Minarik, established in 1952, is a manufacturer and distributor of automation and control products worldwide. Their variable speed DC drives are manufactured at their corporate headquarters in Glendale, California. All of the administration, engineering and manufacturing is handled at this 100,000sq.ft. facility.

The distributor division consists of 19 stocking locations from coast to coast and offers a wide variety of automation and control products and services. All the locations are linked by an on-line computer system with terminals at every desk for quick and easy access to customer history, pricing and product availability.

The use of SMT (Surface Mount Technology) allows the manufacture of quality, compact and cost-effective drives. Minarik Corporation were first to use SMT to assist in solving tough applications where space is limited. Increased reliability is attributed to using SMT: lower connections and shorter circuit paths reduce noise and improve frequency response that result in shock and vibration resistance due to the smaller mass of on-board components.

• SCR Drives
  SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) drives are an inexpensive and reliable way to control PM (Permanent Magnet) and shunt wound motors. With full-wave rectification of the AC supply, they provide a FF (Form Factor) of 1.37 to DC motors.
• PWM Drives
  High value capacitors are used in the PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) variable speed drives to provide nearly pure DC power (FF of 1.05 or lower). This allows DC motors to operate more efficiently, run cooler and enhance their power output; it also enables accurate speed control of low voltage motors from mains supplies.
  
• Digital Drives and Controls
  Digital circuitry offers an easy way to control and monitor the speed of applications. They are programmed to display meaningful data, such as load speed, batch counts, machine cycles, widgets per second, etc. A variety of feedback devices/sensors are catered for.
  
• SCR Regenerative Drives
  These drives electronically control positive and negative voltages and currents. They are four quadrant drives and are a must in applications that require smooth accel/decel, frequent stop/start, braking under load and rapid forward/reverse changes in direction.
  
• Regenerative Adder Boards
  These accessory cards enhance a drive's capability by interfacing to limit switches or external speed references and replace relays, plcs and other simple logic devices. Ideal for process control applications.
  
• PWM Regenerative Drives
  PWM regenerative drives combine the efficiency and advantages of PWM with the high performance of regeneration: fast stopping, electronic reversing, smoother speed control and longer motor life.
  
• Brushless Drives
  Single and four quadrant brushless motor controls which provide exceptional low speed torque, cool running motors, quiet operation with no audible switching noise and much longer motor life without expensive maintenance costs and procedures.
  
• Isolation Card
  The isolation card samples a wide range of current or voltage values from external equipment and scales them to provide an isolated -10VDC to +10VDC reference signal for use by plcs, motion controllers and pc cards.