Premotec, based in Dordrecht in The Netherlands, joined the Allied Motion Group in 2004 but has its origins as far back as the 1950's when, as a major supplier to Philips Industries, it manufactured motors for audio equipment and other consumer products. Over the years, Premotec has gained benefit from the supporting motor technologies that were developed by Philips for the consumer audio market. Premotec may have changed from consumer product to industrial application supplier for Philips and other major organisations worldwide, but it is from this legacy that its wide range of advanced motor products continues to evolve.
Although the commercial distribution of vinyl record players peaked back in 1960's, Premotec's ac synchronous motors still grace the pages of on-line forums and chat rooms where hi-fi buffs discuss the relative merits of true sound reproduction - and sing the praises for the Premotec brand. As far as this particular community is concerned, these synchronous motors are the best available with the lowest audible noise, most reduced rumble and least torque ripple.
Philips had developed its own base technology for improving the characteristics of this simple motor technology and Premotec still manufactures the product for the high-end turntable market, with Mclennan taking a leading role in distributing these products throughout the world. For other applications where a precisely fixed speed and low mechanical noise is essential, these advantages are still sought.
During the 1970s, with the advent of lower cost electronics and a growing demand for portability, the compact cassette system began to dominate the market. Philips had developed dc brushed motor technologies for studio quality reel-to-reel recording machines and data storage equipment, which allowed the combination of fast rewind and smooth, constant speed playback, and applied it to this economical tape system.
The resulting core-less dc motors with low torque ripple characteristics became the norm for the best available transcription quality machines and the spin-off from these markets resulted in the Premotec CL series core-less motor. Available in power ratings from 3 to 25W, these motors continue to offer advantages over conventional brushed dc units, such as increased torque-to-inertia, low cogging and improved life.
Mclennan found its way with these products in professional and security audio recorders and high-end business machines. Even today the company supplies core-less motors for camera pan and tilt mechanisms, antenna positioning equipment and other servo applications for ticketing machines, card printers and cash dispensers, medical pumps and laboratory analytical equipment.
During the 1980s and 1990s, with the development of VCR and CD audio equipment, Philips was again prominent and introduced longer-life brushless motors into its consumer products, and millions of these motors were produced. The spin-off is the Allied Motion Premotec brushless outer rotor motor range, including the BL, which is available with continuous output torque to 450mNm and speeds of up to 10,000 rpm with encoders and a full selection of complementary planetary and spur gearboxes.
The external rotor and iron core stator design has exceptionally smooth motion and, supplied in an extremely compact package with case diameters from 21mm to 58mm, the BL series is available with or without integrated electronics for a complete motor and speed control package.