Innovative Layout of Gears for the Optimum Design of Gearbox of a Levelling Machine

This paper delineates the layout and the detailed design of a single input multiple output (SIMO) gearbox for a strip leveller machine. The leveller machine is used to flatten out and level the coiled sheets for finding applications in various industries. Roller leveling is essentially a bending process. The out of flat part, sheet or plate is deformed by a series of alternating bends created by passing the sheet, or plate between upper and lower sets of leveling rollers. The power is transmitted to the rollers from the motor via a gearbox and the outputs of the gearbox are connected to the rollers through spindle shafts with the help of universal joints. The large angle of these universal joints affects its efficiency and thereby decreases its life. Hence this angle is to be reduced and one way of achieving this is by compacting the gearbox. The size is drastically reduced by constructing the layout of the gears in such a way, that the space between the outer surface of the gear and the shaft is utilized by arranging the gears in several lateral and longitudinal planes. The main aim of the paper is to describe this innovative layout and its design verification.