Sumitomo Drives Tortilla Machines

Since 1950, Casa Herrera (http://www.caseherrera.com) has been providing processing equipment and technical services for corn and wheat-based industries. Their California location manufactures a wide selection of corn tortillas processing equipment used in cooking, washing, milling, metering, conveying, baking, frying, and pressing. At the heart of each equipment type, is a speed reducer manufactured by Sumitomo Drive Technologies.

Casa Herrera started using Sumitomo Cyclo® Drives in the early 1990’s to replace European helical variable speed drives and worm gear drives. With the regulations in the food industry increasing and the equipment running longer hours, food-manufacturing OEMs needed equipment to have higher efficiencies as well as IP55 washdown and other food-grade features. “We were interested in the compact sizes, shock loading capacity and the shear technology of the Cyclo gearmotor”, says Agustin Partida, assistant engineering manager of Casa Herrera.

Casa Herrera is one of the first food machine OEM’s to use the first-generation Cyclo® Bevel Buddybox (BBB) as well. Today, they exclusively use Cyclo BBBs on pre-sheeter drives. Eighty-five percent of all drive applications feature either the Cyclo 6000 series, Cyclo BBB or the Hyponic gearmotors. “Sumitomo continues to be our primary source for drive solutions. The reliability of the product and the service are simply unmatched,” states Mark Herrera.

Sumitomo Cyclo Drives are based on a toothless gear technology that allows torque transmitting parts to roll, not grind. The pressure is distributed throughout all contact points and generates a smooth and efficient operation that eliminates downtime caused by tooth failure.

The Sumitomo Cyclo BBB is the ultimate right angle drive for challenging applications. It combines the quiet, efficient and reliable performance of the Cyclo technology input with the rugged spiral bevel gearbox output. The modular design provides a compact, torque-dense product with the most flexible range of output speed and torque combinations available. Sumitomo’s patented Taper-Grip® bushing system enhances this reducer with a simple shaft-mounting device that provides self-aligning, backlash-free torque transmission.

The patented all-steel Hyponic® gear technology leads the industry in quiet operation and high efficiency. The hypoid gear technology significantly outperforms worm gearing across ratios from 30:1 to 1440:1. In addition, these gearmotors are food-grade grease lubricated, so customers can be assured that there will be no leaking.

“The design flexibility, high torque capacity, reliability and special features such as the Taper-Grip Bushing are unparalleled in the industry. We continue to use Sumitomo products because they are simply the best”. For more information on Sumitomo Drive Technologies’ products and services, please contact us at 1-800-SM-CYCLO or email us.