‘Reducing maintenance and extend service life’
What does the market want?
Higher torque, less maintenance
An example of “what the market wants” can be found in the ever-increasing variants that are being developed with correspondingly higher torques and gear ratios. For example gearboxes with torques up to 20,000 Nm. These are used in laser cutting machines and (pre-) bending machines, which are also growing in size.
In addition, there is increasing attention for a maintenance-friendly behavior in the context of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), increasing product quality and improving the up-time of machines. Thom van Oss: “It is very simple. Gearboxes wear out, but you can slow down the process significantly. For example, by applying excellent (lifetime) lubrication, opting for high-quality materials and working very precisely, so that components fit optimally and have minimize friction. ”
Using of advanced software
Software has an increasingly important role in this. The production of precise gears is not easy. After all mechanical operations such as stitching, grinding and honing, the gears are also hardened by heat treatment. This is to relieve the stresses that build up during these operations and to make the material as homogeneous as possible. However, the dimensions change in such a way that it no longer meets the drawing and post-processing is required to achieve the tolerances. However, this post-processing is undesirable because hardened material is difficult to process and local heat development takes place again. By using advanced software, it is possible to determine the geometry prior to the hardening process so that it is exactly correct after the heat treatment. ”
Monitor critical components
Additional in the context of lowering maintenance costs, developments are also taking place in the hardware/mechanical field. A good example is the “curvic plate” system. This makes it unnecessary to replace the entire gearbox when a pinion is worn out, and it is easier to change, adjust and maintain pinions. Predictive and condition-based maintenance also fit in the picture, although that applies slightly less for gearboxes in the Apex Dynamics range. Thom van Oss: “It is better to monitor the more critical components in your drive line, such as bearings and shafts, but of course the gearboxes can also be monitored, for example through, vibration and temperature measurements to complete the whole picture.”
Future of gearboxes
At the beginning of this year, Apex Dynamics BV also started further training and informing its partners. For example, a lot of our products are sold to system integrators but also to servomotor manufacturers who would like to supply a total set of motor and gearbox to their customers. Thom van Oss: “These are important partners who help us to identify trends in the market and benefit from the latest new (product) information. We now have 62 product series in our program, so having or getting a good overview is indispensable for maximum efficiency. What is also remarkable due to this intensive contact with partners is the quantity and quality of our Dutch manufacturing industry. For many years we have heard that the Dutch manufacturing industry is going to disappear, but when I look at the innovative capacity of the current system integrators and machine builders, I can hardly believe that. ”
Special projects
Supporting students
The situation is different for student teams such as the ‘Rembrandts team‘, in which students from Fontys Hogeschool, Heerbeeck College and Zwijsen College participate. This HBO/WO/MBO team from the Eindhoven region succeeded (as the first European team) to win the world title of the FIRST Robotics Competition in 2019. The assignment was to build a robot with minimal resources and then quality suddenly is an important factor. They won by defeating no less than 4,000 other teams! By supporting students with both products and knowledge, the company first of all contributes to the promotion of technology and technical studies. In addition, these young people are challenged to get the most out of the products. Thom van Oss: “This also keeps us sharp and also inspires us to come up with solutions for specific customer inquiries.”
Pragmatic application
Finally, at the moment Thom van Oss sees only a few real new technical developments in the field of gearboxes. “I think the development of gearboxes, racks and pinions is moving slowly. They do what they do – transfer a torque – and now with such high efficiency that there is little room for spectacular improvements. What I mentioned earlier: software plays an important role in production and also in the lead time from a new design to market introduction. In addition, subtleties are implemented in, among other things, the hardening processes, lubricants and of course material properties are getting improved at laboratory level. But this all happens internally in our factory in Taiwan. So let us mainly focus on pragmatic applying gearboxes, racks and pinions; with both feet on the ground and not be blinded by the possibilities. “Because, it is possible” is not always the right motivation for me. Good is good enough. ”
Source: AT Aandrijftechniek, may 2020 (original article in pdf)
Text: Ing. M. de Wit-Blok
Photo’s: Apex Dynamics, Fotopersburo Bert Jansen