Hansen Transmissions has just secured an order for 25 Hansen Invertible Gearboxes from the USA. These locally designed units were recently accepted as international standard for underground conveyor drives in the mining industry for the Hansen Transmissions Group. The exceptional features of the Hansen Invertible Gearbox enabled Hansen Transmissions North America to secure this large order, cornering the market and surprising some major competitors.
By listening to and analysing demands from the South African coal mining industry for left and right hand orientated gearbox drives on multiple drive conveyor systems, Hansen Transmissions locally designed, developed and manufactured the innovative, versatile and compact Hansen Invertible Gearbox.
The complete gearbox was designed to allow the unit to be inverted, ie, turned 180°, for either handing, to eliminate the need for separate drives. The first two sizes of the Hansen Invertible Gearbox were produced in 1996 and over the next two years the range was expanded to include six sizes with torque ratings up to 100 kNm. The company reports that its Invertible Gearbox proved so successful that many local mines have adopted the unit as the standard for underground conveyor drives.
This unique gearbox design is based on 30 years local experience in applications engineering and the application of the very latest gear design technology: Hansen Transmissions P4 standard gears were fitted into the proven and versatile Hansen Transmissions HPP gearbox housing - a process that required a new gear and bearing layout as well as a complete redesign of the internal lubrication system. Only the top half of the gearbox housing required modification to accommodate design changes as it doubles up as the bottom half, a major factor for reducing manufacturing costs. Only one casting pattern is required for top and bottom halves, and housings are cast at local foundries. The gearbox caters for 2 and 3 stage reductions.
Hansen Transmissions managing director, Torsten Schultz, explains some of the reasons for the wide acceptance of this unit. "South Africa boasts some of the deepest mines in the world and our mining acumen is globally accepted. Our very tough underground conditions make us highly competitive on mining management, methods, mechanisation equipment, etc. So, if our Invertible Gearbox works here, it will work anywhere. We take great pride in the fact that over 600 Hansen Invertible Gearboxes are currently operating in local mines and plants including Secunda Collieries, Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Ingwe Collieries, etc, with no reported failures."
Torsten explains Hansen Transmissions' export programme for Invertible Gearboxes: "Assembly centres outside of Europe are located in America and Australia, but to avoid unnecessary double shipping of gears from Europe to South Africa and then, for example, to an American assembly centre, we will supply the empty housing shell complete with internal oil lubrication system, nose cone, covers, dipstick, lantern, skid plate and reaction arm. However, we will also supply complete Invertible Gearboxes or drive packages to non-assembly centres or directly to customers."
Local Hansen engineers have also designed a self-aligning low speed rigid flange coupling for shaft mounted gearbox applications, a practical solution which ensures fast, hassle-free installation of Invertible Gearboxes in areas with severe space limitations such as mine stopes. The Invertible Gearbox is intrinsically self-aligning in terms of the motor-to-lantern-to-gearbox-to-rigid flange coupling alignment. The invertibility also ensures that the low speed coupling does not need to be reinstalled as would typically be necessary for a handing change on a double extended low speed shaft arrangement.
"Once lowered into position during installation, the Hansen Gearbox drive unit is ready for connection to the conveyor pulley shaft. Downtime is kept to an absolute minimum and low cost of ownership is guaranteed as customers requiring left and right handed gearboxes can realise cost reduction and space saving by keeping fewer spare Invertible Gearboxes," concludes Torsten.
For more information contact Torsten Schultz, MD, Hansen Transmissions, +27 (0) 11 397 2495, [email protected], www.hansen.co.za
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version