Thank you for the references on Linear Motors. Appreciate your taking the time to chase them down and post them.
Many years ago, I was involved in some Linear Induction Motor applciations...
I wanted to be sure that what you referred to as a "Linear" motor was indeed the same thing... or some newer technology. Glad to see its the same.
JB, I don't believe that a Linear Induction Motor could ever be used to operate the ink jet cartridge carriage in an Ink Jet Printer.
Cost would be prohibitive.... both for the motor elements ... and for the controller.
Take a look at the Mitisubishi reference you posted.
The focus of the article is high speed drive capabilities of machine tools.... and Mitsubishi's high-gain linear servo drive system.
The application discussed in this paper is for a table drive. The LIM consists of 7 coils.... which are the stator of the motor... and are laid out in linear space along the direction of table travel. The rotor of the motor, is the Table itself.
With Ink Jet printers SELLING for under $100 US.... such a system as the Mitsubishi ...would RAW COST.... 40-50 times more than the printer sells for.
So, JB, while it might be technically feasible to control the ink jet cartridge carriage in a printer with a linear motor.... it is not practical. Kind of like using a Cruise Missle to kill a fly.
Stepper motors are quite small, quite inexpensive, and require inexpensive controllers and as I said earlier, have inherent positioning capabiity without the need to add ancillary positioning hardware.
You might take an opportunity to open up an ink jet printer and look at the physical components associated with the cartridge carriage mechanism. Then, see if you can find anything comprable in the LIM domain that would compete with it on performance and price....
