Users of modern drive technology are today increasingly demanding smooth-running drives with high power density. At the same time high cost pressure in device, machinery and plant construction has to date often counteracted this. The user usually had to compromise in one way or the other because the production of top quality, smooth-running planetary gearheads, which are therefore equipped with helical teeth, was inevitably costly due to the expensive tools and the many processing stages. At the 2004 Hanover Fair Zeitlauf presented its new Performax planetary gearheads, which are characterised by great smooth-running and reliability at an excellent price/performance ratio.

The new planetary gearheads (Figure 1) are suitable for installation on all types of motors within a performance range of up to 425 W. The product name is programmatic, because Performax stands for standardisation, high power density, long service life and very smooth running. In order to achieve these properties, Zeitlauf has invested its extensive know-how and decades of experience in the construction of smooth-running, durable gearheads. The result of many years of intensive development and testing work is a well-conceived, consistently structured modular system.

Optimised design and choice of base materials...
The modular system has allowed us to significantly reduce the variety of the parts and the number of processing steps, although all the gearheads have helical teeth in the first stage and, in the case of three-stage gearheads, also in the second stage. In addition to this, optimised base materials and lubricants and ingenious construction details, e.g. for the fundamental structure of the planetary gearheads (Figure 2): a unique feature is that each gearhead stage is optimally designed for its respective load: for example by selecting the base materials for each individual component according to the stage and load for which it is required, as well as a stage-dependent modular design.

The single-stage planetary gearhead consists of a sturdy, die-cast housing into which a plastic hollow wheel with helical teeth is inserted to interlock with the planetary wheels. This is beneficial in a number of ways. The hollow wheel is sprayed just like the other planetary wheels, i.e. by comparison with the customary hopping process it dispenses with expensive processing. At the same time, fewer processing steps are required because the precisely manufactured plastic parts no longer require post-processing. The two-stage planetary gearhead is built in the same way as in the first stage. The second stage has straight teeth, with the teeth cast straight into the zinc die-cast housing. The high density of the basic material and the existing die cast skin ensure optimum protection from wear and tear.