Y Corp. manufactures automatic biochemical analyzers. The company had recently been developing a new model with the aim of shortening the measurement cycle time. In the development, they were having a hard time finding a motor for it. Mr. M, of the company's product development department, shared his challenges:
"In the automatic biochemical analyzers used in hospitals and laboratories, drop-size amounts of reagents are dropped into a test tube containing specimen. As such, the motor used inside them is required to move smoothly with low vibration. In addition, heat generation may affect the specimen, so it is necessary to suppress heat as much as possible. And another important thing is that there should not be any loud noise.
With the new model we were developing, we aimed to further increase the inspection speed, while also meeting these requirements. However, when we tried a two-phase stepping motor capable of producing high torque at high speeds, it caused vibration and affected the accuracy of reagent dropping. What was more, the noise had increased."
The company discussed this result with their motor supplier and asked for their suggestions for a replacement motor, but they did not have a suitable one in their lineup. Mr. M had to start over from the motor selection stage, which overwhelmed him.
To gather information, Mr. M visited a trade show, where he dropped by the SANYO DENKI booth and mentioned his problems. Later, a SANYO DENKI sales representative visited Y Corp. and proposed a custom model of their SANMOTION F5 5-phase stepping motor.
"SANYO DENKI recommended a custom motor tailored to our operating conditions using a high-efficiency, low-heat motor as a base. In response to our demand for high torque at high speeds, they changed the winding to meet our speed requirement. They also proposed to increase the mechanical rigidity of the motor as a countermeasure against vibration and noise. These proposals were something that no other company dared to provide, and felt really helpful," recalled Mr. M.
Once a motor prototype was ready, he soon integrated it in the new analyzer model and carried out in-house testing.
"Compared to the motor used in the previous analyzer model, the new motor had achieved a 20% reduction in heat generation and a nearly 50% increase in torque at high speeds. As a result, we successfully reduced the measurement time significantly and completed the development of an automatic biochemical analyzer that met the target performance. We really appreciate the excellent motor that SANYO DENKI provided. We believe that it will also help boost the performance of other machines in our future developments," he said enthusiastically.
