With the rapid growth of commercial lighting and smart home industries, track light products are evolving fast. They are becoming thinner, more compact, and smarter. These products now place stricter demands on the mounting space, structural form, and performance of internal drive parts.

The customer in this project is a leading overseas smart lighting brand. Its new ultra-thin smart angle-adjustable track light had an extremely limited installation cavity. It also had special structural and performance requirements. No standard gear motor on the market could fit the project. The customer finally came to us for a fully customized solution.

Solemn statement: The design solution in this case has been officially approved by the customer for public release. We always fully respect our customers’ brand privacy and core technology NDAs. The motor structure and drive design are independently developed patented products of our company.

Customer Core Requirements

The customer in this project is a benchmark brand in China’s smart commercial lighting industry. The project focused on the development of its flagship ultra-thin smart angle-adjustable track light.

The core goal was to break the structural and performance limits of traditional track lights through a customized core drive motor. The customer wanted to create an ultra-thin product with high-precision control. It also aimed to set a new market benchmark for high-end smart track lights.

After the project started, the customer had already completed the full design of the whole product structure, optical system, and smart control system. Only the key final part was missing. That part was the gear motor for core angle adjustment.

To find a fully suitable motor solution, the customer screened all standard models from major micro motor suppliers at home and abroad. But no mature solution could meet all its rigid requirements. The whole project was once stalled.

Why Standard Motors Failed to Meet Customer Needs

The customer’s core requirements focused on three main areas:

No Matching Standard Model on the Market

To fit the ultra-thin product design, the installation cavity of the track light was extremely limited. The customer raised two non-negotiable structural requirements.

First, the motor and gearbox had to use a 7-shaped, or L-shaped, vertical layout. Standard coaxial and parallel-shaft gear motors could not fit this layout at all. There was no alternative installation plan.

Second, the gearbox housing had to have a through-hole. This was needed for the shaft installation and internal wiring layout of the whole product. Standard gear motors on the market had no matching through-hole product. There was no ready-made solution that could be used directly.

If a general solution was forced into use, the customer would have had to redesign the finalized whole product structure and remake the mold. This would bring very high secondary modification costs. It would also greatly delay the launch schedule. This did not match the customer’s project plan at all.

Core Performance Failed to Meet the Standard

Micro gear motors of the same size on the market usually have an inherent weakness. Their torque is not enough. Under frequent angle adjustment and limit-locking conditions in track lights, problems can easily occur. These include weak power, angle drift, jamming, and shutdown. These issues directly affect angle adjustment accuracy and product life. They could not match the performance positioning of the customer’s high-end flagship product.

Whether standard models from domestic peers or similar products from a few overseas manufacturers were used, none could meet the customer’s torque requirements under the same size limit.

The customized solutions from overseas manufacturers had another issue. The unit cost was far beyond the customer’s whole-product cost budget. They had no commercial feasibility for large-scale mass production.

Difficult Non-Standard Customization

Most motor manufacturers on the market only focus on mass production of standard products. They do not support small-batch customized development of this type of non-standard structure.

Manufacturers that can provide customization services also face many problems. Mold development takes a long time. Minimum order quantities are high. Delivery cycles are unstable. Full-process response is slow. These issues could not match the customer’s new product launch plan. This was also one of the core reasons why the project was stalled.

Our Fully Customized Solution

To address the customer’s core pain points and all rigid requirements, the TSL Motor R&D team tailor-made this 1:152 high-ratio 7-shaped through-hole DC gear motor. We delivered full customization in structure, performance, and mass production. The solution perfectly solved all the customer’s core needs.

Exclusive Structural Customization

For the customer’s key structural requirements, including the 7-shaped layout and gearbox through-hole, we broke the standard layout logic of conventional gear motors. We used an integrated 7-shaped, or L-shaped, structure.

The motor and gearbox were arranged vertically. The design matched the customer’s finalized narrow installation cavity at a 1:1 level. The customer did not need to make any secondary changes to the whole product structure. This completely solved the core problem that conventional motors could not be installed.

We designed a precise coaxial through-hole in the gearbox housing. We strictly controlled the hole diameter, concentricity, and geometric tolerance. This met the installation and wiring needs. At the same time, we optimized the housing wall thickness and added reinforcing ribs. This avoided the strength loss caused by the through-hole. It ensured rigidity and stability during transmission.

The whole motor uses a full-metal precision gearbox. It achieves multi-stage gear reduction in an extremely compact size. It also strictly controls the overall size and weight. It perfectly matches the thin and light design trend of the customer’s ultra-thin track light.

Fine-Tuned Performance

We used a high-precision micro gear transmission system. We also optimized the winding design of the motor body. Through the dedicated 1:152 reduction ratio, the motor achieves a precise torque increase under a 6V rated low-voltage power system. The rated torque reaches 0.2 kgf·cm. The stall torque is ≥1.5 kgf·cm.

Even under frequent angle adjustment and limit-locking conditions, the motor can still maintain stable power output. The rated speed is precisely controlled at 100±10% RPM. The no-load speed is 120±10% RPM. This enables precise angle control. It fully solves the common industry pain points of traditional small motors. These include insufficient torque, running jams, and angle drift.

We also optimized the motor for home and commercial lighting scenarios. The no-load current is controlled at ≤150 mA. The rated current is ≤200 mA. The stall current is ≤800 mA. While ensuring high torque output, the motor also delivers low power consumption, low heat, and low noise. This greatly extends motor life. It perfectly fits the long-term use needs of high-end lighting products.

The motor direction can also be flexibly adjusted according to the customer’s whole-product circuit design. By default, when the positive pole of the power supply is connected to the motor + pole, the output shaft rotates CCW. This is fully compatible with the customer’s existing control system. No extra circuit design change is required.

Full-Process In-House R&D and Production

To solve the customer’s core pain point of difficult non-standard customization, we relied on our full-process in-house R&D and production capability. This covers mold development, precision parts processing, motor assembly, and full performance testing. We provided the customer with fast response throughout the whole cycle.

For the customer’s non-standard structural needs, we quickly completed solution iteration, mold development, sampling, and full performance testing. We also set a flexible minimum order quantity. The customer did not need to bear high mold risks or high costs. This perfectly matched the customer’s full-cycle needs from sample verification to mass production.

From requirement communication and solution design to sample production and batch delivery, a dedicated project team followed the whole process. This greatly shortened the customer’s product development cycle. It helped the customer quickly launch the new product.

Solution Value and Customer Feedback

This customized 7-shaped through-hole DC gear motor solution has completed full-condition reliability testing. It has also achieved stable batch delivery. It perfectly fits all usage scenarios of the customer’s high-end smart track light. It has received high recognition from the customer and a long-term cooperation intention.

Performance Level:

The motor maintains stable operation under long-term and frequent angle adjustment conditions. Its angle adjustment accuracy and smooth operation far exceeded the customer’s expectations. The 7-shaped structure and through-hole design achieved seamless fit with the whole product. Its low power consumption and low noise also perfectly matched the use scenarios of high-end lighting products.

At the same time, the full-metal structure and high-precision transmission system greatly improved motor life. They meet long-term use requirements in commercial and home scenarios.

Cost Level:

The exclusive customized integrated structure saved the customer huge costs for whole-product structure modification and secondary mold development. The optimized supply chain system also made the whole-product BOM cost much lower than customized solutions from overseas manufacturers. It also greatly reduced the customer’s supply chain management cost and whole-product assembly difficulty.

Business Level:

The full-process fast customization service shortened the customer’s whole-product R&D and launch cycle by more than 50%. It perfectly matched the customer’s new product launch plan. At the same time, the exclusive structural and performance design gave the customer’s ultra-thin smart track light strong market differentiation. It helped the customer gain an early advantage in the high-end smart lighting market.

TSL Motor focuses on customized solutions for micro DC motors. We have full-process in-house R&D and large-scale production capabilities.

We can provide one-stop customization services based on customer working conditions, structural limits, and performance targets. Our services cover requirement communication, solution design, mold development, sampling, and batch delivery.

We serve motor customization needs in many fields, including smart lighting, high-end home appliances, medical devices, industrial automation, and robotics.