“Our second pillar is automation technology. We supply made-to-measure transfer systems, blank loaders and press interlinking solutions to meet a wide range of automation requirements from standalone equipment through modular machines to complex, multiple-stage plants”, Hagel explains. “The array of applications covers everything from small parts manufacturing to body parts handling.” System solutions from Hagel Automation are mainly found in the global automotive industry – and it comes as no surprise to learn that 90% of the firm’s output is exported to countries and continents with highly automated car plants.

Martin Hagel: “We can only provide all of these features efficiently using highly dynamic servo technology”. Hagel Automation has trusted in servo gearboxes and actuators made by WITTENSTEIN from the outset – not only for new business but also when replacing mechanical drives and cams with electronic control and drive technology in the context of retrofit projects. “We’ve developed a servo toolkit from which we can generate different drive modules to suit each customer’s requirements. We always opt for TP⁺ servo gearboxes, mostly in the HIGH TORQUE versions, regardless of the motor which is selected or specified”, Hagel adds. “We’ve fared very well with WITTENSTEIN’s alpheno gearboxes and precision racks for many years now in rack-and-pinion applications.”

“That’s why zero backlash and high stiffness are crucial parameters when selecting a servo gearbox,” Hagel points out. The HIGH TORQUE model he chooses in each particular case – TP⁺ 110, TP⁺ 300 or TP⁺ 500 – is determined by the required acceleration and nominal torques as well as by the nominal and maximum input speeds. The maximum torsional backlash is specified as less than one arcminute for all three. The torsional rigidity of the HIGH TORQUE gearboxes is equally impressive: depending on the number of transmission ratios and the transmission power, the two-stage TP⁺ 110 HIGH TORQUE achieves a maximum of 730 Nm/arcmin, with 1400 Nm/arcmin for the single-stage TP⁺ 300 HIGH TORQUE and 2000 Nm/arcmin for the two-stage TP⁺ 500 HIGH TORQUE. “Whereas the freedom from backlash results in extremely good positioning accuracy and repeatability of the transfer systems, it’s the high torsional stiffness of the gearboxes that guarantees us such high rigidity in the drive train as a whole – and hence optimal control characteristics”, Hagel continues.

If the specified minimum lifetime of 20,000 operating hours is converted to the maximum 30 stroke cycles per minute achieved by the transfer systems, a total performance value of 36 million strokes is obtained. Martin Hagel’s verdict is positive: “Our experience shows that the WITTENSTEIN gearboxes easily exceed this figure. A hundred million load changes or more are the norm in practice.”

“The original customer-supplier relationship has long since become a close partnership between WITTENSTEIN and Hagel Automation”, Hagel concludes, citing a series of new developments and patent applications by his company over the last few years in which WITTENSTEIN servo technology has featured prominently.

Particularly in niche markets, quality and innovation are equally important criteria. WITTENSTEIN’s transmission technologies will enable Hagel Automation to equip many more presses with premium transfer solutions in the future.