Parvalux
Encyclopedia
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
ed electric motors. Based in Wallisdown
Wallisdown
Wallisdown is a residential and commercial area situated partly in Bournemouth and partly in Poole, in southern England.- Geography :Wallisdown is situated on the border between Bournemouth and Poole...
, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
in southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The company name derives from the latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
"parvulus" and "lux" meaning 'little light'.
History
From humble beginnings in RomfordRomford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
, Parvalux was founded in 1947 by the late Mr Leslie J. Clark (affectionately known in the company as "LJ"), where the business grew from re-winding motors to manufacturing a huge range of DC and AC electric motors along with worm and spur gearboxes, relocating in 1957 to Bournemouth. In 2008 Parvalux acquired rival firm and DC motor application specialists EMD Drives Systems (formerly known as Electric Motor Development) of Halstead
Halstead
Halstead is a town and civil parish located in Braintree District of Essex, England, near Colchester and Sudbury. It has a population of 11,053. The town is situated in the Colne Valley, and originally developed on the hill to the north of the river...
, Essex.
The company has continued to develop new products over several decades and has become one of the south-west’s prominent manufacturers and the UK’s leading manufacturer of sub 1kW electric motors and gearboxes.
Today the business is privately owned by the Clark Group of Companies and managed by Chief Executive, and grandson of LJ, Steven Clark, has an estimated annual manufacturing capability of 300,000 units and turnover of approximately GBP18m.
Applications
One notable application of a Parvalux product was documented as under test at the university of California in 1966 for inclusion on the cancelled Voyager program (Mars)Voyager program (Mars)
The Voyager Mars Program was a planned series of unmanned NASA probes to the planet Mars. The missions were planned, as part of the Apollo Applications Program, between 1966 and 1968 and were scheduled for launch in 1974–75...
mission.
The Brayebrook Observatory in Cambridgeshire uses two Parvalux AC induction gear-motor units to operate dome and shutter functions.
In 2006 Team Joker used a Parvalux unit as a servo motor on their combat robot 'Joker'.
Classic Flight cite Parvalux's PM60LWS as a component in a build-your-own motion base for flight simulation.
Current Products
- Motors
- Brushless DC electric motorBrushless DC electric motorBrushless DC motors also known as electronically commutated motors are electric motors powered by direct-current electricity and having electronic commutation systems, rather than mechanical commutators and brushes...
s - AC Induction motorInduction motorAn induction or asynchronous motor is a type of AC motor where power is supplied to the rotor by means of electromagnetic induction. These motors are widely used in industrial drives, particularly polyphase induction motors, because they are robust and have no brushes...
s - Variable speed AC/DC series wound or DC shunt wound motors (see Torque and speed of a DC motorTorque and speed of a DC motorThe torque and torque density of an electric motor is not necessarily dependent on its speed. It is rather a function of flux and armature current.-Effects:Increase in flux decreases the speed but increases the torque...
) - Brushed DC electric motorBrushed DC electric motorA brushed DC motor is an internally commutated electric motor designed to be run from a direct current power source.-Simple two-pole DC motor:The following graphics illustrate a simple, two-pole, brushed, DC motor.DC Motor Rotation...
s (Permanent Magnet)
- Brushless DC electric motor
- Gearboxes
- Worm driveWorm driveA worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm meshes with a worm gear...
- Epicyclic gearingEpicyclic gearingEpicyclic gearing or planetary gearing is a gear system consisting of one or more outer gears, or planet gears, revolving about a central, or sun gear. Typically, the planet gears are mounted on a movable arm or carrier which itself may rotate relative to the sun gear...
- (planetary gearheads with integrated Permanent Magnet motors) New stand-alone 'HP' range released Autumn 2008 - inline/right-angle gearGearA gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
s - helical/spur gearGearA gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
s - double reduction gearGearA gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
s
- Worm drive
Parvalux also now offers a fully bespoke OEM product design service for quantities over 5,000 units.