Lubrication-free and durable

Switching from traditional metal gears to the high-performance plastic spindle drives of the drygear Apiro series offers several advantages: reduced costs, lower weight, and the elimination of lubricants. However, many design engineers have been unable to make this switch until now because their operating environments were too harsh and demanding. With the drygear Apiro HD, Igus is now introducing a hybrid solution that closes precisely this gap. The worm gear mechanism itself continues to be made of lubricant-free tribopolymers, while a die-cast zinc housing provides the necessary robustness.

There are a number of simple adjustment tasks for which metal gears are oversized, too heavy, too maintenance-intensive, and often too expensive. The Apiro modular gear system from Igus offers an alternative here. Using its joints, drive units, and gears – which are largely composed of high-performance plastics – design engineers can construct lightweight, cost-effective, and lubricant-free automation solutions; examples include simple pusher systems in intralogistics or format adjustment mechanisms in the food and beverage industry. "However, we frequently received feedback from interested engineers expressing concern that the gears might sustain damage in more demanding applications – for instance, due to impacts from conveyed goods," says Steffen Schack, Head of Sales for drygear Gear and Drive Technology at Igus. "We have therefore manufactured a die-cast zinc housing for one of our most frequently used models – the Apiro spindle drive – making it suitable for use in harsher environmental conditions as well."

Load Capacity of up to 70 kg

Thanks to the new die-cast zinc housing, the load-bearing capacity of the gear unit has been increased. The stiffer housing material allows for a static mechanical load of up to 70 kg and a dynamic load of up to 25 kg. "With this new housing, we are responding to the increased demands in format adjustment applications, thereby safeguarding functionality even against mechanical shocks," says Dr. Judith Merz, Head of the drygear Gear and Transmission Technology division at Igus. Furthermore, die-cast zinc is more cost-effective to manufacture than aluminum or steel. The material impresses with its high strength and corrosion resistance. Thanks to its low melting point, zinc is highly machinable, enabling particularly precise and dimensionally accurate production. This results in reduced energy consumption as well as lower post-processing requirements. Inside this hybrid version, the plastic worm gear – featuring a 4:1 transmission ratio – continues to operate, thereby preserving the system's lubrication-free and maintenance-free characteristics. "We have thus created a hybrid solution that is both exceptionally robust and economically efficient," concludes Dr. Judith Merz.