Engineering Notes by Oriental Motor

Flexible Mounting Options for Compact Stepper Motor Drivers

[fa icon="calendar"] Originally posted on Feb 1, 2019 11:00:00 AM
Last updated on December 21, 2023 / by Johann Tang

Johann Tang

A driver is a must-have for any stepper motor.  In a stepper motor system, a driver controls how the motor operates based on signals received from the controller.  It is responsible for sending current through various phases in a stepper motor and also regulates the motor current (torque) and step resolution.  With recent trends of minimizing machine footprint, finding space to install drivers could be challenging.

Standard Stepper Motor System Configuration

Stepper system-1

Oriental Motor is aware of this trend, and we have designed our standard stepper motor drivers with various mounting options to fit more machine designs.

 CHALLENGE 1  Mount a Driver Vertically with Horizontal Connections 

 SOLUTION  Use a Right Angle Driver with Mounting Plate 

With this type of driver, the connectors face outward (parallel to the circuit board).  Mating connectors are provided.  A right angle driver with Mounting plate can also be used with a driver cover and DIN rail mounting bracket.

Mount a Driver Vertically with Horizontal Connections

Right Angle Driver with Mounting Plate

 

Right Angle Driver with Installation Plate 


Accessories
Driver Cover DIN Rail Mounting Bracket

Driver Cover
DIN rail mounting bracket

 CHALLENGE 2  Mount a Driver Horizontally with Vertical Connections 

 SOLUTION  Use a Driver with Mounting Plate 

With this type of driver, the connector faces upward (perpendicular to the circuit board).  Mating connectors are provided.

Mount a Driver Horizontally with Vertical Connections

Driver with Mounting Plate

 

Driver with Installation Plate

 CHALLENGE 3  Mount a Driver Directly on a Metal Plate 

 SOLUTION  Use a Driver without Mounting Plate 

With this type of driver, the connectors face upward (perpendicular to the circuit board).  Several design improvements, such as our high efficiency FETs, eliminate the requirement of a heat sink.  Mating connectors are provided.

Mount a Driver Directly on a Plate

Driver without Mounting Plate

 

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 CHALLENGE 4  Mount a Driver Directly to a PCB 

 SOLUTION  Use S-Type Drivers 

This type of driver is great for engineers who prefer their own custom designs and can be installed right onto a printed circuit board (PCB) either by pin socket or direct solder.  A vertical S-type and a horizontal S-type are available with either I/O only or SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus communication.

Mount a Driver Directly to a PCB S-Type Driver (available with SPI bus)New call-to-action

To learn how our CVD drivers can help improve stepper motor performance, please click on your product of interest.  Oriental Motor offers the CVD drivers for 2-phase or 5-phase stepper motors.  While 2-phase is more common, 5-phase stepper motors can provide even lower vibration and noise.

CVD Drivers for 2-Phase Stepper Motors CVD Drivers for 5-Phase Stepper Motors

For a brief introduction of the CVD driver's features, here's a quick video.

  • Smooth Drive full-time advanced microstepping
  • High efficiency FETs
  • Digital current setting
  • Vibration demonstration at resonant frequencies
  • Mounting types

Need help selecting the right driver model for your stepper motor?

Contact Us

Topics: Stepper Motors, VIDEOS, Application Examples

Johann Tang

Written by Johann Tang

Johann Tang is a Product Specialist at Oriental Motor USA Corp. Before joining the marketing team, he spent 15 years in sales, technical application support, and training of various types of fractional horsepower electric motors, gear motors, actuators, drivers, and controllers. If you have any questions, please feel free to use the live chat window, 1-800-GO-VEXTA (1-800-468-3982), or techsupport@orientalmotor.com, to reach our product support team. Johann can be reached via LinkedIn. Sorry, comments have been turned off.

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