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High-performance micro drives cover all bases

23 October, 2008

Mitsubishi’s D700 family of micro drives, first seen at the Hannover Fair earlier this year, are now available in the UK. Some models occupy almost 60% less volume than their predecessors (the D500 and S500 ranges) and Mitsubishi is hailing the new arrival as “the smallest high-performance drive on the market”.



The drives incorporate functions often associated with larger drives, such as the abilities to restart automatically after a power outage, to catch turning loads, and to handle large overloads (up to 200% for 0.5s) without tripping. The same drive is suitable for both high-efficiency and high-torque applications.

“We now have a single drive product that will cover all applications, from pumps and fans to conveyors and hoists,” says 
Mitsubishi’s UK drives manager, Guy Kennett. “We can guarantee optimum performance for every application whether it needs buckets of power for shifting heavy loads and providing surges of torque when needed, or the gentle touch for tweaking its settings to get maximum energy efficiency.”

The drives cover single-phase ratings from 0.1-2.2kW and three-phase from 0.4-7.5kW (with extensions to 15kW planned). They use sensorless vector control with an advanced energy-optimising algorithm.

An intelligent threshold control caters for applications where a drive is running with no output – such as a pump operating at minimum speed when no flow is required, or a conveyor running unloaded. In such cases, the drive can stop the motor and resume speed quickly when needed.

A built-in safe stop function responds to emergency stop inputs, removing power from the drive output without needing an external contactor.

The RoHS-compliant drives, which have a ten-year design life, monitor their own operation and warn when components such as capacitors, semiconductors and cooling fans need maintenance.

They support Modbus communications and incorporate analogue I/Os, allowing master-slave configurations. They can also be connected directly to graphic operator panels, which can be configured give colour-coded status displays.

The D700 drives can be mounted on DIN rails or side-by-side in panels. Widths range from 68-220mm and heights from 128-150mm.

The new drives are priced about 3.5% lower than their predecessors.