Stepper Motor
Circuit Specialists carries superior quality NEMA stepper motors in multi-wire configurations at remarkably low prices. Stepper motors are generally used in computers, robotics, CNC machines — even gaming consoles. These brushless, synchronous electric motors are very reliable and are constructed with durability in mind, making them appropriate in a wide variety of environments. Our NEMA stepper motors are capable of high torque at low speeds.
A stepper motor is an electric motor that is brush-less and synchronous. It converts digital pulses into mechanical shaft rotations. Each rotation of a stepper motor is divided into a set number of steps, sometimes as many as 200 steps. The stepping motor must be sent a separate pulse for each step. The motor can only receive one pulse and take one step at a time and each step must be the same length. Since each pulse sent results in the motor rotating a precise angle, typically 1.8 degrees, the position of the stepper motor can be precisely controlled without any feedback mechanism. As the digital pulses from the controller increase in frequency, the stepper motor movement converts into a continuous rotation, with the velocity of the rotation directly proportional to the frequency of the control pulses. A stepper motor is widely used because of low cost, high reliability, high torque at low speeds and rugged construction that allows a stepping motor to be used in a wide environmental range.
Advantages of using a Stepping Motor:
A wide range of rotational speeds can be utilized with a stepping motor since the speed of a stepping motor is proportional to the frequency of the input pulses from your controller. Precise open-loop positional control is possible with a stepper motor without any feedback mechanism. Very low speed rotation is possible with a load that is coupled directly to the shaft of the stepping motor. A stepping motor is quite reliable because there are no contact brushes. Generally, the life of a stepper motor is determined by the life of the stepper motor bearing. A stepper motor is very good at starting, stopping and reversing direction. A stepper motor is very good in providing precise positioning and repeatability of movement. An energized stepping motor maintains full torque at standstill position
Stepper Motor Types:
There are three kinds of stepping motors: the permanent magnet stepping motor, the hybrid and variable reluctance stepper motors. Hyrbrid stepping motors offer the most versatility and combine the best characteristics of variable reluctance and permanent magnet stepper motors. The hybrid stepper motor is constructed with multi-toothed stator poles and a permanent magnet rotor. A standard hybrid stepper motor like the ones offered by Circuit Specialists, Inc. have 200 rotor teeth and rotate 1.8 degrees per step. A Hybrid stepper motor provides high static and dynamic torque and can run at very high step rates. Applications for a hybrid stepper motor include computer disk drives and cd players and CNC machines. A Hybrid stepping motor is also widely used in industrial and scientific applications. A Hybrid stepper motor is frequently used in robotics, motion control, automated wire cutting and even in high speed fluid dispensers."Step" Modes:Stepper motor "step modes" include Full, Half and Microstep. The type of step is dependent on the stepper motor driver used to control the stepper motor.
