Portescap

Portescap product lines

Who Portescap is

Portescap makes miniature motors and the gearheads and accessories that go with them. Its motors are typically 10 to 40 mm in diameter and are used where size, efficiency and smooth running matter more than raw power. Typical examples are surgical hand pieces, infusion pumps, laboratory instruments, aerospace mechanisms and small robots. Its core technologies are coreless (ironless-rotor) brush DC motors, slotless brushless DC motors and disc-magnet stepper motors.

For OEM designers, Portescap is a component supplier with configurable windings, gearhead and encoder combinations, published specification sheets and CAD models. It also runs an online store for sample quantities.

History and ownership

Portescap says it originated in Switzerland and has more than 70 years of experience in motion solutions, with a global manufacturing footprint and application centres worldwide. Its current website links to Regal Rexnord and the Regal Rexnord Business System, and presents Portescap as part of that group. An older company page on the same domain still refers to the Fortive Business System. The pages we could read did not give a founding year, headquarters address or headcount. A timeline is published only as an image, so we have not listed milestones.

Product portfolio

Brushless DC motors

• The 22ECS Ultra EC slotless motor is a 22 mm, 140 g motor with about 45 mNm continuous torque. It reaches up to 60,000 rpm and 180 W of continuous mechanical power at 24 V, and is rated from −30 to +100 °C. The Ultra EC family also includes 16, 30 and 35 mm sizes.
• The 40ECP slotless motor is 40 mm in diameter and 44 mm long. It gives 120 mNm continuous and 1.1 Nm peak for 2 seconds, with up to 30,000 rpm and about 150 W continuous at 18 V, and runs without cogging. A fan-cooled 40ECP55 is also offered.
• Portescap also makes slotted flat brushless motors and surgical motor solutions.

Brush DC coreless motors

• The Athlonix 22N78 is a 22 mm precious-metal-commutated motor. It gives 12.9–15.7 mNm continuous and 10–13 W, with up to 91% efficiency and windings from 6 to 48 V. The Athlonix family also includes 10, 12 and 16 mm motors, such as the graphite-brush 16DCP.
• The 35GLT high-performance motor is 35 mm in diameter. It gives up to 160 mNm continuous and 150 W, with 10,000 rpm and 13-segment graphite-copper commutation, in windings from 24 to 90 V.

See how to select a DC motor for brush versus brushless trade-offs.

Stepper motors

The can-stack range runs from the 15.5 mm 15M020D to the 59 mm 60L024B, with step angles from 18° down to 3.6° and holding torques of about 4 to 170 mNm. Disc-magnet motors run from 10 mm (P010) to 74 mm (P760), up to 325 mNm on the P760. Their thin magnet disc gives a low-inertia rotor for fast stepping. Portescap also lists hybrid and linear steppers. See how to select a stepper motor.

Gearheads

• The R22 planetary gearhead has a plastic housing and comes in 1 to 4 stages, with ratios from 5.75:1 to 1,090:1. It handles up to 0.6 Nm continuous and 2 Nm static, at 50–80% efficiency.
• The R22HT is the all-metal high-torque version, with ratios from 10.9:1 to 850.3:1, up to 3.7 Nm continuous and 4.2 Nm static, at 62–82% efficiency.

Miniature planetary gearheads have degrees, not arcminutes, of backlash (1.2–3° average on the R22 family), so they suit speed reduction more than precision positioning. See how to select a planetary gearbox.

Technologies

Coreless rotors. A self-supporting copper winding with no iron core gives low inertia, no cogging and high efficiency, and lets the motor accelerate fast. The trade-off is lower thermal capacity, so watch continuous torque at high duty.

Slotless brushless. Slotless stators remove cogging and allow very high speeds, which suits surgical drills and saws. Portescap’s figures reach 60,000 rpm.

Ratings. Portescap specifies “continuous torque max” at 25 °C ambient. Derate it for enclosed housings and higher temperatures.

Brush or brushless at 22 mm?

Portescap’s own figures show the trade-off at one diameter. The 22 mm Athlonix 22N78 brush motor gives up to 15.7 mNm continuous at up to 10,000 rpm. The 22 mm 22ECS60 slotless brushless motor gives about 45.9 mNm continuous at up to 60,000 rpm and 180 W, but needs an electronic drive and commutation sensors. Brush motors run from a simple DC supply and suit low-cost, low-duty devices. Brushless motors suit long life and high speed.

Industries served

Portescap lists aerospace, industrial power tools, infusion systems, medical, life sciences, robotics and surgical power tools. See medical and laboratory, surgical and medical robotics and aerospace.

Global and UK presence

Portescap sells through a distributor network, searchable through the distributor locator on its website, and an online store. We could not read a UK address or contact details on the pages available to us, so we have not listed one.

Specify Motion is independent of Portescap and is not a distributor for the company. Our engineers can help source Portescap products or propose equivalents from our supply network on published figures; see find a replacement or the servo and stepper motors hub.

Portescap servo motors

DC servo motor

22ECS Ultra EC slotless BLDC

22 mm slotless brushless DC motor from the Ultra EC range: about 45 mNm continuous, up to 60,000 rpm and 180 W continuous mechanical power at 24 V, rated −30 to +100 °C.

DC servo motor

40ECP slotless BLDC

40 mm slotless brushless DC motor with no cogging: 120 mNm continuous, 1.1 Nm peak for 2 s, up to 30,000 rpm and about 150 W continuous at 18 V; a fan-cooled 40ECP55 is also offered.

DC servo motor

Athlonix 22N78 coreless brush DC

22 mm coreless brush DC motor with precious-metal commutation: 12.9–15.7 mNm continuous, 10,000 rpm maximum continuous speed, 10–13 W and up to 91% efficiency, wound for 6–48 V.

DC servo motor

35GLT high-performance brush DC

35 mm high-power coreless brush DC motor with 13-segment graphite-copper commutation: up to 160 mNm continuous, over 1.4 Nm stall torque, 10,000 rpm and 150 W continuous, wound for 24–90 V.

Portescap gearboxes

Planetary gearbox

R22 planetary gearhead

22 mm plastic-housed planetary gearhead for miniature motors, 1 to 4 stages and ratios 5.75:1 to 1,090:1, up to 0.6 Nm continuous and 2 Nm static torque, 50–80% efficiency.

Planetary gearbox

R22HT planetary gearhead

All-metal high-torque version of the 22 mm planetary gearhead, ratios 10.9:1 to 850.3:1 in 2 to 4 stages, up to 3.7 Nm continuous and 4.2 Nm static with 62–82% efficiency.