepresentationofthecurrentflowinthetwophases. Thereisanelectronicdrivethatsendsthe electricalpulsestothetwophasesatthe appropriatetimetocreaterotation.Inthis example,therotationis90degreesper pulseorstep.Inpractice,themotorshavemorepolestocreatesmallerstepanglessuchas15degrees,7.5degreeso r 1.8degreesperstep.Thetermsteppingmotortraditionallyreferstoamotorthatrunsfrompulsesfromanelectron ic drive.Bysendingthemotoraspecificnumberofpulses,youwouldknowtherotorpositionatanytime.Themovement createdbyeachpulseispreciseandrepeatable,whichiswhysteppermotorsaresoeffectiveforpositioningapplications. However,allmotorsarereallysteppingmotors.Theonlydifferenceisthesizeofthestepangleandhowtheswitching ofthepulsesiscreated.ManyACmotorscanberunassteppingmotors.Thetwophasealternatingcurrent90 electricaldegreesapart,createsafourstepsequence justliketheelectronicdriveexceptthatitisasinewave insteadofasquarewave. (SeeFigure3) Thelimitationisthatyouarelimitedtoonlyonespeed, the60hertzoftheincomingpower.Inthiscase,since themotorrunssynchronouslywiththeincoming frequency,itisnowcalledasynchronousmotornota steppingmotor.However,itisthesamemotor.Nothinghaschanged.Themotorcanalsobemadetorunonasingle phaseACcurrent.Aphaseshiftingcircuitisusedtosplitthesinglephaseintotwophases. VariableReluctanceMotors Avariablereluctancemotorisasteppingmotorthatdoesnotuseapermanentmagnet.Astepisachievedby

theprinciplethattherotorwillrotatetominimizethereluctancepathofamagneticcircuit.(SeeFigure4)

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Figure 4

Inthefirststep,pole1ismagnetizednorthandpole4ismagnetizedsouth.Instep2,poles2and5areenergizedand poles1and4areturnedoff.Therotorrotates60degrees.Instep3,poles3and6areenergizedandsoon. Oneofthedisadvantagesofasteppingmotor istheringingoftherotorwhenyoutakea singlestep.(SeeFigure5)Therotordoesnot stopinstantlybutoscillatesaboutitsfinal positionforseveralmilliseconds.Ifasecond stepisintroducedwhiletherotorismovingin anegativedirection,youhaveaconflictanda lossoftorque.Inextremecases,youcan causearesonanceandtherotorwillvibrateor stop. Therearewaystodampenthisoscillationbutthisincreasestheprice.Inabrushtypeorbrushlessmotor,theswitchingis doneatexactlytherighttimeandthisproblemisminimized.
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Figure 5

BrushtypeDCmotorshaveseveralcoilswoundonarotororarmature.Thesecoilsareconnectedtoa commutator.Thecommutatorconsistsofcoppersegments.(SeeFigure6)Inthisexampleshown,therearetwelvecoils soonestepisor30degrees.Theswitchingisdonemechanicallyinsteadofelectronicallybymeansofa 12 commutatorwith24coppersegments.Thecoilsareconnectedtothecoppersegments.Twobrushes,180degreesapart connecttotheappropriatecoilwhichrotatestherotor30degrees.(SeeFigure7) Thisrotationcausesthebrushesto connecttothenextcoilwhichcauses another30degreerotation.Thisin effect,causescontinuousrotation. ThismotoriscalledabrushtypeDC motor.Thefieldcanbeeither permanentmagnetsorawoundfield. Ifitisawoundfield,itiscalleda universalmotorbecauseitcanrunon alternatingcurrentordirectcurrent.
Figure 6 360

Anotherversionofthismotorreplacesthecommutatorandbrusheswithhallcellsandamagneticringmagnetizedwith manypoles.(SeeFigure8)Thehallcellisamagnetic switchwhichswitchesoninthepresenceofasouth magneticfield.Thisenergizesthepropercoiltotakethe nextstep.

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Figure 8 Figure 7

ThisiscalledabrushlessDCmotor.AphotoofabrushlessDCmotorsisshowninFigure9. InductionandSquirrelCageMotors Inductionandsquirrelcagemotorshavebutasingleturnelectricalconductorintherotor.Theygenerallyuse

Figure 9

copperbarsorcastaluminum.Theelectriccurrentisinducedintotherotorfromthestatorfield.TheseareACmotors andsteppingisderivedfromthelinefrequency.Therearemanyotherspecializedmotors.However,theendresultis stillthesame;toobtainrotarymotion,youhavetocreatearotatingmagneticfield. Everyonceinawhileyouhearthatthismotorisbetterthananothermotor.

Thereisnosuchthingasthebestmotor.Ifthisweretrue,therewouldonlybeonemotoronthemarket.Whenyou haveanapplication,youhavetodeterminewhichisthebestmotorforthatapplication.Youwouldhavetoconsider suchthingsascost,dependability,lifeandmanyotherfactors. Insummary,therearefourwaystoobtainstepsformotors;electroniccommutation,mechanical,magneticand

electrical.Hybrid,permanentmagnetandvariablereluctancesteppingmotorsreceivetheirstepsfromanelectronic drive.ThebrushtypeDCmotorreceivesitsstepsbyamechanicalcommutatorandbrushes.Thisassemblyconverts directcurrentintosteps.ThebrushlessDCmotorusesmagnetichallcellsandmagnetstoconvertdirectcurrentinto steps.ACmotorssuchastheinductionmotor,squirrelcagemotor,hysteresissynchronousmotorandmanyother motorsusethelinefrequencyof60hertzfortheirsteps.Eachalternationofthesinewaveisastep. Inthe1930sand1940s,HaydonmanufacturingCompanywasmakingclockmotorsandtimingmotors.During WorldWarII,theyweremakingDCmotorsusedinaircraft,tanks,submarinesandavarietyofportablemilitary equipment.Inthe1960sHaydonbegantomakesteppingmotors.Today,HaydonKerkMotionSolutions,Inc.isa recognizedworldwideleaderinpermanentmagnetandhybridsteppingmotorsandlinearactuators.Theyhaveseveral patentsrelatedtosteppingmotors.

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