Nidec CA series linear vibration motors

A number of portable devices are equipped with a vibration motor nowadays. Though in the past its primary purpose was to vibrate in a certain pattern to notify users of an incoming message, the motor has been equipped with a function in recent years to control vibrations to make users feel as if they were pressing a button. Nidec has now developed the CA series of ultra-small cylindrical vibration motors based on larger conventional vibration motors.

The series comprises three vibration motors — the CA3, CA7-VH5 and CA7-VH9 — all of which are mainly intended to be built into stylus pens. By replicating the way a pen tip vibrates when writing words, the motors recreate a tactile sense to make users feel as if they were actually writing on paper. Additionally, with the motors’ sizes and vibration strength designed to differ by type, the company is able to propose motors that satisfy each user’s needs.

The vibration motors were developed based on Nidec’s magnetic circuit design technology, which was cultivated in the company’s design of HDD spindle motors. The CA series motors consume only 1.3 to 6 mW of electricity, said to be ~1/50th of the power consumed by the vibration motors installed in general smartphones. This high-level energy efficiency reduces the required capacity of the battery to be installed in the smartphones, and helps to trim their weight.