Servo gearheads with high precision
The Techdrives division of Lenze, www.techdrives.co.uk, has announced upgrades in its Vogel MPR range of planetary gearheads. This, says the company, results in higher torque ratings, torsional rigidity and shaft load capacity.
According to the company, backlash in the gearheads is reduced with standard values as low as 3 arcmins. This can be further reduced on request to less than 1 arcmin. There are six gearbox sizes in the MPR range with rated output torques from 44 to 1000Nm, all with 1 and 2 stage models covering ratios from 3 to 100. The four new models are at the lower end of the range where requirements for high dynamics are more common. The increased performance allows more compact and economical drive selection, and the lower backlash values result in higher precision, particularly with reversing drives.
Planetary gearheads such as the Vogel MPR are frequently used in combination with synchronous and asynchronous motors. The motor input connects rigidly to a 'sun' gear via a clamp hub connection. Three 'planet' gears run around the sun, held in a planet carrier. With a two stage gearbox the concept is repeated. The resulting reduction in speed is efficient - 97% for one stage, 95% for two stage - and gives exact gear ratios which is useful for positioning. Compared to alternative designs of gearbox, planetary gearheads are also compact and have a low inertia suiting them to tasks with a dynamic motion profiles such as cam motion on packaging machinery, positioning in automatic warehouses and many more.
The upgrades on the Vogel MPR gearheads are offered at no extra cost. Depending on size, the permitted acceleration torques increase by 10 to 30%, the torsional rigidity by 30 to 50% and the weights fall by 10%. For single stage gearheads with ratios up to 10, the standard backlash previously offered was 6 arcmins and this is now reduced to 3 arcmins. On request and for a small surcharge the factory can select gears to achieve backlash below 1 arcmin.
