To Disclose or Not To Disclose

By |2022-06-03T17:34:37-05:00January 31st, 2018|Application Examples|

Customers often call saying they need a gearbox but tell us the application is secret. It's understandable that privacy can be a concern. But it's equally important that your supplier really knows what is going on. Many customers feel that they can’t disclose the function or parameters of a new machine design. They are worried that competitors may catch wind of a new development and beat them to the punch before they can get it to market. Unfortunately, it's that secrecy that can actually put the new design at the greatest risk. While torque, [...]

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Why do Replacement Gearboxes fail?

By |2021-08-20T11:46:02-05:00January 22nd, 2018|Application Examples|

Have you ever replaced a failed gearbox, whether it just wore out after years of faithful service or it crashed and burned as the result of a major jam? Have you ever had said gearbox mysteriously fail again after only a day or a week or a month? Whether you are a user, a distributor who sold it to the user, or an OEM providing service to the user, the situation can be extremely frustrating. Unfortunately the reason for the failure probably wasn’t because of what you were thinking. We don’t get the calls [...]

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Controlling Converging Loads

By |2021-12-27T18:57:04-06:00January 9th, 2018|Application Examples|

In many material-handling applications, it is necessary to make adjustments in the load support center distances to accommodate loads of different lengths or widths, especially if these loads have to be captured to avoid shifting. These loads can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and encompass a variety of industries. Similar designs concepts are used in tooling storage, automated inventory systems, and in large product handling systems. In this case, the customer’s design concept included two carriage beds supported on rollers and running on a guided track. These carriages had to either [...]

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Roller Drive and Gap Control with Hollow Shaft Gearbox

By |2024-07-10T22:52:25-05:00January 4th, 2018|Application Examples|

Home improvements, especially kitchen renovations, are hot topics in lifestyle TV shows and magazines. The kitchen is considered to be the focal point of most families' home life. A big decision is the type of countertop to install. There are natural materials, laminates, and solid man-made options. DieQua was called upon to help in the design of a machine to manufacture solid countertop material, one of the more popular choices due to its wear and maintenance characteristics. The design was complex but used a concept that is relevant in a variety of extrusion and [...]

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The Link Between Design and Speed Control

By |2021-09-10T19:12:00-05:00November 13th, 2017|Application Examples|

The tried and true method of synchronizing the speed of multiple stations by linking them mechanically through a gearbox system remains a popular option in machine design. This is still seen in printing presses, conveyors, roll forming and packaging lines, just to name a few examples. A customer of ours recently requested some assistance in designing a conveyor and feed system for a large pipe cutting operation. The long, heavy pipe was to be loaded on a set of rollers that would then move the pipe into a cutting house where it would be sawed [...]

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Leaking Oil Investigation

By |2023-06-21T13:03:59-05:00November 6th, 2017|Application Examples|

Gearbox seal leaks are the bane of gearbox users. Since lubrication is the lifeblood of enclosed drives, maintaining oil levels is critical to long life. When oil starts leaking, corrective action is necessary, but what action? What’s going wrong? Actually, the answers can be varied as the gear type used, how it’s mounted, the speed it’s running, and the environment it’s in. We had a user of a competitive worm gear speed reducer give us a call. He had his gearbox mounted with the output shaft horizontal and his quill-mounted motor pointing vertically, below [...]

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Machine Screwed Up (And Down)!

By |2023-06-12T19:18:11-05:00November 1st, 2017|Application Examples|

Screw jacks are just one member of the linear motion family, more suitable for relatively low-duty cycles. A customer had a problem we had to troubleshoot that highlighted what not to do. There are two common types of screw jacks. The first type of screw jack is the ball screw jack. They have recirculating balls in the threads that reduce friction, allowing for higher-duty cycles than the other type. The second type is the machine, or acme thread, screw jack that has a sliding action similar to a nut and bolt. This limits [...]

Mechanical Drive Design For Satellite Dish Positioning

By |2024-05-08T18:13:52-05:00October 24th, 2017|Application Examples|

The need for communication and data transfer are growing at a staggering rate. More satellites and more dishes are being put into service on a daily basis to satisfy and utilize the technological advances. While we have written about satellite dish applications before, there has been a recent explosion of inquiries from various companies producing these products in different sizes. The inquiries include large land-based satellite dish positioning drive designs and mobile applications used by the media, government agencies, and the military. In the most recent applications, the requests have been for system [...]

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From Heaven To Earth

By |2022-08-18T17:30:05-05:00October 15th, 2017|Application Examples|

Most people think of cables, wires or electronic boxes when they think of communications equipment, but there is also the mechanical element involved when it comes to transmitting data between the ground and the sky. One of our customers sought us out with a number of mechanical requirements for a large, radar dish that was being designed. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about this radar engineering design, but it offered an opportunity to provide several of the wide variety of drive components we offer and work with the customer to help [...]

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