18-03-2022 | Nidec | Subs & Systems
Nidec Corporation has produced a series of linear vibration motors with what is claimed to be the smallest-class diameters in the world (the 'CA series').
Several smartphones and smartwatches equipped with a vibration motor are available commercially nowadays. Though in the past, its primary purpose was to vibrate in a particular pattern to notify users of an incoming message, the motor has been equipped with a function in recent years to control vibrations to make users feel as if they were pressing a button. Vibration motors are now expected to be installed in portable devices including stylus pens and VR units like Smart Goggles/Gloves. The company has developed this group of ultra-small cylindrical vibration motors created based on larger conventional vibration motors to accommodate such demands.
The series comprises three vibration motors, CA3, CA7-VH5, and CA7-VH9, all of which are intended to be built into stylus pens. The motors produce a tactile sense by replicating the way a pen tip vibrates when writing words to make users feel as if they were writing on paper. Also, it can offer motors that satisfy customers' needs with the motors' sizes and vibration strength designed to differ by type.
The vibration motors were developed based on the company's magnetic circuit design technology, which was cultivated in its design of HDD spindle motors. The motors consume just 1.3mW to 6mW of electricity, which is around one-fiftieth of the power consumed by the vibration motors in general smartphones (data based on a comparison with its standard vibration motors). This high-level energy efficiency lessens the necessary capacity of the battery to be installed in smartphones and helps us trim their weights.
