Amerigear® Mill Spindles
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Amerigear Mill Spindles ® Heavy Duty, High Performance Design

Flexible Spindles There are four basic types of Amerigear Spindles: VL Mill Spindle (our newest design), SM Mill Type, SL Leveler Type and SF Flange Type. The new VL Mill Spindle is used on medium to heavy duty metals rolling main drives and auxiliary equipment. VL Mill Spindles are specifically designed to meet the needs of hot and cold rolling mill applications at reduced cost. For more information, request catalog 781-ADV. The SM Spindle is custom designed and is used primarily on rolling mill drives ranging from heavy duty, hot reversing roughers to high speed cold mills. The spindles...

Fully-Crowned Advanced Gear Design Fully Crowned Teeth The Ameridrives Fully-Crowned Tooth represents the ultimate achievement in the art of gear tooth design, with all three working portions of the tooth crowned. A. Crowned Flank • Thickness greatest at center of tooth • Larger contact area per tooth • More teeth in contact for given angle • Actual loading at center of tooth • Eliminates end loading • Optimum load distribution • Minimum backlash • Constant velocity • Optimum oil film characteristics B. Crowned Tips • Creates ball and socket action • Minimum diametral sleeve clearance •...

Fully-Crowned Advanced Gear Design Verification of the Design Process • The verification process consisted of numerous in-house strain gage and dynamic tests on both new and old design configurations. • The correlation of stresses, percent of teeth in contact, and heat generation characteristics were excellent. • In conjunction with the in-house testing, selected high maintenance, short life mill applications were used for field-testing. • An optimization process consisting of flank curvature, diametral pitch, face width and sleeve barrel was performed on each configuration. • The results...

Materials and Heat Treatment Amerigear Flexible Spindles are used on heavy-duty, high torque applications that require rugged strength such as metal rolling mill main drives and similar heavy equipment. To maximize the torque carrying capacity and life of the spindle, the proper combination of material, heat treatment and gearing geometry must be selected. Materials used by Ameridrives in the production of spindle components include both medium carbon and forged alloy steels. Various heat treatment methods are also used by Ameridrives to improve the physical and mechanical properties of...

SM (Mill Type) Design 1 Engineering Data SM Spindles are used on medium to high torque applications which require rugged strength, such as metal rolling mill main drives and similar heavy equipment. Mill type spindles deliver maximum torque capacity under severe shock loads, while operating at relatively high angles. Gear sections are made from medium carbon and forged alloy steels with heat treated teeth. Hub gear teeth are FullyCrowned to provide maximum torque capacity with minimum backlash. Onepiece, molded lip-type seals, designed for operation under misalignment conditions, provide...

SM (Mill Type) Design 2 Engineering Data This optional spindle configuration shows the replaceable insert gear ring at both the roll and drive ends. The gear ring is connected to the adapter through a snug-fitting spline employing a flat root side fit. The gear ring is held concentric with the adapter by accurately machined pilots in both ends of the spline engagement. If the gear ring is damaged for any reason, it can be replaced in a fraction of the time required to replace a sleeve which has an integral gear, and it has the added benefit of being much more economical.

SM (Mill Type) Design 3 Engineering Data This spindle arrangement shows the splined replaceable sleeve option. This design has both an adapter which fits on the pinion shaft, and an intermediate sleeve that is splined to the adapter. This sleeve also has an internal gear which meshes with the hub. This type of design is desirable in many cases where a quick disconnect feature is required. It also allows for an interchangeable sleeve that can be used on either end.

SM (Mill Type) Design 4 Engineering Data This arrangement is frequently used where diameter limitations prevent the use of a gear ring at the roll end. The spindle hubs can be interchangeable. This option allows the pinion end adapter to remain fixed to the pinion shaft when it becomes necessary to replace the gear ring.

Design Features Splined Hub (Figure 1) Hubs are connected to the intermediate shaft through snug-fitting splines with a flat root side fit. The hub is held concentric with the spindle shaft by a close tolerance accurately machined pilot diameter on both ends of the spline. This holds the hub in a fixed position, able to resist radial load. The spline is used only to transmit torque. Relative movement between the internal and external spline is virtually non-existent, insuring that fretting and rapid wear cannot take place. Also, a spline requires less radial space than keys, permitting the...

Design Features Roll End Bores (Figure 6) Amerigear spindles can be furnished with either a developed bore or replaceable wear keys. Keys can be hardened alloy steel or standard commercial steel depending on the application. A developed roll end bore configuration is available with or without heat treatment and hardening, based on the severity of the application. Roll end bores can be hardened by nitriding, carburizing or hard face welding. Axial Travel Capability (Figure 7) Various designs of SM spindles are available offering axial travel capability. These are most commonly used on mill...

Maintenance and Lubrication General Description The Ameridrives Amerigear SM Type flexible spindles are designed primarily for heavy duty steel mill applications. These units fulfill the requirements of transmitting the maximum torque possible while operating at a specific angle of misalignment between driving and driven equipment. They also can be designed to allow for higher no load angle misalignments which makes roll change easier. The gear elements of the Amerigear spindle are made from high quality carbon or forged alloy steel depending on the operating angle and load requirements....