This section provides overview, applications, and principles of dc motors. Also, please take a look at the list of 59 dc motor manufacturers and their company rankings.
Table of Contents
A DC motor is a motor that runs on a DC power source. It generally refers to brushed motors.
There are two types of electricity: DC and AC. DC power is a power source in which the direction of the current is always in one direction, while AC power is a power source in which the direction of the current is periodically switched. In English, DC stands for Direct Current, and AC is Alternate Current. They are called DC power supply and AC power supply, respectively. Therefore, a DC motor refers to a motor that uses a DC power supply.
DC motors are widely used for both industrial and general applications. For general use, they are used in radio-controlled toys and automobile models. The DC motors are often used in toys because of its simple and inexpensive structure and because it can be powered by dry cell batteries.
In industrial applications, DC motors has been used in train running motors since the 1800s. In recent years, DC motors has been used in running motors for electric vehicles and motors for HDD rotation.
Inside DC motors, a rotor with a coil wound around it is installed in the center, and a stator polarized into N and S poles is installed around it.
When an electric current is applied to the DC motors, a magnetic field is generated in the coil according to Fleming's law. When the magnetized rotor poles and stator poles are the same, a repulsive force is induced, and when they are opposite poles, an attractive force is induced, causing the rotor to rotate.
Reversing the current flowing through the rotor changes the attractive and repulsive forces, which are repeated alternately to rotate the rotor in a fixed direction. The power required for magnetization is provided by a conductor brush in contact with a part called the commutator.
Due to its simple structure, a motor with high output torque efficiency can be manufactured at a low cost. However, because the commutator and brushes rotate in contact with each other, the brushes wear out. Therefore, for small brushed DC motors, brush life is motor life.
Permanent magnet DC motors and electromagnet field DC motors are the two main types of DC motors, although brushless DC motors has also become available in recent years.
Permanent magnet DC motors use a permanent magnet in the stator. The rotor is an electromagnet consisting of an iron core and a coil. Since there is no need to energize the stator, the structure is simple, and control is easy.
The stator and rotor are both electromagnets in the electromagnet field type DC motors. Since the field flux increases as the current to the stator increases, these motors have been used in medium to large-sized DC motors.
Brushless DC motors use permanent magnets in the rotor. The displacement of the rotor is read by a magnetic sensor and controlled by changing the magnetic field generated by the stator. While brushless motors have a long service life and are easy to maintain due to the absence of brushes, they require the use of a power supply dedicated to brushless DC motors.
The difference between DC motors and AC motors is the power source: DC motors are driven by a DC power source, while an AC power source drives AC motors. The features of each are listed below.
The power supply provided by the power company is AC power. When driving DC motors from an AC power source, a rectifier (converter) is used to convert it into a DC power source.
*Including some distributors, etc.
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Ranking as of January 2023 in United States
Derivation MethodRank | Company | Click Share |
---|---|---|
1 | Windtech, Inc. | 16.7% |
2 | Addison Electric | 16.7% |
3 | Nidec Motors | 16.7% |
4 | Dietz Electric Co., Inc. | 16.7% |
5 | Heidrive | 16.7% |
6 | NIDEC SERVO | 16.7% |
Ranking as of January 2023 Globally
Derivation MethodRank | Company | Click Share |
---|---|---|
1 | Windtech, Inc. | 16.7% |
2 | Addison Electric | 16.7% |
3 | Nidec Motors | 16.7% |
4 | Dietz Electric Co., Inc. | 16.7% |
5 | Heidrive | 16.7% |
6 | NIDEC SERVO | 16.7% |
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the dc motor page as of January 2023. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
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