Baldor recently added three higher power AC motor drives to its product line. The Motiflex e100 drives are Ethernet-compatible with Powerlink protocol, and they extend to a much wider range of continuous and heavy-duty applications, including printing, papermaking, converting, textiles, plastics and steel production.

MotiFlex e100 drives can be used in both centralized control and distributed “intelligent drive” scenarios. Each drive features an Ethernet hub, enabling systems to be built using a simple daisy-chain connection scheme. The high-speed and deterministic Ethernet Powerlink network, operating at 100 Mbits/sec, cuts cabling substantially, and can greatly reduce the costs of building large multi-axis systems.

According to the company’s press release, the development team has worked over three years on MotiFlex. The resulting design incorporates a large range of features that serve to liberate high-power machinery and improve machine performance.

“Baldor now has the broadest range of Powerlink-compatible single- and three-phase drives in the industry, giving a majority of industrial system builders the platform to redesign their machinery,” says Baldor's David Greensmith.  “Powerlink offers a very versatile control platform that can improve performance substantially, while simultaneously simplifying the control architecture and reducing costs.”