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Thanks in part to our reputation as a reliable supplier to the mobility market we were asked, along with 5 other competitors, to pitch for the replacement of a stair-lift motion unit.
Knowing the market was cost sensitive we decided to look at a number of designs that would meet this commercial requirement and then work through gear calculations to see if these designs would also meet the technical requirements. In this way we set strict boundaries for the complexity of the design, considering both the number of materials and components to be used but also the ease of assembly and production.
This required us to brainstorm heavily and apply all of our application knowledge in order to find a creative solution. The design we came up with was an innovation: a new type of sealed motor-gearbox unit that combines the drive shaft and worm gear into a single component which drives a bronze wheel and steel double-spur reduction configuration. The result: a gearbox that looks like a standard worm-wheel single reduction unit, but is in fact a double reduction motor-gearbox, ergonomically designed to fit into the tightest of spaces that can cope with torques up to 299Nm; and of course ― is great value.
Thus when our concept was shown to the customer it was so well received that it wasn’t long before we found ourselves life-testing production ready samples and preparing for volume production.
This is a classic example of where our design-for-application approach has lead to product innovation and a very satisfied customer as a result. The development of this product has also enabled us to extend our offer and customers can now specify their own variation of the GB14, as it is now known, from our application range.
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