For more than 50 years, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS has been developing, producing and selling drive technology solutions, and during this time has established itself as one of the leading international full-range suppliers in the industry. In addition to its headquarters in Bargteheide, north of Hamburg, 48 of its own subsidiaries in 36 countries, as well as other sales partners in more than 50 countries, provide technical advice, on-site stocking, assembly centers, and services. In addition to standard drives, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS increasingly supplies application-specific concepts and solutions for special requirements, for example energy-saving drives or explosion-proof systems. With the new MAXXDRIVE XD, NORD now presents an industrial gear unit for hoists of all types.

Closing the gap

This development is special in that hoisting applications place very special demands on the installation space of drives. Thus, the new MAXXDRIVE XD industrial gear unit from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS is said to be ideally suited for U-shaped configurations of gear unit, motor and rope drum thanks to an increased center distance. The North German drive specialist is thus closing one of the last gaps in its extensive product range: "We are now giving our customers the opportunity to obtain travel and hoist drives for cranes from a single source," explains Jörg Niermann, Division Manager Marketing at NORD.

Compactly packaged

As is customary at NORD, the new MAXXDRIVE XD also features a robust one-piece block housing, which in this case has been specially designed for hoisting applications and thus optimized for downward loads. The stretched arrangement of the gear stages also enables the gear unit to be dimensioned for a precise mechanical fit. In this way, oversizing - which is often common despite generously dimensioned center distances - is avoided.

Standardization and reduction of variants

The new MAXXDRIVE XD is available from the start of delivery in five sizes with center distances between 509 and 963 millimeters, optionally with three or four gear stages. Thanks to identical housing dimensions and center distances for the three- and four-axis versions, the new industrial gear unit enables cost-cutting standardization and variant reduction in the design of crane systems. The choice between three- and four-stage versions also covers a particularly wide ratio range, culminating in a maximum nominal ratio of i=355. The constant torque over the entire ratio range also ensures high efficiency in the application. "We are very pleased that we can now also offer all drive solutions for cranes economically and precisely in the proven NORD quality," says Niermann.

The quick grab on the shelf

When it comes to the innards of the MAXXDRIVE XD, NORD only needs to reach quickly into its own shelves. There, thousands of proven series parts of successful industrial gear units are piled up, just waiting to prove their performance once again. Customers also benefit from a wide variety of options and guaranteed short delivery times. The housing, which is available in either gray cast iron (GJL) or spheroidal graphite cast iron (GJS), also allows visual inspection of the internal components via an optional inspection cover without the need to remove the gear unit.

One for many

With the MAXXDRIVE XD, NORD has launched an industrial gear unit that is suitable for use in hoists for all types of cranes: from harbor and container cranes to bridge and gantry cranes, but also for container and coil high-bay warehouses. Thus, it is aimed at a wide range of industries at the same time, i.e. not only for ports, logistics, and shipyards, but also for the metal, chemical, and paper industries, as well as mining and bulk handling.

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