EISENBACH. Framo Morat—a renowned specialist in the development and manufacture of gears and gear components made from various metals and engineering plastics, as well as complete drive systems that combine the advantages of both materials—has developed speeroX gearing, an innovative solution for angular gearboxes. The technology aims to improve the performance and efficiency of drives – especially in areas of application where conventional gear concepts reach their limits.
Thinking outside the box – high transmission ratio in just one stage
An electric motor delivers high speeds with comparatively low torque. To move loads, gearboxes are used to convert the rotational motion provided by the electric motor into a slower but more powerful motion. The classic high-ratio gearboxes are multi-stage spur gear and planetary gear sets or bevel and worm gear sets when an angular arrangement is required. Combinations of the above variants are often used.
Due to application-specific requirements in terms of efficiency, service life, operating noise, or installation space, conventional gear variants sometimes fail to deliver the desired results. Multi-stage spur gear and planetary gear sets consist of many components, which lead to increased noise emissions and are costly to assemble. Bevel gear sets are comparatively loud and require at least one preliminary stage. Worm gear sets lose accuracy, performance, and service life with increasing mileage due to friction. This is where the high-ratio speeroX gear technology developed by Framo Morat comes into play.
Starting with a worm gear, the installation space is reduced by shifting the gearing of the wheel from the front side to the flat side. This creates a spiral-shaped gearing that is driven accordingly by a modified worm on the flat side. This results in kinematically favorable conditions that reduce the sliding components and thus friction. Nevertheless, the gearing remains quiet thanks to the high overlap and the single-start engagement. A low-wear steel-steel pairing increases the power density and service life. If only one direction of rotation is required or if there is a load case in one direction, a particularly high performance can be achieved by designing the speeroX gear flanks accordingly.
In the right application, the speeroX gear set outperforms classic multi-stage gearboxes. It is quiet and highly efficient with a long service life. And all this in just one gear stage with reduced weight and installation effort, consisting of only two components: worm gear and wheel.
Individual development and customized solutions
speeroX gearing offers particular advantages when customized solutions are required to meet specific customer requirements. This is where Framo Morat's 112 years of experience in gear and drive technology comes into play, as speeroX gearing enables targeted design with a focus on key criteria such as space reduction, noise minimization, or efficiency improvement, which can be prioritized depending on the design objective.
Based on the customer's requirements profile, the advantages of speeroX over conventional gear solutions are evaluated early on in the project phase. As part of the feasibility study, the gearing can be designed and optimized in line with the design priority, meaning that certain drive concepts can only be realized through the use of speeroX.
SpeeroX is particularly suitable for applications where the drive is mainly operated in one direction or where there is only one load direction, such as in conveyor and lifting technology. In such cases, the speeroX gearing is designed so that one tooth flank in particular performs better than the other in the preferred direction. In medical device technology, the low noise level and smooth running, combined with the compact design, are decisive arguments for using speeroX gearboxes in medical devices and instruments. In addition, speeroX is ideal for robotics applications and automation systems that require compact and powerful drive solutions, while high efficiency is often the top design priority in pumps and dosing units.
Depending on customer requirements, Framo Morat not only designs the gearing for the wheelset, but also develops the entire gearbox, including the bearing, shaft, and sealing concept, or the complete drive system, including the motor and electronics. A prominent example of this is the drive system for pallet trucks and small forklifts based on speeroX gearing. The system consists of a powerful electric motor, a helical gear stage, and a speeroX wheelset as an angular stage. Compared to existing systems, this innovative development impresses with its cost-effectiveness, power density, dynamics, durability, and system competence.
Technological innovation and intensive research
The market launch of speeroX gearing at the sps trade fair in fall 2022 was preceded by an intensive development and testing phase. Through endurance tests lasting over 12,000 hours, Framo Morat gained valuable experience and continuously optimized the performance and reliability of the technology. The speeroX gearing has now proven itself both in the energy-efficient ENEX gear series from gear specialist Ruhrgetriebe and as a wheel set pair in numerous customer-specific applications.
The most frequently implemented designs to date have a transmission ratio range of i=8 to i=22 and enable torques of up to 90 Nm, while the center distance of the ring gear is usually in the range of 12 mm to 20 mm. Depending on the design priority, other configurations can also be implemented on a project-specific basis outside the ranges mentioned.
In addition, new materials and material combinations as well as tool concepts and manufacturing technologies are continuously being tested and trialed in the in-house prototype production facility and test laboratory in order to further advance technological progress.
Conclusion: Advanced solutions for demanding applications
Framo Morat's speeroX gear technology is an innovative response to current trends in drive technology. With its focus on efficiency, noise minimization, and compactness, speeroX opens up new application possibilities and improves the performance of existing systems in various industries.
