News From the gear Industry

Reducing losses and increasing profits by instituting a motor management plan is what this series of articles is all about. Here in Part I, we discuss how to create a motor inventory and establish repair-or-replace motor guidelines. Subsequent topics in this three-part series will address (Part II) motor failure policies and purchasing specifications, and (Part III) repair specifications and preventive and predictive maintenance, respectively.

News From Around the Gear Industry

Tapered roller bearings can be set at initial machine assembly to any desired axial or radial clearance. This unique feature enables a designer to control bearings to meet anticipated application operating conditions, and thereby provide optimum bearing and system performance.

A man stands at a proverbial pulpit, dressed like a company executive but speaking like a fire and brimstone southern preacher.

When talking about high-end machining or manufacturing applications that include direct-drive technology, one of the key advantages of utilizing this particular transmission method is its endurance. Because of the very nature of direct-drive motors they are able to operate at peak performance levels indefinitely — without any kind of wear or aging — as long as the motor isn’t pushed past its capacity. Unfortunately, because this isn’t a perfect world, unexpected things can happen which can cause the motor to overheat. Whether the heat source is due to a parameter being input incorrectly, or an unexpected external force causing more resistance than expected — it is important to have certain forms of thermal protection in place. Since torque motors are built in such a way that they cannot be repaired and yet maintain their efficiency, it is vital to prevent any overheating — thus precluding the need to purchase a new one.

Tooth contact analysis (TCA) is an important tool directed to the determination of contact patterns, contact paths, and transmission errors in gear drives. In this work, a new general approach that is applicable to any kind of gear geometry is proposed.

I don’t know about you, but the recession of 2008-2010 sticks in my mind like a bad penny. Since that time, I am never able to simply say ...

One of the key challenges in the mining industry today is maintaining throughput in the face of ore grade quality that has declined by 40 percent in the last decade.