REDEX Cubic Concept: Optimizing Overall Drive Solutions

The REDEX ?Cubic Concept? with integrated HQ-GF technology

Total design cost (TDC) and total manufacturing cost (TMC) are essential factors in maintaining a leading position in markets as competitive and demanding as machine tools worldwide. Particularly attentive to both costs and performance levels, most major machine tool manufacturers have switched to the ?Cubic Concept?, invented and developed by REDEX to optimize overall drive solutions.

What is the ?Cubic Concept??
With the ?Cubic Concept?, the housing that holds the axis drives (rack and pinion with planetary gearboxes inside) is no longer part of the machine but of the drive itself. This design offers many advantages, starting with the elimination of ultra-precise mounting extensions to be integrated into the machine frame.

This is a key advantage, which greatly simplifies design and saves many hours of rigidity simulation on sophisticated 3D CAD software, not to mention full-scale trials and tests. The implementation procedure has also been simplified and requires only the machining of very simple shapes for the mounting interfaces. These exclusive advantages enable savings of up to 15 to 20% on TDC and TMC costs.

The Cubic Concept applied to the most innovative product ranges: DRPng and KRPXng
At the heart of REDEX drives is a highly rigid planetary gearbox with very low angular backlash, fully integrated in its own cubic housing and ready to be installed on the machine's main frame exactly as if it were part of the frame itself.

Available in 5 standard universal sizes, the DRPng is a rack and pinion solution that combines two planetary gearboxes in a single, compact and extremely rigid cubic housing. The design of the DRP series also makes it possible to eliminate 100% of the rack and pinion backlash, either in its mechanical preload version (a particularly economical solution that is easy to implement) or in its electrical preload version, where this design greatly simplifies the implementation procedure.

Now also available in 5 standard universal sizes (the full range - sizes 1 to 5 - will be officially launched at the EMO show), the KRPXng is a compact rack and pinion drive, specifically designed to facilitate the creation of drive systems that are 100% free of linear backlash (electrical preload / TwinDRIVE). This latest version offers particularly easy implementation for pinion heights not exceeding 75, 9 to 135 m.

?Rigidity?, an essential factor
For axis drives, each machine subassembly and component must maintain the same level of overall rigidity as the main frame in order to avoid degrading dynamic performance.

The exceptional rigidity of the DRP & KRPX series also stems from the design of the integral output pinion, patented by REDEX, with an oversized output bearing. The output pinions are machined to the same diameter as the shafts, in order to obtain the best possible ratio between transmissible torque and rigidity at the rack.

The output bearing consists of two preloaded, largely oversized angular contact bearings. This bearing is designed so that the pinion is supported as close as possible to the load, separated from the output bearing only by the thickness of the locknut. This design considerably reduces radial deflection, which is responsible for 60% of the overall deformation of the machine and is often overlooked by other existing solutions.

The structure of the housings has been optimized using finite element analysis (FEM) in order to avoid any deflection during acceleration. The mounting is designed to ensure an optimal connection with the machine frame.

The result: increased working capacities, with heavier loads moved at higher speeds and accelerations. The system's rigidity performance, combined with its low inertia, guarantees higher accelerations (up to 25 m/s2). As a result, axis systems in which the new series are integrated see their usual natural frequencies increase very significantly.

Eco-design
After raising gear manufacturing standards to the level of their latest R&D results, REDEX engineers have taken a further step by introducing a new finishing technique for gearboxes intended for the machine tool sector. This new technology, HQ-GF, guarantees high reversibility, significant noise reduction and, above all, a reduction of more than 15% in power losses. Thousands of kWh are thus saved over the life of the machine.

By integrating HQ-GF quality, the new technology applied to the DRP and KRP series joins the long line of REDEX products specifically designed by its engineers to improve machine tool performance.

Extreme rigidity, turnkey solutions, eco-design: for Redex engineers, these are not just theoretical goals; they are also major elements driving the constant improvement of drive systems. REDEX's cutting-edge solutions and products offer machine tool manufacturers easier integration, better efficiency and longer service life, while making innovations and design changes less risky than ever.