Record Monthly Order Booking Attained
By: Chris Popp
Director of Sales and Marketing
DieQua Corporation
July 2014 resulted in a significant event for DieQua Corporation as they booked a record amount of business within a single month. While certainly fulfilling it wasn’t exactly surprising. With business growth and year to year inflationary trends, old sales records are expected to fall. However, what is interesting is the types of products that are leading the way.
In the motion control industry worm gears have been far behind other gear technologies, such as planetary gears, in usage and integration. Marketing is probably the main culprit but a reputation for low efficiency and poor quality is likely an equal reason that system engineers have been reluctant to look deeper into the advantages of these gearbox designs.
But these are exactly the types of gearboxes that have achieved the largest and fastest growth rates for DieQua. Education is one reason engineers are starting to look at them. Advantageous design features are why they are buying and integrating more of them.
The sales leader in July was the Dynabox series. This is a worm gearbox on steroids. Designed specifically for highly dynamic cyclic servo controlled motion profiles or for super precise rotary positioning, this gearbox design turns old perceptions on their heads. With three backlash levels as low as 1 arc minute, 5 different output connection configurations and available in 11 sizes, this should be the right angle gearhead of choice for a wide range of automation solutions.
Along with orders for a variety of packaging, material handling, food processing, and machine tool applications, the home run was achieved with a large order from the communications industry for precise rotary positioning of satellite tracking systems.
But that was just one series of worm boxes that was a hit in July. Not every motion application needs high precision or entails high dynamics. Some just need to multiply the motor torque for simple motion profiles. This was the case for a large new customer needing automated setup adjustment for his packaging machine. For that we specified a Varvel RT series worm gearbox.
In their everyday life the RT and RS series are premium quality industrial worm gearboxes for reliable power transmission. But they have a unique input motor adapter system with an integrated flexible couple. This provides a whole host of performance and mounting advantages without adding length to the assembly.
One such advantage is the ability to incorporate either NEMA, IEC or servo motors onto the exact same gearbox. It’s this ability to easily mount servo motors that has been driving the demand for this series of gearboxes. Right angle for saving space, shaft mounting for eliminating coupling expense, and low cost production make the RT/RS series a no brainer for simple motion profiles where backlash isn’t an issue.
Obviously, because it was a record month, it wasn’t only worm boxes that were in high demand in July. The spiral bevel gearbox, helical gearmotor and planetary reducer product lines all saw their share of love.
But there is a growing trend in the motion control arena away from traditional planetary designs and towards alternative gear technologies. There is a reason for it. Different gearbox types have advantages and disadvantges depending on the application.
Not one gearbox design works best everywhere. There is no better place than DieQua Corporation to get help in understanding the differences.
08/2014
Castings & Forgings
Bulk Material Handling
Electrical & Electronic Components
Flow Instrumentation
Hardware
Material Handling Equipment
Metal Cutting Services
Metal Forming Services
Metal Suppliers
Motion Control Products
Plant & Facility Equipment
Plant & Facility Supplies
Plastic Molding Processes
Pumps & Valves
Recycling Equipment
Rubber Products & Services