Everyday hundreds of thousands of gallons of paint need to be mixed in specialty paint and hardware stores across North America. The world's premier manufacturer of heavy-duty automated paint shakers chose MITRPAK for their application because they needed a unit that was reliable, quiet, compact, and field serviceable.

MITRPAK's spiral bevel gears outperform standard bevels because tooth-for-tooth they can transmit more power efficiently in a compact, leak-resistant, bolt-down package. MITRPAK's unique locknut design allows for easy field maintenance and MITRPAK was willing to supply units with special shafts to accommodate other machine characteristics.

When the United States military unleashes it's Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) MITRPAK spiral bevel gear drives move into harms way.

Military designers need to demonstrate high reliability and redundancy when they introduce new technology to the troops and they chose MITRPAK units for a manual hatch door drive assembly that has to work in case of an electrical failure or for maintenance requirements.

As with most government applications, these are definitely not off-the-shelf units. Special housings are precision machined and plated with a non-chromate conversion coating. A high accuracy pivot pin made with hardened 17-4PH stainless steel is attached to the housing for mounting purposes. Like all MITRPAK units, these spiral bevel drives utilize precision ball bearings and are totally sealed against the elements.

Synchronous high-speed needles are used in the production of the quilted fabric that covers mattresses. The manufacturer of this quilting machinery mounts the needles on an eccentric drive. Because the material is so wide three gear drives are mounted in tandem to span the fabric. Tight, consistent stitches can only be made when the drives run smoothly with minimum backlash. MITRPAK spiral bevel gear drives were selected because of their ability to control backlash at assembly with their unique locknut design. Spiral gears are smoother and quieter than standard bevels and the MITRPAK leak-resistant design allows for mounting of the gear drive directly above the fabric without fear of product contamination.

Originally the manufacturer purchased standard drives and shortened the input shaft before installation to accommodate design space. Today MITRPAK supplies the units with a special input shaft so they can be bolted directly into place saving time and money.

A major manufacturer of chicken processing equipment had a competitive gearbox failing every 2-3 weeks. Standard, dimensionally-equivalent, off-the-shelf MITRPAK drives were bolted directly into place and lasted almost 3 MONTHS!

MITRPAK engineers weren't satisfied and asked to have the drives returned for examination. They found the units totally clogged and contaminated with waste materials and the caustic chemicals used in wash-down. The standard nitrile seals had failed. Consultation with the seal manufacturer produced the recommendation of a flouroelastomer material but the delivery was 5 months.

While the special seals were on order MITRPAK machinists modified standard drives to accept double nitrile seals at all points of exposure. The "double seal" units lasted until they could be replaced with the flouroelastomer boxes which continue to operate today with a normal life expectancy in an extreme environment.

MITRPAK spiral bevel gear drives outperform the competition because of superior design features including positive lip seals. The "double seal" option has become a standard feature that can be used in any model that might be exposed to similar environments.