Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

Not all gear boxes are dumb. SEW-EURODRIVE at this week’s Pack Expo show in Chicago showed off a new mechatronic system that gives gear units some much needed smarts.

This new MOVIGEAR system, which won’t be commercially available until 2007, combines a gear unit, permanent magnet motor and drive electronics within a shared housing. Power and communications for MOVIGEAR are delivered over a single three-phase cable for ease of installation. “MOVIGEAR is the first mechatronic solution of this type,” says Dr. Jörg Leonhardt, the company’s CEO of Innovation Management.

Intended for large conveyor applications in a variety of industries, MOVIGEAR takes the place of what would typically be a separate induction motor, reducer and variable frequency drive. MOVIGEAR’s component integration offers some obvious advantages – among them wiring reduction, compact form factor and fewer parts to inventory.

It also promises to be more efficient. In a 2 kW application, MOVIGEAR would be roughly 30 percent more efficient than well-optimized separate components, according to Leonhardt. He explains the efficiency boost springs partly from the use of a permanent magnet motor and partly from friction reductions rooted in the tight integration of MOVIGEAR’s components.

MOVIGEAR will initially be available in 200 and 400 Nm versions. The system will eventually support not just a basic installation capable of simple functions but also fully networked installations. The company also plans to make it compatible with its SCI contactless networking system.

MOVIGEAR represents just part of the company’s broader efforts to provide decentralized control platforms and mechatronic devices. Leonhardt hints that mechatronic design transform even more “dumb” mechanical devices in the years to come. “MOVIGEAR is just a beginning,” he says.