New Motor Driver ICs for Printers, Copiers

Recently Allegro MicroSystems released the A4954, a new dual DMOS, full-bridge, motor driver IC specifically aimed at the office automation, consumer, and industrial markets for printers, copiers, and the like.

According to Allegro, the A4954 is “designed for pulse width modulated (PWM) control of two dc motors” and “is capable of peak output currents to ±2 A and operating voltages to 40 V.” This motor driver is offered in a low-profile 16-pin thin-shrink small-outline package, which is good for addressing both thermal and industrial design concerns. The A4954 includes internal circuit protection in the form of overcurrent protection, motor lead short to ground or supply, and thermal shutdown mode with hysteresis. Collectively, these features should allow engineers to improve on existing motor control designs.

From an application standpoint, this device seems to aim at market segments that are in transition. For example, office automation equipment often includes printers and copiers, and recently there has been some interesting news about the markets for each.

For example, in 2010 Canon told analysts and investors that the market for printers and copiers had finally hit bottom and was beginning a gradual recovery after economic concerns in the U.S. and around the globe had affected capital spending.

Some of that recovery was seen in financial reports from companies like Hewlett-Packard, which reported a 7% increase in printer revenues its fiscal first quarter.

As companies and consumers return to the market looking for these sorts of products, price, efficiency, and features should continue to be driving purchase factors, so that engineers will want to streamline their next generation of designs. Although something like a motor driver IC may seem relatively mundane, even small innovations can make a difference in new designs and the ability to market those designs.

Armando Roggio