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July 28, 2010

ShinMaywa develops "crash-proof air bearings" and "slotless motors" for air spindles

- Crash-free, smooth rotation -

ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd. (President and CEO: Tadashi Kaneki) announced today the development of "crash-proof air bearings" and "slotless motors" for high-speed, low-vibration air spindles, which are often used at the heart of rotation mechanisms for test and production equipment for hard disks and other types of disks. Preventing crashes as well as further increasing the speed of rotation, these new bearings and motors are featured in the top-level air spindles SPM30C and SPM28.

With the release of direct drive motors in 1983, ShinMaywa began catering to market demands for "high-precision rotation" required for hard disk test equipment and semiconductor and automobile production equipment. With the launch of the SPM30 air spindle in 2003, we now deliver air spindles whose rigidity and precision are among the best in the industry.

One drawback of conventional air spindles is that, when they are subject to overload or a foreign substance is introduced while in operation, the shaft and bearing make contact to cause a crash, and restoration takes time. In order to prevent this kind of crash, we have come up with "crash-proof air bearings." As the result, durability is improved against bearing crash due to discontinuation of air supply by power failure or due to disturbances.

Meanwhile, as the speed and capacity of hard disks increase, there has been a demand for test equipment fitted with air spindles that are capable of realizing even greater speed and smoother rotations.

Air Spindle "SPM30C"
Air Spindle "SPM30C"

Our "slotless motors" form a magnetic field with stator-core, cylindrical winding and magnets. This improvement in the winding structure, together with higher rigidity, minimizes cogging torque* and enhances speed control, thus achieving smoother rotation that is a notch above conventional models.

Rather than simply limiting their applications to hard disk test equipment, ShinMaywa plans to market its new offerings in the machine tool market and semiconductor production equipment market as well. We will also tap into our prowess in design and development of key components, including AC servo motors, air bearings, and drivers, to seek global opportunities as an all-round spindle manufacturer that is capable of offering cutting-edge technology.

These new offerings will be exhibited at "DISKCON JAPAN 2010" (July 29-30, 2010) and "DISKCON USA 2010" (September 9-10, 2010)

* Magnetic attraction produced between the electromagnetic steel plate and the magnet of the rotor when the rotor is operated without excitation of the motor.

1. Product features:
[SPM30C]
Applications: For equipment requiring high asynchronous rotational accuracy, such as head test equipment for hard disk drives
(1) The slotless motor minimizes cogging torque generated by conventional motors that have slots, thus achieving high rotational accuracy.
(2) The "crash-proof" function prevents the bearing from crashing even under abnormal circumstances, such as discontinuation of air supply.
(3) NRRO of 2nm and below maintained during high-speed rotation of 20,000 r/min and lower by our measurement standards
(4) Unbalance of 0.05gmm and below during high-speed rotation
(5) Compact design with a built-in motor and encoder
(6) Vacuum contact structure at the center of the bearing allows for installation of disks and other workpieces

[SPM28]
Applications: For precision rotation of disks in disk test equipment, etc.
(1) The "crash-proof" function prevents the bearing from crashing even under abnormal circumstances, such as discontinuation of air supply.
(2) Compact, lightweight, and high speed
(3) Class 10 (0.1μm) cleanness
(4) Vacuum contact structure at the center of the bearing allows for installation of disks and other workpieces.
* SPM28 does not come with a slotess motor.