Drum motor
electromechanical device
A drum motor (or motorised pulley) is a geared motor drive enclosed within a steel shell providing a single component driving pulley for conveyor belts.
The drum motor concept was first recorded in 1928, but it was not used until the early 1950s, when it was first produced specifically for conveyor belt applications. The goal was to produce a compact, totally enclosed single component drive unit with high efficiency and lower frictional losses compared to a conventional geared motor. Today, drum motors are may be found in airport check-in conveyors and security machines, supermarket check stands, food processing conveyors and weighing equipment. Reversible drum motors are also used for roller shutter doors.
Basic design
The drum motor uses an asynchronous or synchronous electric motor, or hydraulic motor fixed to a stationary shaft. One end of the drum is directly coupled through the motor's rotor pinion to an in-line helical or planetary gearbox which is fixed to the other stationary shaft. The torque is transferred from the motor via the gearbox to the drum shell through a coupling or geared rim attached to the shell or end housing.
Transmission
Because of the in-line transmission arrangement using 2 or 3 stage helical or planetary gears, up to 95% of the output power produced by the motor is typically transmitted to the drum shell. Gears can be made from high-grade steel, sintered metal or polymers.
The public source identifies “Drum motor” as electromechanical device. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Drum, motor and electromechanical.
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This entry incorporates text from “Drum motor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.