There really isn't anything to fear when utilizing high performance frameless servo motors in your machine design. Many engineers get concerned about "air gaps" and "concentricity" when discussing frameless servo motors - but there is little to be afraid of! In applications where an embedded motor design makes sense, the application shaft that the frameless motor will be mounted on will already be machined to tolerances well within the range required for robust servo driven performance. Concentricity, run out, and axial play all must be considered in the machine mechanism itself and will typically be well in range for the KBM motor family. With the use of high energy magnet materials, the need for an ultra-tight air gap is out the window! Frameless motor designs can even tolerate slight axial and radial misalignment and still perform extremely well. So there is no reason to worry about mounting a frameless motor.
Why would I want to go through all that trouble though? There certainly is a bit more work when considering mounting a frameless servo motor into your machine mechanism than simply choosing a "regular" framed servo motor, but what if… What if you needed to significantly reduce the backlash or "lost motion" and greatly improve machine bandwidth or performance? What if you have very limited space, limited real estate to work with, and you still need the performance of a servo motor? What if you wanted to improve efficiency in your machine design, gaining more power in a smaller, more efficient package? What if you wanted to eliminate excessive mechanical components that constantly give you maintenance headaches? These are just a few reasons why it just might be worth it to consider using a high performance servo motor design like the frameless KBM family on your next machine project.
We have some practical guidelines available for mounting frameless motor components into your machine design. The use of Bonding or Clamping & Bolting techniques is available for your review and discussion to your specific application.
After all - there's nothing to be afraid of anymore!
Tell us about a time you used a frameless device to solve a particularly tough problem…