SMAC NEWSLETTER Vol.127 "Cartridge" Actuator
The first quarter of 2018 is a busy time for SMAC’s design group. Here are some examples of what we are doing:
Cartridge actuator had a request from one very important customer for a very low moving mass actuator. Very low means less than 3 grams. Stroke 3 mm. Max force 1.5N.Application is consumer product testing. He wanted a virtually frictionless system.
This led us to flexures and diaphragms. And a venture into the world of voice coil speakers. This is a big world and has some interesting dynamics. Like cycle rates in the 1000’s of HZ. Very light moving masses. And cycle life 10X that of what we have achieved with linear guides (1 billion +).
Our design is cylindrical and has a coil with a moving mass of about 2 grams. Add the shaft and we are still under the 3 gram target. Acceleration is above 150 G. We are testing but expect a cycle rate exceeding 500hz. And a cycle life well beyond 1 billion. (Think of the speed of a mid range speaker and the cycle life of such a device!).
First samples delivered to the customer and more samples going to the sales areas. Should be very interesting for micro electronic pick and place. Maybe weaving. Who knows where else.
Stroke can go out to say 20mm. It can get smaller. It can have built-in controller. List price for the unit only maybe $200. Add the controller and you are at $350. (Patents are applied for).
●Quiet LCA25. Same customer, we are there finding and solving problems. This one is also for test but must be very quiet. Mechanical noise was removed by going to the cross roller and a non metallic shaft. Unit checked by the customer and mechanical side ok. Coil also made noise. Part of this is frequency, why do you think they call the voice coils? -but most came from coil wire vibration -a harp?
Coil was heavily glued and then impregnated. So, no way the wire can vibrate. Result -unit is at the customer for test.
This is what problem solving is about. Customer has an important need and cannot find an off the shelf solution. We solve the problem and get orders but also expand our product line. We can see many application for the cartridge. Actuator and for quiet actuators, like hospitals. And, without realizing it, we just broke the $300 barrier for unitprice.
●HT -up to 3 OEM applications.One in Japan for potential of 20K a year at $200. High torque at 3000 rpm is the target. Another is in Holland for a flat motor used in electronic assembly. 10k a year. Torque is important. A now a 3rd has shown up in Switzerland for tensioning. 20K Year. We are working hard on developing the tooling to make these and life testing. Our target is to release the 35 and 40 mm in June -followed by the 60 and 20 in August.
●VLC stage 1. This development is tracking as well. We have a simple controller designed for air cylinderish applications. High speed -5 micron encoder -opto iso I/o -and various communication busses. Firmware based on the LAC 1. Brush and Brushless. Very small. 24/48 6 amp peak. List price target $150. Should have this running at the distributor meetings.
Following this up with stage 2 -same specs as the high level LCA 1 but with brushless capability as well and a pricetarget of $300. Then stage 2 = 2 axis. $600.Lastly a stage 3 to meet the specs of the top end controllers on the market.
●LBL/LBR, the first LBR has shipped, cost down to customer of 35%. Since it has our HT we no longer need to use a gear, so we make as much money now at $1800 as we are making at $2800 with the gear, and aluminum housing and center pole etc. The 2nd LBR, for Capping in Japan, will be delivered in early April.
We are now into the 25 and 50 mm versions of the LBL. These will replace the LCA and it looks like the LBL25 will have same forces as the 50 and the 50 same forces as the LAL95. Price 25% less.
Paralleling this is our new “Stack” concept. Patents applied. This is a riff on solenoid valve stacks, which I know something about. We are making samples to show and will send these to the Area managers in April. These stacks, combined with the VLC controller, will enable us to sell banks of LBLs at very competitive pricing. A LBL25-025 that puts out 60 N at 1 Amp, combined with VLC, will go for something like $350 a unit when stacked.
So, that gets us down to a factor of 2 when comparing price to pneumatics. Its taken quite awhile to get here. We are conducting a survey to see what opportunities open up at this price level. Accelerations -using our new coil concept will be in the 150 G range. Cycle life 100M +. Quiet. Very repeatable. I expect much further inroads into Packaging as the LBL spreads.
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LCA25 、 LAC 1 、 HT 、 LBL 、 LBR 、 LCA 、 LBL25 、 LAL95 、 LBL25-025 、 MGR6 、 MGR5 |
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Supplier and Product Introduction |
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Please see the document for details |
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English Chinese Chinese and English Japanese |
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March 2018 |
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