The Kuhner direct drive ensures a consistent and reliable shaker performance and is the only drive on the market that allows the shaking diameter to be easily changed by the customer.
With the Direct drive, the speed of the motor is the same as the speed of the containers being shaken. There is no mechanical power transfer by friction wheels, no belt that can break down and no other mechanical wear and tear. The advantages are very low noise levels, minimal power consumption and heat transfer, as well as accurate and reliable speed display.
The stator of the direct drive consists of DC electro magnets and sensors and the rotor is equipped with permanent magnets. The electro magnets of the stator are directly switched by the controller depending on the position of the rotor. As there are no brushes in this system, sparking is not possible.
Quartz precision speed regulation is achieved by microprocessor control and the speed remains constant irrespective of load.
Speed accuracy: ± 0.5 rpm
Speed indication: ± 1.0 rpm, digital
The shaking diameter is a key factor for the cultivating conditions in a shaken bioreactor. Given the same speed; the bigger the shaking diameter, the better the oxygen transfer rate inside the culture. This applies to microtiter plates as well.
Kuhner offers three standard diameters: 12.5 mm, 25 mm and 50 mm. The user can change the diameter at any time.
Shakers (the ISF1-X and ISF4-X in particular) can be fitted with additional shaking diameters on request e.g. 9 mm, 19 mm or 70 mm.
Shaking diameter | Speed |
---|---|
12.5 mm | 20...500 rpm |
25 mm | 20...400 rpm |
50 mm | 20…300 rpm |
| |
3 mm | 20…800 rpm |
6 mm | 20…800 rpm |
9 mm | 20…600 rpm |
19 mm | 20…400 rpm |
70 mm | 20…250 rpm |
If other shaking diameters are needed, Kuhner offers a system that allows infinite adjustment from 0 to 50mm.
The redesigned Z-generation drive for the shakers and incubator shakers are optimized for performance and flexibility.
For a lower shaking frequency range of 100 -300, the maximum torque is even nearly doubled. This enhancement generates greater flexibility for customers.
The high-performance drive will add additional power to our shakers. In the shaking frequency range of 100 – 300 RPM, the torque is more than 15% higher (up to 40%), whereas the 400 -500 RPM range adds more than 30% torque. Especially for shake flasks with baffles or applications with heavy loads, a high-performance motor is recommended.
The high-speed drive enables the users to run at higher shaking speeds greater than 600 RPM (max. 800 RPM). This motor is recommended for users of microtiter plates with small shaking diameters at very high shaking frequencies.
The direct drive uses a single eccentric bearing fitted to the top of the drive so there is no possibility of internal stress between bearings. The shaking diameter can be changed at any time by altering the position of the eccentric bearing. Three shaking diameters 12.5, 25 and 50 mm are available as standard, with other settings possible on request.
The parallelogram ensures identical shaking movement anywhere on the tray, regardless of load distribution. The double steel springs will last a lifetime, unlike bearings and other moving parts.
To speed up deceleration an active brake is applied to the drive system when the ‘stop’ key is pressed or the door is opened.
When using a shaker together with a robotic system the platform must always stop at the same position. Kuhner shakers have 48 stopping points that can be individually adjusted. This system is based on a magnetic lock-in and requires no maintenance.
The Kuhner Tray Positioning System TPS is available in two versions. Kuhner provides the new Tray Positioning System TPS+.
TPS: The drive can stop at any 48 possible positions, which can be programmed by the MMI display or Kuhner Insight software. This feature is standard for our Kuhner direct drive system.
TPS+: Is similar to TPS, but one position is an exact stop which is useful for robotic applications. This feature must be ordered additionally.
The calibration procedure is automatic and completed in minutes, requiring only a serial interface and a computer with the installed Kuhner Insight software.
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