On a recent press tour of igus’ Cologne, Germany headquarters, I had the pleasure of chatting with Frank Blase, the company’s CEO—and one of the most approachable and down-to-earth manufacturing leaders you are apt to find. Blase shared some of what has helped him grow his father’s small German company—over several decades—into the global manufacturer […]
Editor Blogs
How to design quiet gearmotors: Gear engagement, housing geometry, and more
What applications need quiet gearmotors? The answer might surprise you — because the human ear can detect noise at 10 dB lower than ambient levels, and many gearmotors operate in close proximity to people. In this technical article, we outline recent staff engineers’ research and development into the problem (and potential solutions for) gearmotor noise. […]
Gearboxes and gear motors market growing, says F&S Mechanical Power Transmission team
The global gearboxes and gear motors market is witnessing steady growth, augmented by the adoption of more energy-efficient gearboxes and gear motors, investment in wind energy, material handling, food and beverages, and replacement demand from developed regions. Successful companies will be those that continuously enhance the power transmission efficiencies of their gear systems, focus on vibrant […]
How to get a variable frequency drive (VFD) running
Here we cover the specifics of how variable frequency drives (VFD) operate and ways to simplify their installation and setup. By Bob Bonczar, Yaskawa America | Technical Training Services Variable frequency drives or VFDs — which we call simply drives in this context — operate in a wide array of industries. They’re often behind the […]
Self-powered hub-wheel drive combines wheel, motor, gearbox, and brake: Now in expanded production
ABM Drives Suzhou Co. Ltd. recently doubled production in China of its self-powered hub-wheel drive. Offered as a 0.6-kW version, this powered hub wheel drive package includes the wheel with tire, ac motor, gearbox and brake. Typical applications include moving 1,000 to 5,000 pounds at speeds of 1.5 to 2.5 mph. The max wheel diameter […]
Catching up with Oriental Motor at MD&M East
Earlier this month, I spoke with Viet Le, Senior Sales Engineer, Oriental Motor at the MD&M East/ATX East show in New York City. The company was showing off its AZ series of closed-loop absolute mechanical encoder stepper motors—they feature low vibration and high efficiency, and you don’t even have to purchase a battery back-up or […]
Catching up with Beckhoff at ATXEast
I had a great chat with Beckhoff’s Daymon Thompson at last week’s ATX East trade show at New York’s Javits Center. The PC-based machine controls company features a range of processors, from an ARM processor all the way up to an industrial server with 36 cores and two terabytes of memory—possibly the biggest PLC on […]
The Reshoring Initiative launches National Reshoring Award
The Reshoring Initiative, in conjunction with the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), invites companies that have successfully reshored parts or tooling made primarily by metal forming, fabricating or machining to apply for the first National Reshoring Award. There will be one award for buyers and one award for suppliers. To be eligible for the award, the […]
New series of high-power gearboxes from Dunkermotoren for AGVs and other applications
With applications needing designs with higher performance to deliver more dynamic motion profiles, there are more demands than ever put on gearbox technology. Plus the demands of the drive require more power in a smaller footprint — as in autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and other applications, for example. Dunkermotoren meets these challenging criteria with new high-power gearboxes including the PLG 63 HP, […]
Genesis Robotics premieres LiveDrive actuator at Hannover Messe 2017
Canadian manufacturer Genesis Robotics unveiled LiveDrive — the first highly-controllable direct-drive robotic actuator that is three times faster and 100 times more precise than conventional actuators — at Hannover Messe 2017 in Germany on April 24th. Robotic actuators are the physical force behind robots, and make up approximately 30 percent of the cost. For more than 50 years […]
