Parker Hannifin has developed a servo drive which, it claims, is the first to combine three servo power stages in one chassis. The company says that its TPD-M drive will cut assembly, configuration and operating costs, while improving productivity, performance and safety.

The drive, which evolved from a project for a packaging OEM, is aimed at centralised automation applications where multiple drives would normally be used. By replacing up to three individual drives, the new system can save space and weight and cut component costs because just one set of cables, connectors, filters, heatsinks and braking resistors is needed. Programming time is reduced because only one drive needs to be configured, while system complexity is minimised, easing maintenance.

The drive (above) can handle continuous currents of up to 15A shared between the axes (for example, 5+5+5A or 8+5+2A) or peak currents of up to 30A. Single- and twin-axis versions are also available. The individual axes can share energy via a DC coupling circuit, resulting in a much smaller central braking resistor – or, in some cases, no resistor at all.

The three-axis drives include CANopen and EtherCat interfaces, and support various forms of feedback, including sin/cos, Hall sensors, Resolvers and encoders. A Safe Stop function is built in. Communication for parameterisation and set-up takes place via a central USB interface. The drives can be configured and replaced without needing a PC, by using a plug-in SD memory card.