Gear unit designs: Interesting facts about bevel gear units

  • MAXXDRIVE
  • LogiDrive
  • NORDAC
3 min.

Bevel gear units are used in many branches of industry due to their compact design. In the following, we will explain the design and potential applications of these angled gear units.

Gear unit designs: Interesting facts about bevel gear units

Gear units and geared motors (combination of gear unit and motor) are an essential part of modern industry. In principle, gear units are used for the following reasons:

  • Change of speed (n) and torque (M) between input and output shaft: An increase in speed causes a reduction in torque and vice versa
  • Change of shaft positions: The input and output shafts can be positioned in parallel or at an angle to each other
  • Change of the direction of rotation between input and output shaft

Design of bevel gear units

Bevel gear units belong to the group of angled gear units. Input and output shaft are positioned at an angle to each other. This angle is usually at 90° – if required, other angles can also be implemented. In its simplest form, a bevel gear unit consists of only one gear stage. However, NORD bevel gear units always have several gear stages: Our stage arrangement is as follows:

  • 2-stage: Helical gear stage (first stage), bevel gear stage (second stage)
  • 3-stage: Helical gear stage (first stage), bevel gear stage (second stage), helical gear stage (third stage)
  • 4-stage: Helical gear stage (first stage), helical gear stage (second stage), bevel gear stage (third stage), helical gear stage (fourth stage)

A gear stage is a wheel pairing within a gear unit in which the speed or torque changes. The torque changes to the same proportion as the speed changes from stage to stage. The factor is the same for both changes, but working in opposite directions. In case of a negative speed ratio, the output speed is reduced, while the torque is increased; a positive speed ratio causes the opposite effect. The shafts’ direction of rotation also changes in every stage. If this is not required, idler gears can be inserted.

A bevel gear stage consists of a bevel pinion and bevel gear (often a crown wheel). The stages can consist of straight, helical or spiral bevel gears (spiral or hypoid bevel gear). Speed ratios of 1:1 to 1:10 are usually achieved for each stage. This results in high efficiencies of 96 to 98% per stage. The following must be noted: Bevel gear units are not self-locking. If this feature is required, it must be implemented through other components, for example, a brake.

Bevel geared motors from NORD

The compact NORD bevel geared motors are the best choice wherever high speed ratios and torques are required. Our drive systems, consisting of an electric motor and a bevel gear unit, are especially suitable for use on conveyor belts as well as in intralogistics, packaging technology and the food industry.

The advantages of our bevel geared motors:

  • Powerful: Torques of up to 50,000 Nm (as industrial geared motors up to 282,000 Nm)
  • Efficient: Very high efficiency over the entire speed ratio range
  • User friendly: The easy-to-clean wash-down version ensures cleanliness (NORDBLOC.1®)
  • Flexible: The direction of rotation between the input and output shaft can be easily reversed

The classic: UNICASE bevel geared motors

The UNICASE bevel geared motor provides a torque range from 180 to 50,000 Nm and takes up little installation space thanks to the compact UNICASE housing. Like all other NORD bevel geared motors, the motor is available with an integrated back stop and integrated brake.

Even more power: New 2-stage bevel geared motor

With our NORDBLOC.1® drive systems with bevel gear units, we have optimised performance even further: They are now our most powerful bevel geared motors. As standard, we manufacture the NORDBLOC.1® motors with bevel gear units with a high strength die cast aluminium housing.

We have developed our NORDBLOC.1® bevel geared motors from the series SK 930072.1 - SK 93772.1 especially for wash-down applications , for example in the food industry. This version has an especially smooth housing made of aluminium permanent mould castings, which is easy to clean and prevents the accumulation of dirt.

Bevel geared motors for intralogistics

In combination with an IE4 synchronous motor, our 2-stage bevel gear units become the energy-efficient LogiDrive system for intralogistics. LogiDrive drive units have a large overload capacity and greatly reduce operating costs thanks to their high efficiency. Due to their modular structure, users also make considerable savings in maintenance costs.

The service-friendly and standardised modular system combines different NORD products into one drive solution, which is 100% tailored to the respective industry standards and application requirements. We differentiate between the sectors of post & parcel and airport on the one hand, and warehouse on the other. The first application area includes drives for parcel distribution and sorting systems as well as baggage handling, while the latter includes conventional warehouse applications such as pallet, container and overhead conveyors. In both areas, we offer a basic and advanced version.

For every area, there are advanced variants with IE5+ synchronous motor technology and a basic variant with IE3 asynchronous motors. While the LogiDrive advanced drives address issues such as energy efficiency, variant reduction and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), the basic LogiDrive's main focus is on cost efficiency.

In detail, the product family comprises the following geared motor versions:

  • LogiDrive for warehouse
    • Advanced: IE5+ synchronous motor (ventilated or unventilated) with high power density and a maximum power of 3.7 kW in the sizes 71 and 90. In addition, a two-stage helical bevel gear unit and the NORDAC ON+ frequency inverter with integrated multi-protocol Ethernet interface
    • Basic: Fixed motor/inverter combinations consisting of IE3 asynchronous motor (87 Hz) and NORDAC ON frequency inverter with integrated multi-protocol Ethernet interface plus worm gear unit

Industrial gear units for maximum torques

High load capacities, high torques and low noise: NORD’s MAXXDRIVE® right-angle gear units. With output torques of up to 260,000 Nm and powers of up to 4,000 kW, these gear units provide the necessary drive in heavy-duty applications such as conveyor belt systems, mixers, agitators, extruders, drums or mills. The right-angle gear units are available as 2-stage, 3-stage and 4-stage versions. Their gearwheels are made from high-quality steel alloys and are case-hardened. With our UNICASE housing, we can use larger roller bearings, which guarantee a long service life. Another advantage is that they can be easily installed on all six sides.

Would you like to discover more about bevel gear units and the advantages for your application?

Please contact us!

MAXXDRIVE® Right-Angle Gear Units

  • Performance: 2.0 - 2,850 HP
  • Torque range: 132,800 - 2,301,200 lbf-in
  • 3- and 4-stage
  • High strength precision-made one-piece housing
  • Modular and flexible design for optimum adaptation to your application
  • Low running noise
Product details

LogiDrive®

Solution space for post & parcel, airport and warehouse. Our customers have very individual applications and requirements. We provide tried and tested safe solutions for many applications in the logistics industry.

More information

NORDBLOC.1® bevel geared motor

  • Performance: 0.16 HP - 12.5 HP
  • Torque range: 443 lb-inch - 5,842 lb-in
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