Tugger Traction Drive

Quantis ILH Speed Reducer

Installation For Mining Industry
Material Handling Application

Jack Sincek
Territory Manager
Carnegie, PA
December 18, 2013

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Introduction

A Tugger is a device mounted to a monorail system that is used to transport material and
supplies to and from various destinations within an underground mine. The monorail
system can be any length, and is usually driven with an air motor. Pulling capacities can
exceed 6000 lbs. of force.

Application Review

Two in-line helical speed reducers driven by air motors are mounted in a vertical shaft up
position, each with a rubber tire attached to the output. (The illustration below on left
shows one half of the assembly, the photo on right shows the completed unit.)

A structural member (I-beam) is sandwiched between the rubber tires, and provisions are
provided to attach various components, material, and supplies to the tugger. The operator
then controls the actuation of the air motors via local or pendant control, and can
effortlessly deliver material to any location along the monorail. Pulling capacities can
vary with the size of the units. The Tugger designed in this case has a nameplated pulling
capacity of 6700 lbs. of force.

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Opportunity

In the past, the machinery manufacturer used Radicon In-Line Helical speed reducers
with a hollow quill type input and c-face input flange. Because of the design and
dimensions of the air motors, a problem was encountered when attempting to attach the
motors to the speed reducer. Radicon was unwilling to work with the OEM to arrive at a
suitable solution. As a result, the OEM was forced to fabricate their own adapters and
spacers necessary to fit the components together.

Another problem existed in that since the Radicon was a quill design, there is no bearing
on the motor side of the input shaft, relying solely on the motor bearings for support.
Since the speed reducers were mounted vertically, this design was particularly susceptible
to leakage due to the relative instability of the input shaft on the motor side.

Solution

Baldor – Dodge was asked to come in to take a look at the application, and we
recommended a Quantis HB883LN140TC as a solution. The footprint matched the
Radicon units used in the past, and our Quantis ILH speed reducers gave the OEM the
benefits of an input shaft supported on both sides by bearings located within the speed
reducer which provides much better stability and better performance in reversing
applications, as well as a reduced probability of leakage. In addition, mounting the air
motor was much simpler since the Quantis ILH speed reducer incorporates a projected
shaft within the c-flange housing. The distance between the input shaft and the air
motor’s drive shaft is taken up by simply using a spacer coupling.

This reduced the in-house machining and assembly time from approximately 6 hours per
unit to approximately 1 hour per unit. Material costs were reduced as well since no
custom spacers or adapters need to be fabricated.

Current annual production of this model is 30 units, which equates to an ongoing

purchase of 60 Quantis speed reducers per year. The documented savings as a result of
reduced assembly time, in house machining, and material costs is $15,000

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Documented Savings

SAVINGS CATEGORY DATA NOTES

DOWNTIME (UNPLANNED)
Cost of Unplanned Downtime ($/hr) or ($/min)
Number of Unplanned Downtime Failures (X/yr)
Time Spent on Failure Replacement (hr) or (min)
Number of Baldor Downtime Failures (X/yr)
Time Spent on Baldor Replacement (hr or min)
DOWNTIME SAVINGS SUB-TOTAL $0.00
LABOR
Labor Rate ($/hr) or ($/min) $30.00
Number of in house modifications: 60
Time Spent on In house modifications and assembly 6
Number of Baldor units: 60
Time spent on Baldor assembly: 1
LABOR SAVINGS SUB-TOTAL $9,000.00
MATERIALS
Cost of Replaced Product ($ each) $1,400.00
Number of production units: 60
Cost of Baldor Product ($ each) $1,400.00
Number of Baldor production units: 60
Cost of Other Materials - Shafting, etc. ($ each) $100.00 Special spacer and adapter to mount airmotor
Replacements of Other Materials - Shafting, etc. (X/yr) 60
Replacements of Other Materials - Baldor (X/yr) 0
MATERIALS SAVINGS SUB-TOTAL $6,000.00
OTHER
OTHER SUB-TOTAL $0.00

TOTAL ANNUAL TCO SAVINGS $15,000.00

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