Brevini Power Transmission offers a new motor and gearbox package to the Adventure Island Park in Essex, England.

Drive solution in the fun park

Brevini Power Transmission offers a new motor and gearbox package to the Adventure Island Park in Essex, England.

Brevini Power Transmission has supplied a new motor and gearbox package to a theme park in the United Kingdom. The project required a compact drive arrangement to provide power to the rotating ride which could be delivered within a short lead time to suit the tight build schedule.

The Fireball ride, located at The Adventure Island Park in Southend on Sea, Essex, has provided thrills to thousands of children and adults alike. The ride, which stands 9 m tall, consists of a tower which holds a rotating hub with eight arms; each arm has a double seat attached to the end of it.

It was designed and constructed by the park’s own in-house engineering team, Adventure Island Workshop, who asked Brevini Power Transmission to supply the main drive unit.

The application in detail

Brevini specified a high torque S-series reduction gearbox coupled to an electric motor, which allowed the drive system to fit within the main framework of the design. In addition, Brevini was able to ensure the components were delivered on time to meet the build schedule of the ride.

The gearbox and motor package was supplied by Brevini Power Transmission. The gearbox and motor arrangement is mounted directly to the main frame of the ride using the motor foot plate and the drive end flange.

The gearbox and motor arrangement is mounted directly to the main frame of the ride using the motor foot plate and the drive end flange. This design meant that the drive assembly had to be as compact as possible while still being capable of producing the power required. The drive also had to meet the rigorous safety standards demanded on amusement park rides.

The S-series planetary range has been designed to give optimal performance with minimum size and has the ability to offer a 40-60 percent reduction in terms of size and weight against traditional gear solutions. The result is an extremely robust and yet cast effective solution. The range now spans a torque range from l kN-m up to 2,500 kN-m, with larger variants available on request.

S-series gearboxes can provide up to four reduction stages as standard, with both in-line and right-angle versions.

Additional reduction stages can easily be incorporated to achieve extremely high reduction ratios while maintaining a high overall efficiency. Output shaft options include female splined, hollow cylindrical, male cylindrical and male splined versions. The gear unit input can incorporate a multitude of different motor adaptions (electrìc, hydraulìc, etc.):

can incorporate a multidisc brake; and can of course be a simple male shaft. A wide range of input and output accessories is also available.

Brevini specified a high torque S-series reduction gearbox coupled to an electric motor, which allowed the drive system to fit within the main framework of the design.

Brevini is also involved in the maintenance and replacement of drive systems in other theme parks, such as the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, where it has repaired and replaced various gearboxes in many of the U.K.’s most famous rides.

In each case a specialist engineer from Brevini inspected the gearbox and ascertained which should be repaired and which would be more cost effective to replace.

The gearbox and motor package was supplied by Brevini Power Transmission. The gearbox and motor arrangement is mounted directly to the main frame of the ride using the motor foot plate and the drive end flange.