(posted 09/28/2009)

West Chester, PA, -- Athlonix™ high-power density brush DC motors from Portescap have been named a 2009 Design News Golden Mousetrap Award Finalist in the Motion Control/Automation category.  Athlonix motors feature an energy efficient coreless design with an optimized self supporting coil and magnetic circuit, which delivers maximized power density and sustained endurance over the life of the motor. 

"Design News congratulates the winners and finalists of the 2009 Golden Mousetrap Awards for the great work they've done to develop new and innovative products for design engineers. These products showcase the highly imaginative ways that today's engineers are ‘building a better mousetrap,’ and we thank them for their contributions," says Karen Field, Editor-in-Chief, Design News.

For more than two decades, the Design News Awards Program has recognized engineering innovation and creativity in product design. This year, Golden Mousetrap awards were given in four major categories: Electronics, Motion Control/Automation, Hardware/Software, Materials/Fastening/Joining/Assembly, and 20 subcategories. Editor Jennifer Roy gathered a record number of entries, distributing them to Design News beat editors for judging. Based on their expertise in each technology area, 71 finalists and 23 winners were selected. 

Athlonix are compact, high-efficiency motors that deliver unrivaled speed-to-torque performance in a compact, lighter weight package (15-53 grams depending on frame size) with output power up to 9 watts.  They are available in 12, 16 and 22 mm frame sizes. 

“Athlonix motors are powered by a proprietary self supporting coil, whose design optimization flows from more than 70 years of Portescap research and design.  The result is maximized magnetic flux and turn-density for a given diameter, within the Athlonix motor platform,” says Anil Alex, Brush DC Product Line Manager at Portescap.  “In contrast, typical self supporting coils have inherent turn-density limitations that affect the magnetic flux density in the magnetic circuit, which further limits power output and endurance of the motor,” he says.

The optimized coil design leads to a low motor regulation factor with energy efficiency approaching 90%, depending on the motor load conditions.  With such high efficiency, users benefit from increased performance over the life of the motor, in a more compact and lighter weight package. Additionally, less power-draw helps facilitate reduced cost-of-ownership with increased value-in-use for the end-user. 

About Design News
Design News, founded in 1946, is the leading technical resource for design engineers, who create everything from planes, trains and automobiles to cellular phones, medical devices, and, well, just about every other product on the planet.

About Portescap
Portescap offers the broadest miniature and specialty motor product line in the industry, encompassing coreless brush DC, brushless DC, stepper can stack, gearheads, digital linear actuators, disc magnet and hybrid technology.  Portescap products have been solving diverse motion control needs in medical, semiconductor, HVAC/R, aerospace and commercial applications for more than 70 years. Portescap has manufacturing centers in the United States, St. Kitts, Malaysia, and India and utilizes a Global Product Development network with research and development centers in the United States, India, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Company Contact     
Nicole Monaco      
Portescap      
610.235.5496      

Agency Contact
Chris Nelson   
Longren & Parks  
612.237.4443

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