AU2011204951B2

AU2011204951B2 - Gear for industrial applications

Info

Publication number: AU2011204951B2
Application number: AU2011204951A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ali Kemal; Maik Liesegang
Original assignee: Flender GmbH
Current assignee: Flender GmbH
Priority date: 2010-07-22
Filing date: 2011-07-22
Publication date: 2014-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 2031-07-22
Also published as: ES2402879T3; EP2410210B1; EP2410210A1; CN202301881U; AU2011204951A1

Abstract

GEAR FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Abstract The invention relates to a gear for industrial applications, with at least one drive 5 shaft (102) and at least one output shaft (103), which pass through a respective orifice on a gear case (101). At least one gearwheel connected to the drive shaft and at least one gearwheel connected to the output shaft are provided, said gearwheels being in engagement indirectly or directly with one another. The gear further comprises a bundle (109) of a plurality of heat pipes which are arranged in each case on a first portion in the io region of a lubricant sump (108) and which are connected thermally to this. Evaporation of a heat pipe medium takes place in each case on the first portions of the heat pipes. A convection cooling body (110) is arranged outside the gear case and is connected to second portions of the heat pipes. Condensation of the heat pipe medium takes place in each case on the second portions of the heat pipes. In addition, a fan (111) connected to is the drive shaft (102) or output shaft (103) is provided, in the flow region of which fan the convection cooling body is arranged. Figure 1 208-, 232 o 0 205 0 o00 251 0 o0 o0 *O0 o o 0 0o

Description

S&F Ref: P004366 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, of Wittelsbacherplatz 2, of Applicant: 80333, Munchen, Germany Actual Inventor(s): Ali Kemal Maik Liesegang Address for Service: Spruson & Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 35 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Invention Title: Gear for industrial applications The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 5845c(5468045_1) Gear for industrial applications Industrial gears are often of central importance in industrial working and manufacturing processes. Industrial gears must fulfill a broad range of complex requirements. 5 For example, one of these requirements is reliable functioning over a long period of use with minimal outlay in maintenance terms. Gear failures detrimental to industrial working and manufacturing processes may become costly, for example because of expensive standstill times. 10 DE 10 2006 020 801 Al describes a construction kit of gear cooling devices, in which a plurality of covers can be combined with a plurality of modules to form a multiplicity of cooling devices of different cooling capacity for mounting on a gear. The cooling devices are 15 placed onto the mounting orifice of the gear and in each case receive lubricating oil splashing inside the gear and transfer the heat contained in the lubricating oil to an external cooling circuit. Both DE 36 06 963 C2 and US 5,072,784 disclose a gear with 20 a heat exchanger which forms a case cover and is connected to a lubricant pump, arranged inside a gear case, for conveying lubricant out of a lubricant sump. The lubricant pump is arranged in a lubricant distribution system between the lubricant sump and the heat exchanger. 2 5 DE 103 15 684 Al discloses a gear in which a tubular heat exchanger is used as an oil cooler which is integrated into a gear case. By means of an oil pump which follows the tubular heat exchanger, oil is sucked out of an oil sump and, in the process, flows around the tubular heat 30 exchanger. After the oil has been cooled in the tubular -2 heat exchanger, the oil is conveyed to lubrication points inside the gear by the oil pump. DE 10 2004 022 863 Al describes a gear which has a case closed sealingly and releasably by means of a case cover. Furthermore, the cover comprises a cooling device which has cooling fingers or cooling ribs and in which air is used as cooling medium. In the gear known from DE 10 2007 024 512 Al, a cooling cartridge formed from elongate cooling tubes is plugged tO through an orifice in a gear case and is screwed into the orifice by means of a basic body from which the cooling tubes emanate. The cooling cartridge is arranged in the region of an oil sump inside the gear. This sometimes means, however, that there are restrictions in terms of 157 the dimensioning and selection of cooling devices which can be used. US 6,830,096 describes a differential gear in which a heat pipe extends first horizontally through a lubricant sump and then vertically inside a case of the differential to gear. Outside the case, the heat pipe has fastened to it cooling ribs, via which heat exchange with the surroundings of the differential gear takes place. DE 40 10 333 Al discloses a lubricating oil cooling device of a power transfer system which comprises a case for the ,S reception of at least two intermeshing gearwheels and of lubricating oil. In this case, only part of each gearwheel dips into the lubricating oil. A heat pipe provided with a heating and a cooling section is fastened to the case. The case comprises an oil tank, which is arranged laterally 30 with respect to a gearwheel and which is supplied with lubricating oil by the action of centrifugal force, and, for the oil tank, a connecting orifice which, when the 3 gearwheels are stationary, is located at a point lying above a lubricating oil level. The heating section of the heat pipe is inserted through the connecting orifice into the oil tank. It is an object of the invention to improve upon the prior art at least to an extent or to provide an alternative thereto. A preferred aim is to specify a gear for industrial applications, with an efficient cooling system, which, even with compact dimensions, allows a rapid discharge of large quantities of heat. There is disclosed herein a gear with at least one drive shaft and at least one output shaft, which pass through a respective orifice on a gear case. Moreover, at least one gearwheel connected to the drive shaft and at least one gearwheel connected to the output shaft are provided, said gearwheels being in engagement indirectly or directly with one another. Furthermore, the gear comprises a bundle of a plurality of heat pipes which are arranged in each case on a first portion in the region of a lubricant sump and which are connected thermally to this. Evaporation of a heat pipe medium with which the heat pipes are filled takes place in each case on the first portions of the heat pipes. A convection cooling body is arranged outside the gear case and is connected to second portions of the heat pipes. Condensation of the heat pipe medium takes place in each case on the second portions of the heat pipes. In addition, a fan connected to the drive shaft or output shaft is provided, in the flow region of which fan the convection cooling body is arranged. The convection cooling body is integrated into a case cover. The gear thus has a largely maintenance-free and extremely effective cooling system.

4 The present invention is explained in more detail below by means of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a gear according to the invention with one bevel wheel stage and with three spur wheel stages in longitudinal section, Figure 2 shows the gear according to figure 1 in a view from a drive-side end face, Figure 3 shows a portion of a heat pipe bundle of the gear illustrated in figure 1, Figure 4 shows a gear according to the invention with three planet stages and with one bevel wheel stage, Figure 5 shows the gear according to figure 4 in a cross sectional illustration in the region of a first heat pipe bundle which is arranged between a first and a second planet stage, Figure 6 shows the gear according to figure 4 in a cross sectional illustration in the region of a second heat pipe bundle which is arranged on the bevel wheel stage, Figure 7 shows a perspective illustration of the first heat pipe bundle of the gear illustrated in figure 4, -5 Figure 8 shows a perspective illustration of the second heat pipe bundle of the gear illustrated in figure 4, Figure 9 shows a fan for the gears according to figures 1 and 4 in a perspective illustration, Figure 10 shows the fan according to figure 9 in cross section. The gear for industrial applications illustrated in figures 1 and 2 comprises a drive shaft 102 and an output 10 shaft 103, which pass in each case through an orifice on a gear case 101. The drive shaft 102 is connected to a bevel wheel stage 104 which comprises a bevel wheel and a bevel pinion. The bevel wheel stage 104 is connected via a first spur wheel stage 105 and a second spur wheel stage 106 to 15 a third spur wheel stage 107 which is connected fixedly in terms of rotation to the output shaft 103. The first spur wheel stage 104 comprises a spur wheel which is connected fixedly in terms of rotation to the bevel pinion of the bevel wheel stage 104. The spur wheel of the first spur 20 wheel stage 104 meshes with a pinion of a gearwheel/pinion combination of the second spur wheel stage 105, the gearwheel of which meshes, in turn, with a spur wheel of the third spur wheel stage 107. A bundle 109 of a plurality of heat pipes is arranged on each of the two sides of the drive shaft, which heat pipes are in each case arranged at a first end in the region of a lubricant sump 108 and are coupled thermally to lubricant in the lubricant sump 108. Outside the gear case 101, two convection cooling bodies 110 are arranged (cf. 30 also figure 3) at second ends of the heat pipes inside a motor lantern 112. Evaporation of a heat pipe medium takes place in each case at the first ends of the heat pipes, -6 while condensation of the heat pipe medium takes place in each case at the second ends of the heat pipes. The convection cooling bodies 110 have in each case a plurality of cooling lamellae. A convection cooling body 110 can in principle also be integrated into a case cover. In the present exemplary embodiment, a fan 111, in the flow region of which fan the convection cooling bodies 110 are arranged, is connected fixedly in terms of rotation to the drive shaft 102. An electric fan drive may thereby be (0 dispensed with. The fan 111 could in principle also be driven alternatively by the output shaft 103. Furthermore, fans which are temperature-regulated in terms of their rotational speed may also be provided on the convection cooling bodies 110. In the gearwheel illustrated in ti figures 1 and 2, only the two heat pipe bundles 109 with the convection cooling bodies 110 and the fan 111 are provided for cooling. A fan for a gear according to figures 1 and 2 is illustrated in detail in figures 9 and 10. The fan has on 2P a first end face 302 an integrated rotationally symmetrical cover disk 301 which is configured as one quarter of a hollow torus. A rounding is thereby formed on the first end face 302, on an outer cylindrical surface area 304 of the fan which extends between the first end 25 face 302 and a second end face 303. By virtue of the cover disk 301, the fan has in cross section a portion 305 which is in the form of a quarter circle and which the outer cylindrical surface area 304 adjoins. Furthermore, the fan has in an inner -radial portion a disk 30 306 with a plurality of passage orifices 307 arranged so *as to be offset with respect to. one another by a first predeterminable angle. In the present exemplary embodiment, the passage orifices 307 are in each case - 7 arranged so as to be offset with respect to one another by 90 degrees. Moreover, the disk 306 is connected to the cover disk 301 by means of a plurality of radially outward-extending lamellae 308 arranged so as to be offset 56 with respect to one another by a second predeterminable angle. According to figure 9, the lamellae 308 are in each case arranged so as to be offset with respect to one another by 30 degrees. The gear for industrial applications illustrated in figure 10 4 comprises three planet stages 202-204 and one bevel wheel stage 205, which are arranged in a common gear case 201. The planet stages comprise in each case a stationary ring wheel 221, 231, 241, a planet carrier 222, 232, 242 receiving a plurality of planets, and a sun wheel 223, I 233, 243. The planet carrier 222 of the first planet stage 202 is connectable to a drive shaft, while the sun wheel 243 of a third planet stage 204 is connected fixedly in terms of rotation to a bevel wheel 251 of the bevel wheel stage 205 arranged on the output side. The sun wheel 223 2P of the first planet stage 202 is connected to the planet carrier 232 of a second planet stage 203, the sun wheel 233 of which is connected in turn to the planet carrier 242 of the third planet stage 204. As may also be gathered from the cross-sectional 25 illustration according to figure 5, a first heat pipe bundle 206 is arranged axially between the first planet stage 202 and the second planet stage 203. A first ring like portion of the first heat pipe bundle 206 is arranged inside the gear case 201 and radially surrounds the planet 30 carrier 232 of the second planet stage 203. The first ring-shaped portion of the first heat pipe bundle 206 has adjoining it a second portion which ends outside the gear case 201 (see also figure 7). A convection cooling body 208 is arranged at one end of the second portion. The -8 convection cooling body 208 is arranged in a flow region of a fan which is connected to a drive shaft or output shaft of the gear and which is configured according to figures 9 and 10. 4 At least part of the first portion of the first heat pipe bundle 206 is dipped into a lubricant sump on a bottom portion of the gear case 201 and is thermally coupled to lubricant in the lubricant sump. Evaporation of a heat pipe medium takes place on the first portion of the first 10 heat pipe bundle 206, while condensation of the heat pipe medium takes place on the second portion. It may be gathered from the cross-sectional illustration according to figure 6 that a second U-shaped heat pipe bundle 207 is arranged on the bevel wheel stage 205. The 16 bevel wheel stage 205 comprises in addition to the bevel wheel 251 a bevel pinion on 252 which is connected to an output shaft and is in engagement with the bevel wheel 251. The second heat pipe bundle 207 comprises a first half-ring-like portion which extends inside the gear case 2P 201 and radially surrounds the bevel wheel 251. The first half-ring-shaped portion of the second heat pipe bundle 207 has adjoining it two second portions which end outside the gear case 201 (see also figure 8). A convection cooling body 208 is arranged in each case at one end of 15 the second portion. The convection cooling bodies 208 are in each case arranged in a flow region of a fan which is connected to a drive shaft or output shaft of the.gear and is configured according to figures 9 and 10. The first portion of the second heat pipe bundle 207 is )O dipped into a lubricant sump on the bottom portion of the gear case 201 and is thermally coupled to lubricant in the lubricant sump. In a similar way to the statements made above, evaporation of a heat pipe medium takes place at - 9 the first portion of the second heat pipe bundle 207, while the heat pipe medium condenses on the two second portions. The use of the present invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments described.

Claims

1. A gear for industrial applications, with - at least one drive shaft and at least one output shaft, which pass through a respective orifice on a gear case, - at least one gearwheel connected to the drive shaft and at least one gearwheel connected to the output shaft, said gearwheels being in engagement indirectly or directly with one another, - a bundle of a plurality of heat pipes which are arranged in each case on a first portion in the region of a lubricant sump and which are connected thermally to this, evaporation of a heat pipe medium taking place in each case on the first portions of the heat pipes, - a convection cooling body which is arranged outside the gear case and which is connected to second portions of the heat pipes, condensation of the heat pipe medium taking place in each case on the second portions of the heat pipes, - a fan connected to the drive shaft or output shaft, in the flow region of which fan the convection cooling body is arranged; and - wherein the convection cooling body is integrated into a case cover.

2. The gear as claimed in claim 1, in which the convection cooling body has cooling lamellae.

3. The gear as claimed in either of claim 1 or claim 2, in which a fan which is temperature-regulated in terms of its rotational speed is provided.

4. The gear as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the fan has on a first end face an integrated rotationally symmetrical cover disk which is configured as one quarter of a hollow torus, by virtue of which a rounding is formed on the 11 first end face, on an outer cylindrical surface area of the fan which extends between the first end face and the second end face.

5. The gear as claimed in claim 4, in which, by virtue of the cover disk, the fan has in cross section a portion which is in the form of a quarter circle and which the outer cylindrical surface area adjoins.

6. The gear as claimed in either one of claims 4 or 5, in which the fan has in an inner radial portion a disk with a plurality of passage orifices arranged so as to be offset with respect to one another by a first predeterminable angle, and in which the disk is connected to the cover disk by means of a plurality of radially outward-extending lamellae arranged so as to be offset with respect to one another by a second predeterminable angle.

7. The cooling device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, in which only the bundle of a plurality of heat pipes and the fan are provided for cooling.

8. The gear as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the fan is connected fixedly in terms of rotation to the drive shaft or output shaft.

9. A gear for industrial applications substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON & FERGUSON