Both indus­trial automa­tion and intral­o­gis­tics require powerful, reli­able drive systems. To meet this need, ebm-papst offers a wide selec­tion of motors, control elec­tronics, trans­mis­sions, and brake and sensor modules in a sophis­ti­cated modular drive system that can be combined to create a customized drive. The elec­tron­i­cally commu­tated ECI motors, for example, cover a power range from 30 to 750 watts in sizes 42, 63 and 80 mm. Different trans­mis­sions matched to the drives then ensure the neces­sary reduc­tion ratio for the high-speed internal rotors. Users can choose between designs that are cost-opti­mized, partic­u­larly low-noise, or very robust.

High-perfor­mance gears for ECI motors

Optimax plan­e­tary gear units are among the partic­u­larly robust trans­mis­sions that are now avail­able as a complete series to match the ECI drives, also in sizes 42, 63 and 80. Several design details ensure their high level of robust­ness – for example the fact that all gearing parts are made of hard­ened steel. In the two smaller versions, the sintered plan­e­tary gears are mounted directly on the bolts; the large bolt diam­eter ensures low surface pres­sure.

To improve their sliding prop­er­ties, the plan­e­tary wheels are impreg­nated with synthetic oil. In order to be able to transmit the highest possible power, gears with a very large wheel width are installed in all Optimax trans­mis­sions. This mini­mizes surface pres­sure and hence wear on the tooth flanks despite the high torques, which in turn results in a long service life.

The design also contributes to the resilience of the trans­mis­sion. Despite the small edge dimen­sion, a very large ring gear diam­eter was real­ized, as the four axial fastening screws are placed in the corners of the square. (Graphic | ebm-papst)

Another special feature of the trans­mis­sion series is the high torques. The medium variant, for example, offers peak torques of up to 150 Nm with an instal­la­tion edge dimen­sion of 63 mm and a length of just 102 mm in the two-stage version. Even high radial loads caused by toothed belts or eccentrics, for example, are not crit­ical.

The output stage has a very rigid design with two large ball bear­ings and can thus with­stand up to 500 N radial load in nominal oper­a­tion with a main­te­nance-free life expectancy of up to 10,000 hours. Thanks to the flat seals used, the trans­mis­sions meet the require­ments of protec­tion class IP54 as stan­dard and are thus ideally equipped for indus­trial use, espe­cially since the delib­erate omis­sion of helical gearing means that they also offer an impres­sive price/performance ratio.

Small edge dimen­sion, finely grad­u­ated reduc­tion ratio

Put through its paces on the test stand. (Photo | ebm-papst)

The design also contributes to the resilience of the trans­mis­sion. Despite the small edge dimen­sion, a very large ring gear diam­eter has been achieved because the four axial fastening screws are placed in the corners of the square. The two flanges engage posi­tively in the gear teeth of the ring gear, thereby ensuring both the align­ment of the compo­nents rela­tive to each other and the torque support under the housing compo­nents (inter­me­diate flange – ring gear – housing flange). The func­tion of the axial screws used is reduced to bracing the housing parts against one another. A nice side effect is that the fastening is easily acces­sible and there is no complex pinning that cannot be disman­tled.

The finely tuned reduc­tion ratio range for all three vari­ants in the single-stage range extends from 3:1 through 5:1 to 9:1. The two-stage versions are avail­able with reduc­tion ratios of 9:1, 15:1, 25:1 and 45:1. The trans­mis­sions have a modular design; the seven reduc­tion vari­ants are imple­mented using three indi­vidual reduc­tion ratios. Appli­ca­tion-specific adap­ta­tions can also be carried out quickly for corre­sponding quan­ti­ties.

Suit­able for contin­uous oper­a­tion or for highly dynamic appli­ca­tions

The trans­mis­sion series has been success­fully tested in both dynamic cycle oper­a­tion and contin­uous oper­a­tion in an exten­sive product vali­da­tion. This guar­an­tees reli­able oper­a­tion in both modes of oper­a­tion: contin­u­ously running on belt conveyors, for example, or when used in rapidly accel­er­ating shuttle vehi­cles. In the latter case, the user can benefit from the high dynamics in concrete terms, as the saying “time is money” is partic­u­larly true in the intral­o­gis­tics industry.

Designed for high dynamics and contin­uous oper­a­tion. (Graphic | ebm-papst)

The Optimax series, which is now avail­able in the modular drive system, can be combined with all ECI, BCI and VD/VDC motors. Together with the appro­priate control elec­tronics and braking and sensor modules, customized drive solu­tions can thus be put assem­bled from a single source, for example in the online portal. Several thou­sand vari­ants are possible in total. Defined preferred types are ready for ship­ment within just 48 hours, making them avail­able for sampling excep­tion­ally quickly.