Reliance Electric Technologies, LLC

Reliance Electric Industrial Company

Allyn E Phillips

Larry D Schafer

A technique is disclosed for removably coupling a shaft and hub to one another. The hub includes a pair of tapered regions near ends of its inner peripheral surface. The shaft may be tapered in a region designed to contact one of the tapered surfaces, or a tapered bushing arrangement may be used on the same end. On an opposite end, a tapered bushing is inserted between the shaft and the hub, and interfaces with the tapered portion of the hub to draw the shaft into tight engagement with the hub, with the bushing wedged between, during assembly. A retaining plate abuts a retaining ring, within the bushing, and a fastener through the retaining plate draws the hub and shaft tightly together during assembly. The retaining plate may receive removal fasteners which urge disengagement of the tapered bushing and shaft for easy and controlled disassembly of the hub and shaft from one another for servicing.

Hub and shaft coupling system

A gear reducer housing includes rotating assembly supports in a housing shell, and fixturing pads disposed about the periphery of the housing shell. The fixturing supports are formed in the casting blank from which the housing shell is machined. The pads permit the shell blank to be fixtured once for machining of various features of the final shell. The pads may be formed in a peripheral flange and the flange may be machined around the pads to form a sealing surface. Apertures may be provided in the flange to facilitate assembly of the gear reducer. The apertures and fixturing pads may be provided in mirror image locations about a centerline of the housing. The apertures may be slotted, with major axes of mirror image-located apertures having transverse major axes, such that inherent tolerance is provided for positioning fasteners used to assemble the product.

Method for manufacturing a gear reducer

A sealing system for a gear reducer includes a compound sealing arrangement disposed in a bore of the reducer housing through which a rotating member extends. The sealing arrangement includes an outboard shielding seal and a inboard lip seal disposed adjacent to one another. The shielding seal includes an annular metallic shield and forms a labyrinth with the rotating member. An elastomeric sealing member is bonded to the shield. The inboard seal provides at least two additional points of contact for sealing the rotating member. The arrangement defined multiple barriers to liquid and solid contaminants and seals lubricant within the reducer housing. Similar arrangements may be provided about several rotating members, and about ends of members extending through the reducer housing, such as an output hub.

Sealing system for shaft-mounted speed reducers

A system is provided for sealingly coupling a gear reducer to a driven machine, such as a screw conveyor. The gear reducer includes a sealing assembly disposed in a bore of the gear reducer housing about an output member, such as an output hub. An adapter element couples the gear reducer to the load, such as directly to a screw conveyor trough. A first seal assembly is disposed in the adapter about an output shaft received in the output hub of the gear reducer. For a screw conveyor application, the first seal assembly may be adjacent to the screw conveyor trough plate. The adapter includes a second seal assembly within an interface flange which is secured to the gear reducer housing. The first and second seal assemblies are spaced from one another by a dropout area defined by integral standoffs of the adapter.

Sealing system for a screw conveyor and drive

A gear reducer includes rotating assemblies intermeshing with one another to transfer power. The assemblies are supported at one of four locations disposed in mirror image locations. Two of the locations are on a longitudinal centerline of the gear reducer. The other two locations are offset from the centerline at equal distances from the first two locations. The locations are positioned to accommodate both single and multiple-stage gear reducer configurations. Bearing supports are machined in identical housing shell blanks to support the rotating assemblies.

Gear reducer having symmetrically disposed rotational shaft supports and method for making same

Gear reducer with improved housing configuration

A gear reducer housing includes mating front and rear shells, each formed with supports for bearings and rotating assemblies. The supports are located along a centerline of the housing shells and at two offset mirror image locations on either side of the centerline. The shell is at least partially surrounded by a peripheral flange for securing the housing shells to one another. Fastener apertures in each flange are formed to provide tolerance in the location of attachment fasteners. The flange includes fixturing pads allowing each shell to be fixtured once for a range of machining operations. Ports for lubricant permit the housing to be mounted in several angular positions.

Support housing for a shaft-mounted speed reducer

An adapter assembly for rotationally joining a first rotational member to a second rotational member is provided including a first adapter, a first bearing within the first adapter, a second adapter, a second bearing within the second adapter, and a connecting assembly. A power transmission assembly is provided, suitable for use with any one of a family of motors of different sizes, the assembly including a motor selected from the family, a speed reducer, a first adapter, a first bearing, a second adapter, a second bearing, and a connecting assembly. The first adapter is sized for use with at least two of the motors, and the first bearing is chosen from a family of bearings of different sizes, each sized for use with a corresponding one of the motors within the family. The first bearing is sized for use with the motor. Another power transmission assembly is provided suitable for use with any one of a family of speed reducers in which a second adapter and second bearing are selected, the second bearing being sized for use with the speed reducer.

Close-connected shaft adapter assembly, jack shaft assembly, and power

A gear reduction system is provided including two-stage gear reducers that may be converted to three-stage gear reducers by addition of a modular input stage. The modular input stage converts the input stage of the two-stage reducers to an intermediate stage of the three-stage reducers. Gearing, preferably including both drive pinions and driven gears, of the input stages of the two-stage reducers are used in the intermediate stages of the three-stage reducers, thereby reducing the overall number of parts needed for a family or series of reducers. Gearing is also common between input (and intermediate) stages of smaller gear reducers and modular input stages used with larger gear reducers, further reducing the number of different parts. The two-stage reducers and modular input stages of the three-stage reducers are preferably driven by modular transmission adapters that support the drive pinions of the input stages. The drive pinions of both the input stages and the intermediate stages are preferably shank-mounted to drive shafts of the transmission adapters or upstream reduction stages.

Gearing commonality system for gear reducers

A coupling/mounting system for securing a shaft to a sleeve or hub includes an inner insert or bushing and an outer insert or bushing. The inner bushing has a slot permitting its radial compression during insertion into the hub. One or more radially extending projections are provided about the cylindrical outer periphery of the inner bushing. The projections enter into engagement in a corresponding recess within the bore. The inner bushing has a tapered inner surface that contacts a corresponding tapered outer surface of the outer bushing. The outer bushing has a elongated slot that permits its radial compression about the shaft when the system is assembled. The outer bushing includes mechanical features which permit it to be drawn into engagement between the inner bushing and the shaft, and thereby to exert radial forces for securing the shaft to the bore.

Shaft and sleeve coupling

An adaptable mounting arrangement is provided for securing a shaft to a hub of a speed reducer or other mechanical power transmission device. The hub is configured having a pair of tapered interior surfaces converging to a location approximately at the midpoint of an axial bore defined in the hub. A pair of counterbores are also defined in the interior surface of the hub at opposite axial ends thereof. One or more tapered sleeve members may be provided to engage the tapered interior surfaces defined in the hub. Alternatively, annular bushings may be provided in each of the counterbores when the hub is to be secured to a screw conveyor drive shaft or the like.

Adaptable mounting arrangement for shaft-carried speed reducer

A shaft-carried speed reducer is provided having an adaptable mounting arrangement. The hub of the speed reducer is configured having a substantially cylindrical axial bore. At least one annular groove may be defined in the axial bore to receive a snap ring when desired. A removable adapter having a tapered interior surface may then be situated in the hub bore to abut the snap ring. As an alternative to such a snap ring, an annular flange may be provided on the removable adapter to engage an end face of the hub. A tapered sleeve member engages the tapered interior surface defined on the removable adapter to effect securement of the hub to the shaft. If a single adapter is used, it may be inserted from either side of the hub in some configurations. Further, some configurations permit a pair of adapters and corresponding sleeve members to be used. The adapter and snap ring, if any, may be removed when the hub is to be secured to a screw conveyor drive shaft or the like.

Shaft-carried speed reducer having adaptable mounting arrangement

An improved keyed adapter assembly for securing a component to a rotatable shaft, the adapter assembly including an adapter member with an interior end face and an opposite exterior end face, the adapter member including an outer surface for receipt of a component therein, and an internal bore for receipt of a rotatable shaft therethrough. The internal bore includes a keyway therein. The adapter assembly also includes a key for securing the adapter for rotation with the rotatable shaft, the key including a longitudinal portion extending in the direction of the shaft, and tab portion extending outwardly with respect to the longitudinal portion. The tab portion is adapted to engage the interior end face of the adapter member when the adapter assembly is mounted on a shaft, such as the shaft of a gear reducer.

Retained key shaft mounting assembly

A method and apparatus for pressing a gear or the like onto a shaft. A pressing actuator has a fixed portion and a movable actuator rod and a pressing sleeve connected to the actuator rod for engaging a face of the gear. The actuator rod moves through and is concentric with the pressing sleeve. Actuator rod adapter and shaft adapter attach the shaft to the actuator rod. When the actuator rod is retracted within the actuator body, the shaft is pulled through a shaft bore in the gear by the actuator rod, the actuator rod adapter, and the shaft adapter while the gear is held stationary with respect to the actuator fixed portion by the pressing sleeve, thus pressing the gear onto the shaft.

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Salem, SC, United States of America

Allyn E Phillips