Rotalink Limited

Rare earth magnet motors are an increasingly useful option, when machine builders need to meet the objectives of maintaining (or in some cases increasing) power output within a small (or smaller) footprint. With this in mind transmission and control specialists ROTALINK offer a rare earth motor/gearbox option within its DC Motor range on its 24mm RE2440 model.

Recognising the need for increased efficiency through time and cost savings, improving reliability and increasing final product quality are familiar objectives for all machine designers. These concepts are just as familiar to the world of hairdressing and the British manufacturer Foila International recently demonstrated this with its new ‘Foila Baby’ automated foil preparation machine for hair colouring - which not only ticks all of these boxes for professional hairdressing salons but is also creating a new trend as a ‘must have’ product within the high-end of the industry.

Rotalink has broadened its spur ovoid gearbox range with three new progressively sized and torque rated models that feature ultra-polymer gears and 4-point mounting with ball race front and rear support bearings - for competitively priced, high performance and low-noise miniature power transmission and positioning applications.

Rotalink takes a practical and unique approach to application solutions for miniature motors, mechatronics transmissions and controls which is exemplified in its design and manufacturing capabilities for customised assemblies used in parking and access control equipment. Like many miniature power transmission and actuator applications, motion component design for parking meter locking mechanisms, ticket transports, coin, cash and card handing systems, coin escrow units, and ticket guillotines are often characterised by the need for space efficiency, uncompromised reliability and competitive pricing.

Rotalink's newest and smallest miniature ovoid gearboxes are available in three build versions to suit both the price and the dynamic performance requirements of the maximum number of applications for mechatronics assemblies. The 310, 222 and 210 series gearboxes share the same pressed steel and zinc plated casing with a nominal volume of under 45 mm x 29 mm x 20 mm deep with 4-point face fixing but the design construction is modified for progressively higher torque and duty. The top rated 310 features an innovative spur and planetary gear arrangement in ultra polymer materials that is capable of an output torque of over 4 Nm.

Rotalink continues to expand its DC motor schedule with a new line of miniature brushless motors for nominal output torques to over 250 mNm at maximum efficiency and maximum power ratings to 270 W. The new BL brushless motors are very competitively priced and together with Rotalink's own innovative and uniquely designed precision gearboxes, motor feedback devices and motion controls, offer excellent price vs. performance for complete miniature power transmission solutions.

Since its launch in early 2009, Rotalink's Red Drive servo motor driver and controller has significantly lowered the cost barrier for brushed DC precision motion control. Now the innovative designer and manufacturer of miniature motors, transmissions and controls has launched a brushless version of Red Drive that offers the same easy-to-use flowchart based software and price-performance advantages of the brushed version. The new BLDC10A Brushless Red Drive has a 10A input current rating from a 12-24 VDC supply voltage and includes hall sensor inputs for brushless commutation, incremental encoder input and 27 programmable TTL level I/O pins for analogue and digital machine interfacing.

Rotalink has launched a range of high-torque brushed DC motors with neodymium rare earth magnets. The new RE series delivers at least twice the maximum shaft power of similar sized permanent magnet DC motors and are a cost effective option where increased dynamic performance and/or small size are important application factors. The low cogging design uses very thin and lightweight neodymium magnets with high density windings and a 6-slot core for smooth motion and an excellent torque to inertia ratio.

A new and revised full range catalogue from Rotalink includes several new products and additional technical information aimed at making an informed selection for highly cost competitive miniature power transmission systems and controls. The new resource covers performance specifications for three recently added DC motor technologies (rare earth, heavy case and brushless) as well as several new gearbox lines along with a completely new section on DC motor control - including new absolute encoders and a brushless version of Rotalink's flagship motion controller, Red Drive.