Two directional motor

Simplifying mechanics allows movement over two axes.

A new technique enables horizontally-mounted linear motors to generate lift and lateral motion with just one unit. This technology could lower equipment costs by reducing the amount of motors needed for operations and by accelerating speed.
 
The Netherlands-based company, Philips Applied Technologies, developed the 'NForcer technology' that could simplify the mechanics of machines such as those used in pick-and-place equipment that are used on the assembly line.
 
Now, one motor can generate lift and lateral motion rather than existing linear motors relying on magnetic fields generated by current-carrying coils to move in one direction. Senior Scientist Georgo Angelis told The Engineer Online: “The beauty of this is that it requires no modification to existing motor components. You just need to re-position them slightly and drive them in an intelligent way.”
 
By shifting the position of the coils, the lower horizontal section of the coils also sat in the magnetic field achieving the 2D motion. It generated a force and motion in a vertical direction.
 
Angelis added: “It's obvious that you can generate force by bringing the downside of the coil into the magnetic field, but up until now this was always considered to be a parasitic force and so all linear motor manufacturers kept them outside the magnet. By getting the current to go through the coils in a more intelligent way we could decouple the two directions.”

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