ThinGap’s patented electromotive coil technology improves motor performance by eliminating the need for wire-wound stators with slotted laminations. Instead, precision-machined copper sheets provide the coil with structure, replacing the copper magnet wire and slotted laminations used in conventional motors. This allows higher copper packing density and a higher ratio of copper to total coil volume, while virtually eliminating the magnetic detents (cogging) caused by slotted laminations.
The ThinGap Embedded Motor offers a very flexible mechanical design. This gives mechanical designers new abilities to achieve a highlevel of integration with the surrounding mechanics, saving space and weight. Examples of this level of integration include:
Faster Time-To-Market
To facilitate design effort, the ThinGap Embedded Motor is available as either a Rotor/Stator set (only),
or as a complete motor with Rotor / Stator / Hub / Shaft / Mount. This allows designers to customize the
motor right from the very first prototype, rather than waiting for manufacturer modifications.
Easy Assembly
There are NO magnetic forces between the Rotor and Stator of the ThinGap Embedded Motor. This makes
assembly of an Embedded Motor MUCH easier. The Stator and Rotor can each be securely attached to
their respective mechanisms and then assembled if required.
Dual Motor Mounting
Two ThinGap Embedded Motors can be installed back to back, and coupled with a common shaft for more torque, or counter-rotating with an inner and outer (hollow) shaft.
Custom Shafts
Hollow, tapered, keyways, integral gears, splines, etc. – reducing parts count and increasing mechanical efficiency.
Custom Mounting To Outer-Rotating Rotor
The Rotor can be modified prior to final assembly to include a wide variety of mountings such as gears,
bearing stops, screw-fastened attachments, welded-on attachments, locating pin holes, fans, etc.
Flexible Stator Mounting
The Stator of the ThinGap Embedded Motor can be mounted from either side to accommodate an assembly sequence. The ThinGap Embedded Motor Stator can be attached using fasteners inserted from either side of the Stator base plate. Screws can be inserted from the inside of the Stator into threaded holes in a mounting plate or base, or the screws can be inserted from the base plate side and secured with nuts inside the Stator.
The ThinGap Embedded Motor offers very high power/weight ratios for several key reasons:
No Magnetic Saturation
- The basic technology used by ThinGap means that increases in current cause increases in torque, all the way to the thermal limit. Push the thermal limit back, and the available torque increases.
- Since both the inner and outer irons of the Rotor turn together, there are no eddy currents or hysteresis.
Physical Design Means Excellent Cooling
- The thin coil allows heat to reach the surface quickly.
- The coil is not backed by iron, allowing air flow over both sides of the coil.
- Airflow over the coil is excellent due to the rotation of both the outer and inner irons of the Rotor and magnets.
- The open-frame design allows easy entry and exit of fresh air.
Very High Power/Weight Ratios
- The ThinGap Embedded Motor Stator is very light in weight, since the copper is optimally placed.
- Superior air circulation (increasing with rpm) due to the open frame and rotating inner and outer irons allows higher current and torque - even over-driving.
- Torque increases with RPM up to high RPM, with continuous operating speeds of over 16,000 RPM.
The basic design of the ThinGap Embedded Motor makes far, far smoother motion possible than with any other motor we know of. Measured torque ripple is 102 lower than any other published data:
Magnetic Forces Are Limited
- Beyond “zero cogging” due to no eddy currents and no hysteresis.
- No radial Stator-to-Rotor forces to cause shaft wobble.
- The ThinGap design is very tolerant of mismatch in the relative axial position of the Rotor versus the Stator.
High Inertia Rotor
- Rotating both the outer and inner irons of the motor has the additional benefit of raising the inertia, especially on models where the magnets are outside the stator. The high inertia helps damp out any transients and provides smooth motion even in applications such as pumps where periodic mechanical forces are encountered.
Stator Physical Design
- The coil is not backed by iron, allowing excellent air flow over both sides of the coil.
- Airflow over the coil is excellent due to the rotation of the Rotor irons and magnets.
- ThinGap Embedded Motor Stators are far more consistent from unit-to-unit – no random effects due to the chance positioning of wires.
