Cyclo Drives For Brewing, Distilling & Food Industries
30/07/2022
Self contained and easily sealed, cyclo drives are the logical choice for food & beverage production.
Cyclo drives provide a highly reliable, durable and versatile solution that is well suited to the broad range of tasks needed in the brewing, distilling and food industries. Excellent for general transport, pumping and mixing tasks as well as more specialized uses like bottling, canning and continuous duty brew kettles.
Unlike conventional gearbox and drive designs that concentrate loads on single shafts and gears, cyclo designs share loads between internal components. This makes cyclo drives highly resistant to shock loadings and offers predictable maintenance intervals. The compact size and toughness of cyclo drives means that it is possible to use single sizes for a wide range of applications, reducing the need for a variety of different drives, gearboxes and reducers in multiple sizes. This simplifies maintenance and enables cyclo drives to be moved to different tasks if required.
In the brewing, distilling and food industries, hygiene and cleanliness are essential. Leaks of lubricants from pumps and motors can cause serious problems with contamination and ruin production batches.
Cyclo drives are easily sealed because of their compact format and balanced design. This makes them ideal for cleanrooms and food & beverage processes. Conventional gearboxes and planetary drives are more prone to leaking through casings and shaft seals.
Transcyko Cyclo drives and cyclo derivatives can be used as the first choice, or as a trouble-free alternative to conventional gearboxes, drives and reducers, as well as being the most reliable option for mixing and transport tasks.
The compact profile and high power ratings of cyclo drives compared to conventional planetary gearboxes enables a shorter cyclo drive to have the same output specifications as a larger, more expensive conventional gearbox. Cyclo drives are more efficient than conventional planetary gearboxes.
The ease with which cyclo drives can be standardized between multiple types of machinery adds the benefit of uniform maintenance and a reduced parts inventory. Major efficiency gains from using cyclo drives in the brewing, distilling and food industries come from being able to use smaller drives and rely on fewer models with easy maintenance and parts management.
The selection of a suitable cyclo gearmotor depends on motor horsepower and/or torque requirements measured at the output shaft. Cyclo gearmotors are very efficient over a wide range of reduction ratios. This often means that input power can be reduced, requiring a motor with a lower HP rating, without losing output shaft torque.
Also make a note of any specialized requirements including environmental exposure as this will be useful in determining specific casing and construction details.
AGMA-defined Service Classes are applied to rate cyclo gearmotors for defined operational loading conditions. AGMA Service Classifications for gearmotors are: uniform (I), moderate shock (II), and heavy shock (III). These classifications enable you to fit your product selection to specific tasks. In the brewing, distilling and food industries, most applications are AGMA Service Class II, with moderate shock loadings, General purpose site pumping and transport applications may fall into AGMA Service Class I.
The design features of cyclo gearmotors and cyclo drives make them more shock resistant than planetary gearmotors. This is because loads are spread evenly between moving parts. Cyclo drives and gearmotors can withstand momentary intermittent shocks of 500% of the standard rating.
Planetary gearmotors are normally rated to a maximum 300% momentary shock overload. Our technical team will be happy to design a custom configuration if you expect shock loads greater than 500% of the rating.
Standard cyclo motor speeds at 60Hz are 1750 and 1165 RPM, which equates to 1450 and 980 RPM at 50Hz. Non-standard input speeds will need to be calculated to determine how they affect horsepower and torque ratings. Our technical team are always happy to discuss any requirement.
The smooth, almost frictionless operation (unlike traditional helical gears) of cyclo drives gives them a thermal rating that is beyond the mechanical capacity of the cyclo drive. Cyclo drives are not subject to conventional heat limitations even when worked hard because of the shared internal loadings within the drive.
A 10:1 ratio is standard for unbraked motors. Braked motors may be limited to 4:1 or better depending on power rating. A 1000:1 ratio is available in a C-face configuration.
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If you are experienced in gearboxes and speed reducers for heavy industry, we would love to hear from you.
Transmission Machinery Co., Ltd.
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