Projects

          - continuous gear reduction from 300 > 100,00 > Infinite > -100,00 > -300
          - output reversible without reversing main engine
          - programmable extreme gear reduction
          - gear reduction controlled by speed of a rotating shaft (i.e. not by mechanical levers or rubber belts)
          - low cost - only 6 rotating parts
          - non-slip rigidly coupled gears
          - ideal robotics component for trading mechanical torque for speed through control of gear reduction ratio; new servo technologies possible
          - higher output torque than hydraulic motors for the same volume achieved through arbitrary 'infinite' gear reduction
          - perfect for green vehicles as main input gear can accept multiple input sources (electric motor and diesel engine) and adjust output gear reduction accordingly
          - carbon fiber cloth based (not chopped fiber) designs available for light weight low inertia F1 racing gearboxes / light weight helicopter gearboxes

News 27-May-2011

    All the prototypes have so far shattered their internal axles or teeth within a few minutes of operation.
    We have not been able to get numbers out of the device or put out a video showing its benefits.
    The reasons appear to be the inertia of the gear wheels allowing
    some of the mechanisms to continue rotating after power is removed. If the power is removed too quickly, there
    is stress within the system as different gear wheels reduce speed at different rates. Since the system can produce inifinite
    gear reduction, the amount of stress on the gear teeth and axles become unbounded.
    The next prototype will strengthen the teeth and axles.
    Also those components are removable for easy replacement when damaged.

A Better Gearbox

The goal of better gear box design is to allow the gear reduction ratio to be controlled so that
that a limited motor can move small loads at great speed and high loads at slow speed
without stressing the gearbox and motor. The halogen drive typically has variable continuous
gear reduction 300 > 100,000 > Infinite > -100,000, -300. The gear reduction is controlled by
speed of a built in motor. Negative gear reduction simply means the output shaft has reversed its
direction without reversing the primary motor drive direction!!

To describe an application, consider a cart with a small 6W motor driven by 4 AA cells and a halogen drive.
The cart will move with 6W motor if unladen. Now fit 50kg weight to the cart so that the 6W motor is unable to push the cart.
To move the cart, apply power to the built in gear reduction motor inside the halogen drive.
As the speed of the built in gear reduction motor increases, the
gear reduction of the 6W motor to the drive wheels goes from 300 > 100,000 and above, until the cart moves
(or the gearbox breaks from the high torque due to high gear reduction).

The benefits of Halogen Gear Drive

This technology is ideal in robotics and lifting environment to move very heavy loads
at low speed, and very light loads and high speed. New types of servos, winches, lifting cranes, cutting equipment
and hand held power tools are possible with the halogen drive.
There are only 6 moving parts inside the halogen drive and thus it is easy to mass produce.
The gear drive can be built to order or it can be licensed for incorporation into your product.

How to use the Halogen Gear Drive in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles

The Halogen Gear Drive accepts multiple inputs from multiple power sources placed around the primary
drive gear. The input sources can be electric motor, diesel motor, gasoline motor, or some other green and exotic motor.

The primary drive gear is large and has space to fit around it additional geared sources of power.
Each axle supplying power to the Halogen Gear Drive should be fitted with an electronic clutch to
disengage from the main drive gear. A typical e-vehicle could use batteries whenever
it is available and gasoline the remainder of the journey and the clutch can engage
each type of power source as needed. The Halogen Gear Drive provides the correct gear
reduction for each type of input power source.

The benefits of Halogen Gear Drive in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles

All engines have an optimal speed. At all operational speeds, the engines
can spin at their most efficient speeds while the gear reduction
from motor to the wheels is altered by the Halogen Gear Drive for best fuel and energy efficient operation.

How to use Halogen Gear Drive in a CNC milling machine and lathe

A CNC milling machine and CNC lathe requires its main drive motor to vary the spindle speed from very low to
high speeds and maintain good torque. The majority of drive trains use belts and interchangeable
gears. Fitting a Halogen Gear Drive allows torque to be maintained with a non-slip drive
train and gear reductions from 300 > 100,000 > infinite > -100,000, -300. With extreme gear
reduction comes extreme torque. CNC machines can bend metal with its bare torque from the
spindle as well as cut metal with the same spindle and drill metal with the same spindle.
New metal bending tools can be added to the stock of cutters and drills
Aluminum is one example where metal can be pushed into cavities through plastic deformation
to make new type of joints reducing the overall manufacturing time and cost.

The benefits of using Halogen Gear Drive in a CNC milling machine

Around 6 easy to service moving parts inside a Halogen Gear Drive replace complex gears and drive belts
inside a CNC milling machine and provide a bigger dynamic range of speeds and torques for
new CNC milling machine designs. Smaller and more powerful hobby class machines are possible
that perform similar engineering tasks as bigger less energy efficient machines.

How to use Halogen Gear Drive for new hand held tools and hand operated tools

A Halogen Gear Drive's 'infinite' gear reduction allow immense torque to be generated on a hand held
device or hand operated tools. A tool such as a car jack can be made from simple 4 x AA rechargeable cells.
Such a jack could lift a car or a van by getting sufficient gear reduction from variable gear box to allow small
low power motors (less than 10W) to operate hand operated machines like a car jack with extreme gear reduction.
Hand held tools such as cutters, electric screwdrivers, power assisted garden shears and so on
could be built to have more torque than todays mechanism to extend their functions.

The benefit of using Halogen Gear Drive for new hand held tools and hand operated tools

Small AA rechargeable battery packs can operate power tools to generate
extreme torque through extreme gear reduction to perform new tasks such as cutting
that would otherwise be impossible to fit in small package.

Contacting Us

This type of gearbox is intended for high end applications where the gear reduction needs to be
variable to solve the problem. A high end application for example is to guarantee a space door
can open in space. Normal doors open and close with relative ease, but in space, doors and
actuators can jam because of unforseen bonding problems between surfaces, thermal issues
or some accident that leaves a structure bent out of shape. Fitting a Halogen Gear Drive with 6 moving
parts can guarantee that door will open if and when required to do so under exceptional circumstances.
Other actuators for space use and for use with rovers we can guarantee in the same way.

If you have an application for the Halogen Gear Drive, you can contact us to describe the application
and a quotation will be sent for a sample drive to be built in clear acrylic for demonstration. If the demonstrator
works to specification, then a new quote for the gearbox in metal or plastic will be made with a lead
time of about 6 to 12 weeks depending on size of the gearbox.
This type of working is suitable for low volume and batch production.

If you have a mass manufacturing application, the set up fee is £50,000 for gear boxes between the size of 10mm
to 200mm to supply the entire end to end service from prototying to final tooling.
The set up fee is for infrastructure costs and all other costs (such as cost of building the tooling) are extra.