Tooth contact analysis is an integral part of the gear design process. With the help of these simulation tools, it is possible to calculate the excitation caused by a tooth contact (Ref. 1). Usually, the load-free transmission error or the total transmission error under load is used for this purpose. However, the calculation with the tooth contact analysis ZAKO3D allows only a quasi-static consideration of the excitation. To better evaluate the behavior in the overall system, it is therefore necessary to perform a dynamics simulation. However, the main disadvantage of such dynamics simulations is the much longer computing time compared to quasi-static tooth contact analyses due to the high computational effort.
Zero-Max H-TLC torque limiters are designed to disengage in the event of a torque overload, protecting both the machine and the products being processed. The H-TLC features a consistent, reliable, repeatable, and adjustable disengagement torque setting, and is designed to withstand corrosive environments. An available actuating disc can be added for triggering alarms or providing automatic system shutdown the instant an overload condition occurs.
R+W has just made a significant investment in its LP series flexible disc coupling line in West Chicago, IL as the latest in its efforts to localize production and better serve customers who are increasingly in need of speed and flexibility from their precision coupling suppliers. The expanded scope, including increases in materials, turning equipment, and personnel, will enable R+W to deliver single and dual-flex configurations, ranging from 300-15,000 Nm torque capacity, in under two weeks. Custom options will also be able to be delivered more quickly.
Based on the proven ROBA-DS steel disk pack coupling, Mayr Power Transmission developed a weight-optimized aluminum version. Compared to the steel version, the outer diameter of this new design has been reduced by up to 10 mm; the mass and mass inertia range from 40 to 60 percent of the steel version, depending on the design and size. The performance density, however, remains unchanged. It is tailored to meet the requirements of high-speed applications, for example in the field of test bench technology.
Regal Rexnord Corporation has added two new models to its portfolio of Boston Gear Gen2 SS700 Series stainless steel worm gearboxes. The new sizes bring the full product lineup to seven. A larger output shaft bore expands the number of applications each model of gearbox can support, providing flexibility and versatility for customers in a range of industries, including food, beverage and pharmaceuticals.
Demand for specialty wire and cable—fueled in part by data center expansion as well as new charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs)—is in turn creating greater demand for cable production capacity. As you design machines that will satisfy the demand, you’ll want to incorporate an effective driving method that controls speed and torque with the highest precision.
Incorporating electromagnetic clutches into industrial applications brings numerous advantages for enhancing system reliability, functionality, and safety. KEB’s Combinorm power on clutches provide a critical solution by ensuring parts of a machine can engage and disengage as needed, particularly in emergencies.
Ruland Manufacturing continues to expand its motion control coupling product line by introducing bellows couplings with increased misalignment capabilities. These new bellows couplings complement Ruland’s existing high-stiffness line by offering equivalent torque with greater misalignment flexibility.
NSK has developed a practical magnetostrictive torque sensor (3rd-generation sensor) for automobiles which enables failure prediction, a comfortable ride, extension of driving mileage and performance improvement thanks to its weight-reducing and space-saving features, while also shortening the development period.
In the machinery and plant engineering sector, ensuring reliability and performance is now at the forefront. Particularly, manufacturers of machine tools, automation systems, and general mechanical engineering have significantly increased their requirements for high-performance elastomer couplings recently.
Ruland Manufacturing now offers bellows and double disc couplings with bore sizes up to 1-3/4 in or 45 mm for use in systems with torque up to 1,4000 in-lbs. (158 Nm). High torque applications commonly found in precision semiconductor, solar, conveyor, and factory automation applications often use these shaft sizes. Ruland disc and bellows couplings accommodate all forms of misalignment, are zero-backlash, and have a balanced design for reduced vibration at speeds up to 10,000 rpm.
It's no secret that cycloidal gearboxes are important in mechanical engineering, especially when it comes to precision motion control and efficient power transmission. The gear systems differ from harmonic wave/strain wave gearboxes by using a cycloidal disk and needle bearings to transmit torque with minimum backlash, achieve high reduction ratios, and support substantial loads. This Sumitomo Drive Technologies blog will talk about single-stage and multi-stage cycloidal gearboxes.
OHLAs provide both overhung radial and axial load support to protect electrified mobile equipment motors from heavy application loads, extending the lifetime of the motor and alleviating the cost of downtime both from maintenance costs and loss of production. OHLAs also provide a contamination barrier to protect the electrified system from harsh environments that may include water, dirt, abrasives, chemicals, and other invasive debris, which are often present in mobile equipment applications.
For this paper, the digital twin refers to a digital asset that exists alongside the physical asset during its operational life, providing insight into and feedback on the physical asset’s performance and health. Thus, the focus is on the DTI, with the potential to aggregate data into a DTA for the gearbox design being considered, and within the DTE set up by Hexagon.
In respect of the physical asset across its life, nothing is more important about its performance than its ability to function, i.e., reliability, and for CAE, nothing is of greater importance than to be able to predict the reliability of a product being designed. Thus, for this study, whilst gearbox noise, efficiency, and thermal behavior may be of interest, the primary interest is fatigue and reliability.
When it comes to twisting and bunching wire and cable, consistency is key. For example, the amount of insulation required for residential wiring depends on the wire’s lay — the distance between its twists, which is also known as the pitch. Without tight control during the wire bunching process, lay variations occur. As a result, the wire will require more insulation than necessary, raising its cost. A differential gearbox can drive rotating components in a single-twist buncher to provide a more uniform lay, using less power at a lower cost than a two-motor approach.
Solid Edge is a portfolio of affordable, easy-to-use software tools that address all aspects of the product development process. Solid Edge combines the speed and simplicity of direct modeling with the flexibility and control of parametric design – made possible with synchronous technology. The following Q&A discusses Solid Edge 2024 with Dan Staples, vice president, mainstream engineering, Siemens Digital Industries Software.
Sumitomo Drive Technologies is expanding its range of precision gear products and upgrading its ECY series with higher torque and a plug & play drive for motor connection. The ECY series comprises high-precision shaft gears, used for example for surface machining in dental technology or in collaborative robots (cobots). Thanks to their internal cylindrical roller bearings, the gear units provide both high rigidity and higher performance in a smaller design envelope.
To date, nearly 400,000 city and intercity buses worldwide have been equipped with DIWA automatic transmissions. Passengers appreciate the comfortable and quiet ride, made possible by the stepless starting and braking functions. For operators, lower fuel consumption and consequently lower emissions – as well as low maintenance costs – are important aspects that have led them to use DIWA technology for many years now.
The loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) is crucial in understanding the deformation of gears and its impact on various factors such as noise generation, contact patterns, contact shocks, and torque variations. With the contact analysis feature in KISSsoft, users can calculate tooth contact under specific torque and speed levels, thereby assessing the performance of gears and gearboxes.
Gearmotors are used in processes to produce, manufacture, convey, package and store products used every day and are used frequently in small packaging applications due to their compact size. These units need care via preventive maintenance just like any asset used on a production site.
In everyday life and in the technical fields we often discover that certain decisions are based on “scientific data” when, in fact, they are often founded on historic conclusions that have not been challenged or re-evaluated in a long time. One such common myth is that for a stable and well-tuned drive you should match the motor’s inertia to the load inertia, which is typically done using a gearbox. Two factors lead to that conclusion: a. there is an optimization formula using the time constant of the motor and the load torque that shows that the best acceleration will be achieved if the reflected load inertia matches the rotor inertia; and b. a PID controller, which was commonly used when electric servos entered the marketplace, tend to perform best and appear to be most stable when the inertia are close or matched.
Kollmorgen has announced ATEX certification and IECEx/cETLus listing for the explosion-proof Goldline EBH 480 Vac servomotor. These new explosion-proof approvals for the high-voltage Goldline EBH servomotor exemplify Kollmorgen’s commitment to advancing the state of the art in motion control and meeting the most demanding application requirements.
Nexen Group, Inc., announced a new line of Rotary Indexers. The X-Line delivers up to three times more torque and greater moment load capacity in a compact package.
Regal Rexnord Corporation has launched a redesigned series of its long-serving, industry-leading Autogard F400 Series torque limiter. This next generation Autogard F400 Series offers significant improvements whilst remaining a drop-in replacement for the legacy 400 Series, matching its predecessor in form, fit and function.
Rotork Controls has established a global reputation for robust and reliable valve actuators, operating in some of the world’s most demanding and critical applications. Thorough testing of the motors used in the actuators is one of the keys to this assured performance, with TorqSense transducers from Sensor Technology playing a vital role in the test process.
Stock Drive Products/Sterling Instrument (SDP/SI) expands their selection of flexible couplings to include the single disk type couplings (short type), series S50XHSM… and the double disk type couplings (standard length type), series S50XHWM…. The disk type flexible couplings are an economical option while providing greater torque capability and improved performance in a reduced size.
Siemens Digital Industries Software and IBM recently announced they are expanding their long-term partnership by collaborating to develop a combined software solution integrating their respective offerings for systems engineering, service lifecycle management and asset management.
Precision flexible shaft couplings come in two basic forms, both of which are designed to operate without backlash or excessive inertia while compensating for inevitable misalignment offsets between motor/gearbox and load. Torsionally stiff couplings are made with metallic flexible elements and with the intent to eliminate as much twisting deflection as possible so that the rotation of both shafts is kept as well synchronized as can be.
Unlike HVAC applications, servomotors are not normally operated at the same speed or torque for extended periods, thus the overall efficiency of a servomotor is not easily given a single numeric value. The efficiency varies greatly with the application, and thus different applications favor different types of servomotors.
The earliest example of a gear train dates to at least 2,000 B.C. when Chinese engineers built a chariot that used a complex planetary mechanism made of wooden gears to let a dragon head continuously point south when driven around (Ref. 1). In Greece, a surprisingly advanced Antikythera gearbox mechanism, incorporating at least 37 precisely crafted bronze gears, was built years later, between 205–60 B.C. (Ref. 2).
The HTB electric brake from Ringfeder features a multiple floating disc design that disengages when power is applied to the brake coil and engages when that power is removed. It is a cost-effective solution when you need extremely high torque in a very compact package.
KISSsoft offers the calculation of geometry and contact stresses of Hirth couplings. Hirth couplings allow for the transmission of high torque between shafts. In KISSsoft, users can select a standard Hirth coupling offered by Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA or enter their own custom geometry for the calculation.
Small component, significant impact: The Smart Flex Effector, a new, sensor-based compensation module from Bosch Rexroth, gives robots and Cartesian linear systems human-like sensitivity and thus offers new opportunities for factory automation. Processes that are difficult to manage can now be automated, optimized and monitored through simple retrofitting. Thanks to a kinematics system that works independently in six degrees of freedom, the tactile device with sensitive touch precisely records the position of the work piece and passes the information to the robot control unit for active compensation purposes.
Gears and gear racks used for transmitting torque and forces within gearboxes are typically made of hardened steel. For many other uses and applications, gears and racks made from plastic are the better choice. These generally require no lubrication and are lighter, quieter, less expensive, and more resistant to corrosion than metal gears. This is why JW Winco is expanding its range with polyamide gears and racks that can transmit high forces and torques.
The products and solutions Hägglunds will showcase at MINEXCHANGE leverage the unique characteristics of hydraulic direct drive technology — delivering power directly to the drive shaft with full torque from zero speed and protection from shock loads — to maximize the efficiency and uptime of conveyors, feeders, crushers, drums, bucket wheel reclaimers, kilns and more.
Racaw Ltd., a designer and manufacturer of precision positioning components and systems, required reliable shaft couplings for use on its lines of linear and rotary positioning stages. The stages allow precise linear and rotary positioning of objects via a stepping or servo motor with rotary encoder control. Huco Oldham couplings were selected because they met Racaw’s torque capacity range, zero backlash, auditable noise and vibration levels, lengthy predicted service life and availability requirements.
Harmonic Drive announces the release of its HPF series of hollow shaft gear units. Designed for heavy-duty industrial applications, these advanced gear units offer high torque outputs and flexible installation options, making them ideal for use in demanding environments.
Siemens is extending its Sinamics G120C-series of drives to include three new frame sizes for high power output ranges. The new frame sizes cover the power output range from 22 to 132 kilowatts (kW), making the series available from 0.55 kW to 132 kW. Standard features of the series include a compact design with optional filter, long cable lengths, full integration into the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) Portal and simple control and commissioning.
The Ogura MCNB-HS Series power-off spring applied brakes have oversized bores to allow wires to pass through the shaft’s hollow bore. They accommodate encoders, cables, hoses, shafts, and tools. The ratio of the brake’s field core diameter to outer diameter is leading the industry.
With the OPEXplus digital torque wrench, Bosch Rexroth has added an economical new product to its existing range of tightening solutions. The OPEXplus digital torque wrench can measure both the torque and the angle of rotation. It covers a range of torques from 3 to 800 Nm, and it transfers the tightening results to any IT system without the need for additional control. The OPEXplus digital torque wrench sets a new standard for accuracy and allows fatigue-free work thanks to its ergonomic design.
Applied Motion Products New PH Series Mini Planetary Gearmotors are used with small step motors in NEMA 8, 11, and 14 frame sizes. The small design of the gearheads allows them to be paired with small motors and doesn't adversely affect the outside dimensions of the combined gearmotor.
Force Control Industries presents a maintenance-free, no-adjustment crane brake that virtually eliminates crane downtime as well as the need to perform maintenance and adjustment at height. The MagnaShear motor brake employs oil shear technology, providing longer service life in demanding applications like the frequent start/stop cycles seen on cranes, hoists, and winches.
The engineering community is fascinated with big, shiny, yellow machines. Walk into any manufacturing facility around the globe and you’ll find guests huddled around the biggest, loudest, and most intimidating equipment on the shop floor. These large machines must play by the same rules as everybody else—they need to reduce energy consumption, lower plant costs, and increase productivity. Many power transmission component suppliers are tasked with optimizing this equipment.
Robotic applications in manufacturing need precise movement and positioning in manufacturing operations from teach pendant programming through full, automated production with exact sequential motion and timed positioning. Miki Pulley BXR Brakes apply holding torque after the motor joint stops and provides dynamic braking in the event of an emergency such as a power interruption.
Torque transducers, test machinery, industrial robots, food and beverage and chemical applications are just a few of the areas coupling technology is advancing. This short round-up covers some of the latest product and industry news items in the power transmission and motion control market segments.
Torque Transducers and Test Machinery experience extreme demands including high torque loads and high operating speeds which cause stress on connected components. To assure these systems generate accurate test data when experiencing these conditions, system designers specify CD Couplings from Zero-Max.
Siemens Digital has added features and updates for Simcenter SPEED, Simcenter Motorsolve and Simcenter MAGNET 2022.1 to improve accuracy, flexibility and connectivity. This 2022.1 update makes Simcenter SPEED and Simcenter Motorsolve more accurate and better integrated to Simcenter STAR-CCM+.
The S-series hydraulic motors from Black Bruin are designed for demanding recycling applications with direction changes and shock loads, which can be hard on shredders and their rotors. The power of the S-series helps handle varied and inconsistent waste material effortlessly and clears jams with ease
Kollmorgen has announced the new TBM2G series of frameless servomotors, introducing features that simplify the design of collaborative, surgical, aerospace and defense and other robots while delivering optimal performance in a lighter, more compact package. These new motors will complement Kollmorgen’s existing TBM and KBM series of frameless motors.
A flagship coupling in the Huco range, the Oldham solves the problem of side forces due to misalignment. Misalignment couplings that bend or flex do cause some side loading on bearings and shafts as the coupling tries to spring back. Of course, over prolonged use this can result in rapid deterioration of bearings, extra load on the motor, and eventual coupling fatigue.
Preventing unplanned downtime in industrial processes only gets more important during times of high demand. The cost of gearbox, motor and drive shaft replacement often pales in comparison to that of the lost production resulting from mechanical torque overload failures caused by jams, collisions and binding in the driveline. This makes mechanical circuit breaking technology more important than ever since a fast, tool free reset and recovery from torque overload minimizes interruption.
One of the problems with “tribal knowledge” is that the terminology can confuse those who are not fully immersed in that community. I have lost ...
A Conversation with Jeff Hemphill, CTO at Schaeffler Group USA Inc. Matthew Jaster, Senior Editor
I don’t recall a time during the startup of a new program where an engineer unfamiliar with heavy load
Learn about the effect Covid-19 had on the industrial gearbox market and how the industry is predicted to recover.