FAULHABER focuses on torque, noise, and power with new GPT gearheads

The new GPT gearhead family is designed for high forces. Source: FAULHABER

FAULHABER launched its new GPT gearhead family this week. With this new family of drive components, the company said it has focused on flexibility, power density, and price.

The new series of gears is designed to work with the DC drives in FAULHABER’s GXR/SXR gearhead family. The gearheads can also be flexibly combined with various motors from the standard range, such as motors from the flat BXT brushless family or brushless DC drives.

This allows for matched combinations of encoders, drives, and gearheads, said the Schönaich, Germany-based company . It added that they can be combined compactly and with matching diameters without additional connecting elements.

FAULHABER said it developed the GPT gear series for particularly high torques. Up to six planets per stage enable a shorter overall length and thus more power in the smallest of spaces, it explained. The GPT planetary gears are made of hardened stainless steel, and their connections are continuously welded. This enables the reliable transmission of high forces.

The gearboxes are available in diameters from 14 to 42 mm (0.5 to 1.6 in.) and are significantly shorter than alternative models of the same diameter. They tolerate constant load changes as well as abrupt or very strong ones, according to FAULHABER.

For example, the 42 GPT series can achieve an intermittent torque of up to 25 Nm. Depending on the variant, continuous torques between 06 and 18 Nm and speeds of up to 24,000 rpm are possible.

Thanks to a wide range of evenly distributed reduction ratios — from 3:1 to 1437:1 — drive systems can be adapted to a wide variety of applications, noted FAULHABER. Optimized component coordination and high-performance lubricants contribute to a further increase in performance, as does the wide selection of different output bearings.

FAULHABER said it developed the low-noise series of the GPT family for applications that are used close to people or because multiple motors are used. With an input gear stage made of plastic gears, the 22 GPT LN and 32 GPT LN reduce the noise level by up to 10 dB compared with the standard version, said the company .

Nevertheless, they can transmit occasional peak torques of up to 4 and 12 Nm, respectively. They operate in a wide temperature range from -30° to +110°C (-22° to 230°F) and can maintain their high efficiency even with frequent or sudden load changes. Not only is their performance impressive, but so is their price-performance ratio, claimed FAULHABER.