Customer-specific special gear units

Drive solutions for general industrial processes such as conveying and lifting can usually be achieved with standard gear units and gearmotors. However, there are also applications that require these standard gear units to be modified so they fit perfectly.

Frequently, the on-site circumstances are so specific that special gear units are required to be produced in a single-unit batch. We are able to build these special constructions in our own facilities thanks to our industrial expertise and years of experience. We work in close cooperation with our customers and in association with our global production plants.

For example, we manufacture for the steel industry, including shiftable hoist drives for ladle cranes and customer-specific gear units for leveling machines, reels and pinions for rolling mills. With our customized gear units for new systems and "drop-in" gear units for updating systems, we can help many other industry sectors and applications achieve smooth operations. All this with a high degree of value creation for ourselves, for example in the manufacture of gearing components and shafts or case hardening, etc. As a result, we are always able to ensure the highest level of quality and reliability for our customers.

Extreme temperatures and high dust concentrations in the air, hot liquid metal and open flames – conditions don't get much tougher than that in industry. That's not the only challenge in a steel works, however. Demanding applications in this situation require particularly robust and complex drive solutions.

Leveling machines are an indispensable element of the belt feed when manufacturing sheet steel. A particularly robust and compact special gear unit is required to ensure the material being fed in can be aligned perfectly in the rolling line. This gear unit must drive multiple shafts evenly, thus enabling the repeated bending and reliable alignment of the sheet metal.

Particularly robust and complex special gear units are required for rolling mills in the steel industry. Depending on the number of rollers, these gear units are constructed with one or more output shafts. Alongside the continuous duty, these customer-specific solutions have to cope with especially high thermal and mechanical loads. You are always on the safe side with our perfectly customized special gear units.

A four-stage differential gear unit is at work in the primary hoist of a 180-metric ton ladle crane. This powerful unit weighs a total of 15.8 metric tons and is driven by two motors, each with a power rating of 191 kilowatts. With the motor power installed, this drive achieves an operating torque of 225 000 Nm and a nominal gear unit torque of 500 000 Nm.

A special feature of this gear unit is the integrated planetary superposition stage, which safeguards the functionality of the hoist even if one of the motors fails. This ensures that the lifting process can still be completed at full torque at half the hoisting speed.

Handling freight containers, for example, also involves critical applications that require a special gear unit. In the crane hoists here, we use gear units that are shiftable while idle so as to bridge motor failures. This makes it possible to double the gear ratio and carry out an "emergency lift".

As a result, we can ensure the containers are safely placed on the ground. Our shiftable gear units are adapted to your needs on a customer- or application-specific basis.