What the GBX-160 planetary box delivers on a servo-driven axis
GBX1600051383D is a planetary gearbox in Schneider Electric's GBX family, sized to a 160 mm gearbox external diameter and reduced 5:1 from the input stage. It is built around straight-cut gears in a black anodized aluminium housing with a C 45 steel output shaft, and the assembly is lubricated for life so the unit ships as a sealed drop-in for the matching servo. The reducer mates one-to-one with the GBX compatibility code, so it locks onto the servo coupling without an adapter plate.
Torque envelope and torsional behaviour
Continuous output torque is 450 N.m and the unit can be pushed to a 720 N.m maximum output torque, so the gearbox reserves roughly 60 % headroom over its continuous rating for acceleration peaks on indexing and registration moves. Maximum torsional backlash stays at 6 arc.min and torsional rigidity sits at 38 N.m/arcmin, which means positioning repeatability is governed by the gearbox rather than the shaft compliance under transient load. Moment of inertia is 6.07 g.cm² at the input — small enough that the servo controller does not need a retuned inertia match for a typical packaging-servo retrofit.
Shaft loads, sealing, and the duty envelope installers actually see
The output shaft carries up to 4200 N radial and 6000 N axial when the duty is capped at 30000 h at 100 rpm and 30 °C; halving the service life to 10000 h at the same speed lifts the radial ceiling to 6000 N and the axial ceiling to 8000 N. That dual rating is the one to honor on a high-cycle changeover line — the 10000 h figure is the one that decides whether a cam-track or a stripper plate near the output can ride on the box continuously. Shaft output is sealed to IP54, so the gearbox tolerates rinse-down and airborne oil mist in a packaging cell but is not a sealed-washdown rating for the body itself. Ambient operating range runs -25…90 °C, which covers an unconditioned panel-shop enclosure behind a flow-wrapper.
Acoustic footprint and efficiency on the line
Efficiency is rated at 96 %, so the gear losses are small enough that the servo sizing for a given mechanical load can ignore gearbox heat in the thermal budget for most packaging runs. Noise level is 70 dB at 1 m under no-load — the straight-cut tooth geometry is the dominant source, and on a quiet machine cell it can be heard above the conveyor and drive cabinet noise at full speed.
Mounting and where it sits on the line
The unit mounts in any position, so the gearbox can hang under the conveyor frame, stand beside the registration tower, or sit cantilevered off the servo behind the film reel without a special bracket. The life rating of 30000 h at 100 rpm and 30 °C is the design-life anchor; on a packaging line that routinely runs 30 rpm and lower, the service-life ceiling in the field extends well beyond the rated figure.
Lifecycle status on the record
The part carries an active productStatus in the manufacturer's current catalogue, so it is in serial production and not on a last-time-buy or PCN watch.