Gearboxes / Gear Motors / Speed Reducers

Gearboxes and speed reducers are enclosed mechanical speed reduction devices commonly used in today's automation control systems to dictate your motor's torque and accomplish other motion-related tasks.

Gearboxes allow you to increase torque while reducing the speed of your prime mover output shafts. The output shaft of a gearbox rotates at a slower rate than the input shaft. This produces a mechanical advantage, which increases torque. Conversely, your gearbox can be set up to do the opposite, providing an increase in shaft speed with a reduction in torque.

Two common gearbox configurations are in-line and right angle. In-line models are commonly made up of helical or spur gears, planetary gears, cycloidal mechanisms, or harmonic wave generators. Right angle designs are typically made with worm gearing or bevel gearing, however, hybrid drives are also available.

Gear motors combine an enclosed gearset with a motor to increase torque and performance while reducing speed. While issues may arise from extra friction, inertia, or the sharp load changes of actuators' short-lived operation, they provide long operational life by preventing overdrive. A variety of gear ratios, speeds, and torques are available to help optimize performance and minimize potential problems.

Browse to find the right gearboxes and speed reducers for your automation project.