The word ”ingress” is the act of going in or entering. “Ingress Protection” therefore means protection from going in. Have you ever gotten your finger caught in a fan? Probably not. This is because household fans have a protective cage that prevents fingers from entering far enough to get caught by the spinning fan blade. A common Ingress Protection rating (IP rating) for household appliances, including fans might be IP20, where:
The "2" indicates that the fan is protected against solid objects larger than 12.5mm (such as fingers or other similar objects).
The "0" indicates that the fan does not have specific protection against liquids.
Ingress Protection classifies and rates the degree of protection (IP Rating) provided against the intrusion of foreign objects (including dust, debris, and body parts such as hands and fingers), accidental contact, and water. For servo drives and other electronics, the intrusion of such things can cause the device to malfunction due to short circuiting or cause electric shock to technicians working on the machine. If your motor controller goes haywire, that can quickly mean bad news.
The necessity of ingress protection depends on the environment in which an electronic device will be used. A desktop computer, for example, is unlikely to be exposed to extreme debris or water and will trade ingress protection for better ventilation. Alternatively, a helmet-mounted sports camera would need a much higher ingress protection rating so that dirt or water don’t find their way inside.
Typically, protection is achieved by mechanical casings, electrical enclosures, and watertight seals. For many electronics, there must still be ways for the device to connect and interface with external devices. For servo drives, this requires special connectors for communication and feedback. The motor and power supply terminals must go through the protective casing.
The table below describes how devices are classified into different ingress protection ratings:
IP Rating Benefit
- The IP Rating of a product lets system designers know what type of housing is required to protect a drive from outside contamination
ADVANCED Motion Controls' Capabilities
- Vehicle Mount (M/V™ series) servo drives are rated to IP65, meaning they are completely dust tight and protected from water jets sprayed from any direction
- Specific IP requirements can be designed into custom servo drives
