Basics: The servo motor – how it works, cooling and areas of application

Since servo motors are generally subjected to high loads, effective cooling is indispensable in many cases. This can be implemented in different ways:

• Air
• Oil
• Water 

Air cooling can be an option, but has the disadvantage of taking up a relatively large amount of space and is maintenance-intensive, due to the regular cleaning required. Failure to clean leads to reduced cooling capacity and the machine can fail.

A water-cooled servo motor solution can be implemented with significantly less space and also requires less maintenance. In addition, a compact, side-by-side arrangement of multiple servos is possible, without heating each other with the waste heat produced. The same applies to cooling with oil, although here the cooling capacity is somewhat lower.

A so-called servo controller is used as the intermediary between the control unit and the motor. Due to the way in which it functions, the component is also known as a servo converter or servo amplifier and controls the torque, speed and position of the motor with high precision. It forms the link between the software user interface and the motor and converts the signals accordingly.

The servo motor and the advantages of how it works

Above all, the servo drive offers a high level of precision and can actuate and hold defined positions , without losing torque. This enables very fast accelerations and decelerations at certain speeds. The machines or robots driven by the servo motor can therefore implement movements very dynamically and are ideally suitable for complex work.

The areas of use cover almost all areas of the manufacturing industry. In particular:

• plastics industry
• packaging machines
• textile processing
• printing technology
• e-mobility
• shipbuilding
• energy technology
• metalworking
• pharmaceutical industry

Plastics industry

Plastics processing can profit particularly well from the way in which servo motors work. They are used not only for injection casting but are now also extensively established in additive processes. Especially in the production of plastic parts in all areas of mobility, maximum precision is required, which can be implemented optimally with the right servo system.

Textile processing

Weaving and knitting, and many other types of textile processing require precise and dynamic machines to achieve a good end result. The way in which a servo drive works is also ideal for this, since not only the necessary precision is achieved, but also the characteristic low maintenance enables more economic processes.

Printing technology

The drive systems for paper and printing machines also benefit highly from the servo motor. Individually tailored solutions can be implemented here for the diverse requirements of the printing industry.

The way in which the servo motor works offers a great deal of flexibility, precision and reliability with high cost efficiency. It can actuate and hold positions, torque and speeds precisely and in fractions of a second. This enables complex machine actions, which can also implement difficult production processes and are therefore particularly suitable for robotics and automation solutions.

Baumüller servo motors optimize the already efficient function of this type of drive. In combination with the appropriate servo controller, complex, dynamic system solutions, individually adapted to the circumstances can be realized.