PCB Motor

The printed circuit board (PCB) motor consists of armature (rotor) in the form a disc which is
made up of non-magnetic and non-conducting material. Hence, the printed circuit board
motor is also called as disc armature motor. The basic construction of a printed circuit board
motor is shown in the figure.

The whole armature winding of the motor and the commutator are printed in copper on both
sides of the rotor disc. The brushes are placed around the inner periphery of the rotor disc.

The disc armature of the motor is placed between two sets of permanent magnet poles which
are mounted on ferromagnetic end plates. This entire configuration of the motor provides
axial magnetic flux through the armature. The currents flowing radially through the rotor disc
interacts with the axial flux to produce the torque that rotates the rotor.

Working

(a) Constructional Details

It is a low-voltage DC motor which has its armature (rotor) winding and commutator printed
on a thin disk of non-magnetic insulating material. This disk-shaped armature contains no iron
and etched-copper conductors are printed on its both sides. It uses permanent magnets to
produce the necessary magnetic field. The magnetic circuit is completed through the flux-
return plate which also supports the brushes. Brushes mounted in an axial direction bear
directly on the inner parts of the armature conductors which thus serve as a commutator.
Since the number of armature conductors is very large, the torque produced is uniform even
at low speeds. Typical sizes of these motors are in the fractional and sub fractional
horsepower ranges. In many applications, acceleration from zero to a few thousand rpm can
be obtained within 10 milliseconds.

(b) Speed Control

The speed can be controlled by varying either the applied armature voltage or current.
Because of their high efficiency, fan cooling is not required in many applications. The motor
brushes require periodic inspection and replacement. The rotor disk which carries the
conductors and commutator, being very thin, has a limited life. Hence, it requires replacing
after some time.

TYPES OF PCB MOTOR

There are two types of PCB Motor:

1. Axial Flux Motor

2. Radial flux motor
Advantages of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Motor

The advantages of a printed circuit board motor are given as follows:

• The printed circuit board motor can provide quick acceleration and retardation as it
has a very low inertia.
• The printed circuit board motor has high torque-inertia ratio.
• Since the rotor of the printed circuit board motor is made up of non-magnetic
material, there is no cogging torque.
• A printed circuit board motor has a high overload current capacity.
• Since there is no iron in the rotor of the printed circuit board motor, the inductance
of the armature is low.
• In PCB motors, the armature current builds up very quickly and the full-load torque is
developed almost instantly.
• The lower inductance of the armature of the printed circuit board motor reduces the
sparking and significantly increases the brush life.
• The motor being of low voltage design, produces minimum of radio and TV
interference.
• The Speed-Torque characteristics of a PCB motor is linear.
• There are a large number of armature conductors, hence, the torque of a printed
circuit board motor is smooth down to near-zero speed.

Disadvantages of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Motor

The disadvantages of a printed circuit board motor are given as follows:

• The printed circuit board motor is restricted to working at low voltages only.
• The life of armature is very short.
• It is suited for intermittent duty-cycle only because the motor overheats in a very short
time as there is no iron to absorb excess heat.
• It is liable to burn out if stalled or operated with wrong supply voltage.
Applications of Printed Circuit Board Motor

The characteristics and the high torque to inertia ratio of the printed circuit board motors
make them suitable for the control applications. The PCB motors have a wide range of
applications, some of them are given as follows −

• PCB motors are used in high-speed tape readers

• PCB motors are used in oscillographs
• PCB motors are used in X-Y recorders
• PCB motors are used in layer winders
• PCB motors are used in point-to-point tool positioners i.e., as positioning servomotors
• PCB motors are used in robotics and other servo drives.
• PCB motor with an in-built optical position encoder is used in place of the stepper
motor.
• The PCB motors are also suitable for some heavy-duty drives like lawn-mowers, heavy
driven vehicles, etc.