Demag has been transitioning legacy AF gearboxes to the A gearbox models over several years from a worldwide perspective. In the USA and Canadian markets, we are focusing on these markets to make the transition now. No matter where you are located geographically, transitioning from the discontinued AF gearbox to the A gearbox has benefits for your existing operations.
Modular Design Makes It Easy
Demag offers a complete range of motors, gearboxes, wheels and power solutions to create a material flow solution to meet your requirements. Whether you are designing a solution for mobile architecture, transportation logistics within a manufacturing facility or overhead cranes and material handling equipment, Demag Drives System solutions meet your needs. All Demag Drives System products are designed to be modular. Modular means all components are designed to work together without additional engineering time or resources. In many cases, your engineering team will not have to spend valuable resources designing products to work together.
Demag A-Type Gearbox
The gearbox is the power transmission system of your application. It translates motor speed into torque to deliver the motion and precision needed. With a gear motor and gearbox, you can achieve a certain horsepower rating to meet your application needs. Demag gearboxes and Demag gear motors create a matched solution for your application.
The Demag A-Style Gearbox is an offset gearbox matched with a conical rotor or cylindrical motor brake motor. The KB conical rotor brake motor uses integrated, mechanical braking. It is used in applications requiring frequency, precise start/ stop points and applications requiring extremely high braking energy. The ZB cylindrical rotor brake motor has a separately activated brake which is idea for working with inverter control. This type of motor is found in a vast array of applications in industrial applications.
Offset Gearboxes Can Save Space
When you need to save space in your application, the Demag A-type gearbox is an offset design for a space saving solution. The A gearbox offering provides flexibility to meet your requirements. It offers a wide range of transmission ratios, high efficiency while being cost effective, and is available in housing design orientations to meet your space constrictions. Consisting of 9 gearbox sizes with torques from 1,200 lb-ft to over 10,000 lb-ft (1600 to 13,800 Nm) and available in 5 housing designs and 5 shaft types, it is the ideal choice for many travel applications.
The Demag A Style Gearbox can offer excellent ground clearance for ground travelling units when matched with the appropriate Demag wheel block. They can also be used as a central drive unit with shaft ends on both sides of the gearbox, meaning you can drive two separate wheel blocks with one gear motor. In smaller gearbox sizes, A10 – A 40, the gearbox housing incorporates a special torque bracket designed to transmit drive torque without any radial forces to Demag DRS wheel blocks.
Identifying the Gearbox Type on Your Application
Identifying what gearbox and motor combination you have is the first step. To determine what model gearbox you have, you will look on the ID plate of the gearbox. Model codes are clearly defined on this ID plate and have critical information regarding the design of your offset style gearbox. AF models have an ID that starts with AF, with the A meaning offset and F meaning gearbox translated from German.
The A-Style product offering is also offset with 5 other designs to meet your needs in the A series, which includes the AM, AD, AU, AF, and AG models. The second letter of the model code indicates how the gearbox is attached to the machine. The motor will have a separate identifying plate on or near the motor housing.
Why Switch?
The Demag AF style gearbox is a discontinued product so it does not have regular production part quantities or assembly flow processes within Demag production facilities. With that, the lead time to get a legacy AF gearbox will be longer than the current A style gearboxes. This requires you to have a contingency plan in place if you need to replace parts on the current gearbox and motor combination or replace an existing AF gearbox.
Transitioning to the A gearbox has many advantages for your business. You’ll get huge savings. On average, other A gearbox models cost 65% less than the AF gearbox. The A gearbox is a current product for a reduced lead time when compared to reordering an AF gearbox. Your downtime will be reduced with replacement parts stocked and ready for shipment to your location in the US and Canada.
Transition from the discontinued Demag AF gearbox before you need to act on your contingency plan. The A-type gearbox series from Demag has a connection to meet your application needs. These models cost 65% less on average and will arrive quicker than replacing it with an AF gearbox. Make sure you have your plan in place to reduce downtime.
Learn more about the offset A-Type Gearbox from Demag and reach out to our team to discuss transitioning from your current AF Gearbox.