TOKYO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 30, 2016 — Toshiba Corporation's (TOKYO:6502) Semiconductor & Storage Products Company today announced the launch of "TC78S122FNG," a bipolar 2-channel stepping motor driver offering a high voltage of 40V and current of 2.0A. Sample shipment starts today, with mass production scheduled to start in July 2016.

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TOSHIBA: a bipolar 2-channel stepping motor driver "TC78S122FNG" offering a high voltage of 40V and current of 2.0A. (Photo: Business Wire)

High speed, high performance motor drives are required for applications such as printers, surveillance cameras, office automation equipment, banking terminals such as ATMs, banknote identification machines, amusement machines, and home appliances. In parallel, the downsizing of equipment is being accelerated by customer demand for space-saving equipment with excellent design. Measures to reduce heat generated inside equipment and low power consumption of the overall unit are also growing in importance.

Toshiba’s new product has a 2-channel drive function in a two-in-one chip and is capable of running two stepping motors simultaneously. Space can be saved on circuit boards by integrating electronic components as 2-in-1 chips.

Because of the heat generated by the ICs themselves, the previous products could not achieve continuous operation in the driving current range of 2.0A motors that are used in many applications, including office equipment. The new product can simultaneously drive two channels by reducing the output resistance by 50% to cut heat generation^*1.

While the regulator circuit for the IC's internal logic in the previous products was in operation at stand-by, the new product can stop the regulator at stand-by, due to incorporation of a sleep function. Consequently, power consumption of the IC is reduced.

Moreover, the new product not only drives stepping motors, it also provides interface for driving brushed DC motors. This provides various combinations of stepping motors and brushed DC motors; for example one channel of stepping motor and two channels of brushed DC motors. By enhancing its product line-up, Toshiba offers a variety of selections to meet various requirements for motor drive applications.

Main Feature of New Product

1. Low heat generation
   Heat generation of the 2-channel simultaneous drive is reduced by low on resistance (0.6Ω or less, upper + lower).
2. Low vibration and low noise
   High-resolution motor driving technology of 1/4 steps (max.) and decay mode switching function for constant-current control are adopted to reduce vibration and noise.
3. Low power consumption
   A built-in sleep function by external pin control reduces the IC current consumption at stand-by.
4. Small package
   Heat treatment of the equipment and the module can be simplified by adopting a small and high heat radiation HTSSOP package. This can contribute to downsizing the IC and reduce the cost. Toshiba also plans to release a QFN package, which is a more compact package.
5. Build-in error detection circuits
   The new product incorporates a thermal shutdown and an overcurrent shutdown circuit. The safety and the reliability of the equipment are increased by the signals they output during equipment design.

Applications
Industrial equipment (surveillance cameras, banking terminals such as ATMs, office- and factory-automation equipment), amusement machines (pachinko and video slot machines), and home appliances (refrigerators and air conditioners)