This year, the ZINK initiative is once again awarding its coveted Zinc Die Casting Prize. Föhl received the award in the "Electrical & Mechanical Engineering" category for his workpiece "Housing W3 for low-voltage right-angle gearbox".
The ZINK Initiative Zinc Die Casting Prize is usually awarded during the EUROGUSS trade fair. As the event has been postponed until the summer due to the coronavirus pandemic, Föhl received the award yesterday evening at his own company's premises, taking into account the current coronavirus regulations. Robert Kristo, Head of Sales & Business Development at Föhl, is particularly pleased about the award from the expert jury: "The Zinc Die Casting Award is always something special, as it is presented by renowned experts from the industry. It makes us very proud to receive it for our housing for low-voltage right-angle gearboxes."
The cast part is assessed on the basis of various criteria. These include the design and its complexity, the degree of difficulty and the implementation during production. The realization of a high-quality surface and the innovative power of a casting also play a role. The expert jury is made up of members from the fields of alloy production, casting machine production, scientific and materials research institutes and trade associations.
The award-winning workpiece from Föhl is a segment of a multi-part gearbox for 24/48 volt motors. During development for and with SEW-EURODRIVE, the high cost pressure in this market segment was taken into account and a solution was sought for the production of individual components that did not require any further processing steps. The choice fell on zinc die casting. As the design of the gearbox is not comparable with existing gearbox series and a design principle was to be used for the first time that enables automated robot assembly, the design was rethought and specially adapted to the requirements of zinc die-casting. Very high dimensional stability, low tolerances and the elimination of reworking of fitting dimensions are now the advantages of the workpiece. The expert jury of the Zinc Die Casting Award also praised the design of the casting tool, which makes it possible to realize the thin-walled inner ring in the narrow gearbox housing.
