Gear Motor Drive – Picking the Right One

When choosing a gear motor drive, there are a few points that need to be considered. As long as you keep these few things in mind, the ideal gear motor drive can be found for every situation. The following are the design pointers to be considered in choosing a gear motor drive.

1. Mount Orientation. A gear motor drive is often found at the gear box level, with both the motor and the drive shaft placed horizontally from one another. While there are other designs which allow for flexibility, this horizontal design makes it easier to maintain and lubricate.
    
2. Type of Lubrication. A gear motor drive needs to be lubricated for the motor to run properly. The type of lubrication means the viscosity or thickness of the lubricant as well as its properties. These include the thermal capacity as well as the cost. In order to ascertain this, the gear motor drive’s manufacturer would recommend a specific lubricant to use for optimum performance.
    
3. Gear Efficiency. Depending on the gear type used, each one would have its pros and cons. Therefore, finding the right gear drive to be used in the gear motor drive is essential to proper operation.  The right size of gears, as well as the torque requirement, is also key to determining gear efficiency.
    
4. Gear Operation. Certain gear types cannot be driven in reverse. These are the worm gear as well as the right angle gear box. This operation needs to be considered especially when reversing the revolutions of the gears would be necessitated.

Choosing a gear motor drive is not as simple as it seems.

There are certain considerations that need to be made before any choice is finalized. The factors for consideration include the mount orientation, the type of lubrication to be used, the gear efficiency requirement and the gear operation cycle. When none or some of these are not factored in, an issue would occur in the operation of the gear motor drive in the long run.