Do you produce industrial machinery and are you looking for gearboxes that do not create problems and that can be adapted to your needs to give more authority to your market?

There is a whole series of customizations and adaptations that can be demanded by a gearbox, because the goal is the final machine, and the characteristics that must have as a component must be adaptable and conform to the overall technical and practical requirements.

So the goal of an OEM should be to provide its customers with a complete machine that meets the needs of the industry in every component. The gearbox is a key element in the industrial sector and can make the difference in the satisfaction of your customers. There are some tricks that it would be good to follow when it comes to choosing the optimal gearbox for your machinery, one of these is the ability to customize the stock. There are some ways to ensure gearboxes customization even after purchase, so it is important to be sure that the item you purchase to implement your product is among those that can be customized in the ways that are listed in this article:

The gearboxes as a strategic component in the customization of machinery

Every industrial sector has different needs in the structure and organization of systems and machinery, and it can be very hard to find the perfect component that performs the necessary tasks. Especially in the case of gearboxes, whose functions range in all industrial environments, from mining to construction, to sectors where infinitesimal precision is required, such as chemical or pharmaceutical.

The customization of products, based on the needs of the end users, is one of the characteristics that can bring enormous benefits to the production and efficiency of machinery . There are born personalized solutions to adapt the products to the needs of the customer, starting from the management of equipment, then adaptation to the workplace, up to the most precise and personal requests. The goal must be to offer a wide range of solutions, paying particular attention to the solution of specific problems posed by individual customers, through dedicated projects carried out in collaboration with the customers themselves.

The advantages of owning customized tools are countless. It is possible to manage the production in the most convenient way, it offers the possibility to create new couplings of instruments and new applications, simplifying configuration and offering manufacturers complete package solutions, with components ready for implementation on the final machine, without further adaptation.

The different international markets have ever more specific needs, to which it is good to respond with customized proposals and applications on the basis of specific needs, offering numerous advantages to the client companies in terms of cost and storage.

The modularity of gearboxes to facilitate assembly and repairs

The modularity is the feature that allows new couplings between different components of the system, thanks to which the product is decomposed into standardized parts (modules) that can be assembled together thanks to interfaces, which are also standardized. In this way we obtain benefits of cost and differentiation: the producer can economically manage the variety of demand, thanks to cost savings and better product performance; the user can have access to a variety of offers and adapt it to their needs at sustainable prices.

This is an integration of the technical apparatus, which once again demonstrates the importance of customizing the components. In fact, thanks to the adaptability in the application, the service level is increased, with new potential couplings available. A simplification of configuration and of assembly, that provides to manufacturers with the possibility of complete package solutions with perfectly integrated components ready for implementation on the final machine. The modularity of the gearboxes allows to realize reducers in kit easily mountable in few minutes by any user. Some kits are common to all gearbox families, so they guarantee maximum flexibility to distributors and retailers who, even with a limited range of kits, can configure the product requested by customers with extreme speed and simplicity, with significant savings and in the delivery times.

(for more information see the article System customization thanks to the modularity of gearboxes)

Customization of worm and helical gearboxes

Worm gearboxes

The possibility to customize the components of worm gear reducers allows an optimization of their application. The worm gearboxes are customized thanks to the different materials chosen for production.

The search for the most suitable solution stimulated the study the possibilities for every circumstance, bringing great versatility in the range and starting to optimize the application of worm gear reducers. The constituent elements of these products are basically three:

• The casing,
• The worm shaft, 
• The worm wheel.

It is this last component that can offer the most specific and advanced customizations to allow the reducer different and variable applications. In fact, numerous variants are available on the crown, each properly indicated in certain application contexts. The crowns are made up of two elements, in which the bronze can be used only where it is needed:

• The standard crown consists of a support hub, normally made of cast iron, and a bronze cast, or the ring on which the toothing is made which allows the gears to function. In this way we obtain a customization of worm gear reducers that can be used in most of the normal applications on the market.
• The crown can be implemented with a spheroidal cast-iron hub, an alloy that performs better than the standard one, ideal for heavier applications, where greater strength is required. However, this alloy is subject to strong oxidation and is therefore not suitable for the food and naval / marine industries.
• Crowns are made with the stainless steel hub for the most delicate and sensitive industrial applications, to avoid problems of use and hygiene such as oxidation.
• Finally, it is possible to use supporting hubs in normalized or tempered steel in all other situations where a higher resistance is required and where the spheroidal cast iron can not be used.

The possibilities of customization and adjustment of the crown also extend to the bronze cast, the part that is adapted through the toothing process to mesh and allow the gearbox to operate.

(for more information see the article  The development of the customization of worm gearboxes)

The helical gearboxes

Helical gearboxes have torque capacity advantages over other types of gearboxes. Spur models are weaker because the load is transmitted over fewer teeth, reducing efficiency and increasing wear. Helical gears use angular teeth, which are hardened to achieve high-efficiency mesh of the gears. Helical gears are connected by two or three teeth at all times to alleviate the load on each tooth, reducing noise, smoothing out operations, and creating less vibration. This all results in your industrial gearbox having a longer life span.

In fact, helical gears are so efficient that there is practically no wear on the teeth. Moreover, they are packaged with oil-filled housings which require less oil changes, providing an advantage to your bottom line and the environment.

While worm and spur gears are cheaper to buy, they are costlier to use and implement. They last only about three years, necessitating higher capital investments, increased maintenance, more downtime, and more disposal costs.

The helical gearbox can be treated in such a way as to make them suitable for many specific industrial environments, for example, thanks to the application of approved paints they are suitable for the food industry, or thanks to the use of ATEX certified components, the use of these reducers is permitted in potentially explosive atmospheres.

 (for more information see the article How to save and increase the efficiency of your machinery thanks to the helical gearboxes)

Customization thanks to the components:

Flexible coupling:

Do yout customers need different gearboxes to connect to different engine and you have to design a special production to satisfy everyone? Have you ever heard of the flexible coupling? Customize the gearbox without creating obstacle in the machinery and in the store, and to allow its application to different engines.

The possibility of customizing the gearbox without creating obstacle in the machinery and in the store, and to allow its application to different electric motors is one of the variables to be taken into account when selecting the gearbox brand to be assembled to its own machinery. Thanks to these components it is possible to keep kits that can be assembled in just a few minutes to obtain a complete and ready to use gearbox. The worm gear reducers are often supplied closed, predisposed to the connection, but there are some variables that you have to considered when you chose a worm gearbox are:

• the greatness
• the reduction ratio
• the diameter of the slow hole (depending on the size of the gearbox, there are holes with different diameters)
• the type of the input engine. 

This means a lot of combinations, so, a lot of different gearboxes in your store, or at the distributor or in the production factory, since the market demands may require reducers with these variables mixed in various combination. Most of the worm gearboxes are sold without an electric motor applied, and the possibility to combining them with engines of different sizes and types would be really very advantageous.

Thanks to this replaceable component it is enough to have only one reducer for reduction ratio, and you will have:

• One gearbox only for each reduction ratio
• Greater flexibility
• Increased stock rotation
• Elimination of fretting corrosion between key and keyway
• Gearbox / motor connection with zero backlash
• Allowed angular misalignment 1° max
• High torsional rigidity
• High vibration damping

Therefore the flexible coupling poses a great technical advantage, performance and stock advantage.

 (for more information see the article Innovation Varvel: the Flexible coupling for gearboxes)

Custom and modular square flanges

New range of customized square flanges designed to extend the scope for customization and make it easier than ever for customers to find the right solution to their needs. IEC flanges conform to the same standards all over the world, but no unified design parameters exist for stepper motor and brushless servomotor flanges. As a result the diameter of couplings varies from one production area to another and there is no global compatibility. This situation obviously makes the market for square flanges extremely complex. Some manufacturers with specific needs demand custom designs to match the motors they use, while others set about adapting conventional flanges, not always with excellent results. This component allows the perfect assembly on all the main series of gearboxes.

 (for more information see the article Custom and modular square flanges)

The components of the gearboxes improve competitiveness and allow manufacturers to offer packaged solutions based on perfectly integrated components, ready for use on end user machines. The modular square flanges and the elastic joints for gearboxes can be replaced to obtain couplings with different motor shafts, thus allowing to have few assembly problems and few spare parts in stock, and excellent performance. Furthermore, in the event of breakages or problems, only the coupling kit or the flange kit can be replaced, and their replacement is very simple without changing the gearbox. They are very useful technologies for end users, as they do not need very expensive financial investments in case of problems with these pieces. Moreover, they can be assembled in very short time on different types of motors.

It is important for OEMs that these features are structured in the components that are applied to the machine. Thanks to these specific innovations, it is possible to satisfy a much higher number of customers, with simple convergences obtained thanks to the components or treatments to which the reducers are subjected during production.

Use the advantages of modularity to expand your products and expand your production in areas that you did not consider, thanks to the advantages of safe production and the variouscombinations of adaptability that you can get thanks to the features you can expect from gearboxes that enter in your industrial plant.