MAE is the acronymous of Motori Apparecchiature Elettriche (motors for electric appliances). The brand was born in the mid 60’s when Olivetti in Italy created his own company for the design and production of all motors used in their office equipment (typewriters, calculators).  MAE is only a brand, not a legal entity,  which we now use on all our product lines to reinforce the “Italian” heart of our technologies and competences in motion solutions.  The blue color of the brand is also aligned to the same branding strategy of our sister company Dunkermotoren and stands for “ European Centered “, like the EU flag,  and  “Blue Electric” , commonly used to identify this energy system.   

AMETEK SRL, located in Peschiera Borromeo (MI) Italy, is your legal entity and the contractual partner.  In this location, we host all central functions like R&D, Engineering, Sales and Customer Service, Finance and Management.  Manufacturing activities are then distributed in several plants which are including Peschiera Borromeo (Italy), Náchod (Czech Republic) and Subotica (Serbia). 

No, our business model is based on AMETEK SRL (Italy) being the only possible contractual partner. All orders need to be sent to AMETEK SRL (Italy) while shipping point of the ordered products is based on the manufacturing location. 

While the two legal entities are fully independent, we are the European business units of AMETEK Advanced Motion Solutions, and as such strongly connected in terms of Sales, Marketing, R&D, Management, Manufacturing and other functions as well with several other synergies in place.   

From Universal Series and Brushed DC to Stepper and Brushless DC.  Using these motor technologies, we then develop modular solutions to address customer needs in torque application (drives) or air movement application (blowers).

A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any position sensor for feedback (an open-loop controller), as long as the motor is correctly sized to the application in respect to torque and speed. 

Stepper motors have different torque-speed characteristics depending on whether the motor is starting/stopping or already running. But a stepper motor can also produce torque when it is not moving, and these stationary torque values - referred to as holding torque and detent torque - are also important factors to consider when sizing and selecting a stepper motor.  One of the beneficial features of a stepper motor is its ability to hold a load in place when the motor coils are energized, due to the attraction between the rotor and stator. This is referred to as the motor’s holding torque and is the torque required to move the motor one full step when the coils are energized but the rotor is stationary. A stepper motor’s holding torque is higher than its running torque and is limited primarily by the amount of current the motor can withstand. Detent torque occurs when the motor is not energized - that is, no current is flowing through the motor windings. It occurs because of the attractive forces between the magnets in the motor’s rotor and the stator. 

MAE stepper motors can be combined with a wide range of planetary gearboxes design, encoders and integrated controllers with CANopen, Ethercat or Modbus RTU interfaces.  

The universal motor is a type of electric motor that can operate on either AC or DC power and uses an electromagnet as its stator to create its magnetic field.  It is a commutated series-wound motor where the stator's field coils are connected in series with the rotor windings through a commutator. It is often referred to as an AC series motor.  Universal motors have high starting torque, can run at high speed, and are lightweight and compact. They're also relatively easy to control, electromechanically using tapped coils, or electronically. However, the commutator has brushes that wear, so they are much less often used for equipment that is in continuous use.

A brushless DC electric motor (BLDC), also known as an electronically commutated motor, is a synchronous motor using a direct current (DC) electric power supply. It uses an electronic controller to switch DC currents to the motor windings producing magnetic fields which effectively rotate in space and which the permanent magnet rotor follows. The controller adjusts the phase and amplitude of the DC current pulses to control the speed and torque of the motor.  The construction of a brushless motor system is typically similar to a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), but can also be a switched reluctance motor, or an induction (asynchronous) motor. They may also use neodymium magnets and be outrunners (the stator is surrounded by the rotor), inrunners (the rotor is surrounded by the stator), or axial (the rotor and stator are flat and parallel). 

Your end application requirements on lifetime, speed and acceleration, efficiency, controllability and cost are the typical factors you need to consider when evaluating these alternate motor technologies.

Lifetime: As previously mentioned, one of the disadvantages of brushed motors is that there is mechanical wear of the brushes and commutator. Carbon brushes in particular are sacrificial, and in many motors they are designed to be replaced periodically as part of a maintenance program. The soft copper of the commutator is also slowly worn away by the brushes, and eventually reach a point where the motor will no longer operate. Since brushless motors have no moving contacts, they do not suffer from this wear.

Speed and Acceleration: Brushed motors rotational speed can be limited by the brushes and commutator, as well as the mass of the rotor. At very high speeds, the brush to commutator contact can become erratic, and brush arcing increases. Most brushed motors also use a core of laminated iron in the rotor, which gives them large rotational inertia. This limits the acceleration and deceleration rates of the motor.

Efficiency: With much lower frictions generated by the control system of brushless motors (no commutator & brushes), their overall efficiency is higher than brushed motors. Frictions are generating heat which essentially represent power losses from the device, taking energy away from the rotor itself, which would be used to drive the load.

Control systems: When speed, torque, or position needs to be controlled, Brushless DC motors are offering much higher control capabilities.

Cost effectiveness: Brushed motor technology has a cost advantage versus the brushless DC. 

A blower is a machine that creates pressure to move air at required pace.; the device increases the velocity of air that is passed through it. Effectively, a blower is designed to move air and gas at low to high pressure to perform a specific function. They consist of an electric motor where the shaft is driving a number of impellers / fans and a housing. 

Airflow, or air flow, is the movement of air. The primary cause of airflow is the existence of air. Air behaves in a fluid manner, meaning particles naturally flow from areas of higher pressure to those where the pressure is lower. Atmospheric air pressure is directly related to altitude, temperature, and composition. Flow is a measure of air output in terms of volume per unit of time. Typical units to express airflow are: By volume: l/s (litres per second) m3/h (cubic metres per hour) ft3/h (cubic feet per hour) ft3/min (cubic feet per minute, CFM). By mass: kg/s (kilograms per second).

Velocity refers to how fast the air is moving in distance per unit of time. The common units are metres per second, feet per second, etc.

​Pressure is the measure of force applied on an area. The SI unit for pressure is the pascal (Pa), equal to one newton per square metre (N/m2). The common units for pressure are pounds per square inch (PSI), Pascals (Newtons per square metre), etc. Because pressure is commonly measured by its ability to displace a column of liquid in a manometer, pressures are often expressed as a depth of a particular fluid (e.g., millimetres of water/mercury or inches of water / mercury).

There are also some traditional measures such as mm of water or mm of mercury which are defined as the pressure exerted by a column of water (or mercury) of 1 mm height.

How are Flow, Velocity, and Pressure related?

The relationship between flow, velocity, and pressure can be explained using Bernoulli’s principle. Bernoulli’s equation states mathematically that if a fluid is flowing through a tube and the tube diameter decreases, then the velocity of the fluid increases, the pressure decreases, and the mass flow (and therefore volumetric flow) remains constant so long as the air density is constant. This principle holds true for gases so long as the gas is moving far below the speed of sound and does not vary in temperature (as this would cause an increase in volume). 

Yes, you can order selected MAE product lines online. At present, the available products are the base models part of our “stock program”, which is progressively being expanded. Therefor visit our online shop.

In some cases, the North American market requires UL or CSA approved solutions. With a few exceptions, we use UL listed materials. Ask Your Sales contact if your products can be UL or CSA approved.  

In general, MAE products are classified as components, a device which is not intended to work standalone, but needs to be incorporated into a system by electrical and mechanical provisions in order to function as intended and safely; as such, they do not require the CE marking.  Ask our sales department for details. 

To do this, fill out our contact form and indicate "Product Request" in the area to be contacted. Important for this is your contact email address and to which of the below mentioned requirements you would like to have more detailed feedback:

Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 (REACH) (including SVHC)

Delegated Directive (EU) 2018/851 (SCIP database; Waste Framework Directive).

Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS) with delegated directive 2015/863.

Directive 2006/66/EC (batteries)

Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (POPs, Stockholm Convention).

US Dodd-Frank Act (DFA). According to Sec. 15023 (Conflict Minerals).

Persistent, Bio accumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Chemicals under TSCA Section 6(h) on request 

MAE digital catalogues are available in our download section.  You can order hard copies up to two main catalogues using the form on the website. Please visit the "contact" area and then the "order main catalogue" category. A larger number of main catalogues >5 pieces can be ordered via the contact form, choose "Marketing" in "Who would you like to contact”.