4.5V-33V stepper motor driver in ultra-small package

Toshiba has launched an ultra-small and highly integrated stepping-motor driver that helps miniaturise product designs and enhance reliability while cutting the bill of materials and time to market.

The new IC, TB67S549FTG, with an operating output voltage range from 4.5V to 33V, delivers an operating current of up to 1.2A. It is well suited for a wide range of constant current control stepper motor applications including those found in office automation, commercial and industrial equipment. It is also suited for surveillance cameras and projectors.

The integrated Advanced Dynamic Mixed Decay (ADMD) system guarantees an efficient PWM current control under all conditions. With the integrated clock interface up to 32 micro steps can be realised.

Housed in a 4mm x 4mm QFN24 package, the TB67S549FTG occupies only 64% of the mounting area of its predecessor IC and hence saves circuit-board space and costs. Moreover, the internal monitoring circuitry for constant-current control does not require an external current sense resistor, and the charge-pump capacitor is also integrated, thereby further reducing circuit size as well as component count.

Despite the smaller package size, the ON-resistance of the motor driver output block is at only 1.2Ω (typical), thereby keeping power dissipation low and enabling greater efficiency. In addition, the TB67S549FTG has a power-saving sleep mode that cuts the current consumption to below 1μA making it widely usable for 12V/24V power supply applications.

The TB67S549FTG also integrates a complete set of protection functions, including overcurrent detection, thermal shutdown, and undervoltage lockout.

Alongside the stepping motor IC, a compact evaluation board is available. Created in partnership with MIKROE, the Stepper 12 Click board is supported by a mikroSDK compliant library and simplifies software development.