AGRITECHNICA DRIVETRAIN
Electrified collaborations
A WORKING RELATIONSHIP STRUCK BETWEEN A MAJOR OFF-HIGHWAY OEM AND SUPPLIER
IS PUSHING FORWARD DEVELOPMENTS IN POWERTRAIN ELECTRIFICATION
iVTInternational.com September 2019
COMER
November 10-16, 2019
Comer Industries
Hall 15, Stand E32
81
For many years now, the market has pushed for
continuous changes in powertrain technology
due to higher demanding emission requirements for
diesel engines, already adopted by passenger cars.
These tiered emission requirements impose increasingly
stringent limits on the maximum quantity of pollutants
such as carbon monoxide (CO), unburned
hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
particulate matter (PM). Starting with Tier 3 and Tier
4 requirements, OEMs are now facing Tier 5 emission
requirements in the compact vehicle segments with
a threshold of 19 kW for compliance.
Following the same pattern of the passenger car
industry and even considering the latest upgrades in
diesel engine design and technology, current engines
are unable to reduce or properly limit the emission of
carbon dioxide (CO2). Such reduction of emissions of
the gas in specific applications is increasingly becoming
a request that must be satisfied or even a restriction
imposed by regulation. Take for example the regulations
being implemented by large urban centers now and
becoming increasingly stringent in the coming years.
Such regulations allow for driving not only zero-emission
vehicles but extend to industrial equipment as well.
Knock-on effects
This trend is having a heavy impact on powertrain
lay-out and the basic technology systems used by
off-highway OEMs. This need for new technology for
industrial equipment is driving the adoption of fully
electric, or hybrid systems, such as those already
implemented in passenger cars with more suitable
motor and transmission components. This has led
Tobroco Giant and Comer Industries to start their
first collaboration at the end of 2015: developing
a transmission designed for electric wheel loaders.
Comer Industries is a global leader in the design
and production of advanced engineering systems
ABOVE: The new axles is based on the
F046 series
BELOW: Tobroco’s electric wheel loader
and mechatronic solutions for power transmission,
supplied to major manufacturers of agricultural and
industrial machinery worldwide.
Tobroco Giant has been manufacturing quality
machines and attachments since 1996 when they opened
their first factory in the Netherlands. Today the OEM offers
one of the broadest product portfolios in the business
with a total of 36 different models in 50 countries.
Public presentation
After months of development, the axle set developed
from this partnership was defined to equip the first fully
electric wheel loader from Tobroco and was presented
to the public at the 2019 Bauma trade show in Munich,
Germany. The Comer Industries solution is based on the
F046 series axle, designed for maximum dynamic loads
of 2.5 tons with a maximum
output torque of 440 daNm.
This axle is already in use with
proven performance on various other Tobroco
machine models.
To power the machine, the OEM selected a 6.5kW
electric AC motor driven by a lithium-ion battery and
based on fully electric but low voltage technology. The
mechanical transmission meets the low level noise and
ratio requirements provided by the electric motor. Since
the required input speeds are much higher than the
5,000 rpm typically allowed, the internal layout was
designed to reduce backlash through special gear
profiles and the internal lubrication was optimized.
Additionally, the electric transmission covers a much
higher range of reduction ratios compared to the
standard series through the addition of a third axis.
Despite having a higher drop than a traditional
transmission due to the size of the electric motor, the
total dimension of I-S428 is still accomplishing the
compact transmission needs under the small vehicle.
The I-S428 electric dropbox in combination with the axle
body is a competitive product for many applications.
This solution can be used for wheel loaders, aerial work
platforms, telehandlers, dumpers, and many other
compact applications. The development and
implementation of the I-S428 is the first step on
the transmission development road map for Comer
Industries, moving forward into electrification of
off-highway applications. iVT
By Karsten Vinken and Davide Gasparini, sales manager and
business development manager, Comer Industries
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