With Xerox stepper motor control technology, there is no need for designers to develop customized designs or to rely upon application notes to squeeze the maximum performance from existing hardware. This new Xerox technology offers a better way. An 80% reduction in control circuit power dissipation is achieved in typical stepper motor driver circuits when this patented technology is used.

Existing stepper motor driver circuitry uses diodes to circulate inductive currents. The forward voltage drop of these diodes approaches the motor’s resistive voltage.

Consequently the power dissipation within the diodes can approach the power consumed by the windings themselves. The new Xerox technology when used in combination with a low resistance power MOSFET reduces this power dissipation to a small fraction of the total required with conventional designs.

The Xerox technology was first applied to the design of a 2-ampere Xerox stepper motor. Total power wasted in the driver was reduced from 1.6 watts to 0.3 watts on a per motor basis with the use of the Xerox technology plus low resistance power MOSFETs. All heat sinks are eliminated and the board size is reduced.