Steve Ostrowski was at his wit’s end, searching for the exact component that would enable easy installation of his canopy system and would be able to integrate with the system’s motor with a drive beam. Ostrowski is a partner with ShadeFX Canopies in Toronto, ON, manufacturer of retractable canopies for decks and patios using a patent-pending monorail drive that does not jam or misalign. 

Ostrowski and his partners considered a number of options, including a simple socket engagement mounted to the beam, which had a belt drive and drove the wheels at one end of a caterpillar loop, but the mechanism was too cumbersome to operate. Ostrowski remembered his original goal: to make the system hassle-free and easy to install.

“A critical element in the design is that the canopy is driven by a monorail beam that supports the canopy in the middle,” Ostrowski said. “This process eliminates the need for the tracks to be aligned, and allows it to be mounted to a wood frame that could shift and twist over time.” 

The solution had to be compact yet cost-effective. With few options to choose from, Ostrowski turned to the Internet. “I didn’t really know what it was I was searching for,” he said. “I searched dozens of terms. Somehow, after 10 hours of dutiful Internet sleuthing I got the 'compact right angle transmission' I was looking for.”

He knew he had found it the moment he clicked on the Torque Transmission website.

A Solution to the Problem

Faced with the dilemma of finding a method to accurately move the canopy system’s drive beam, Torque Transmission’s engineers offered a custom right-angle gearbox, slightly modified to meet the customer's exact requirements; two timing pulleys; one idler shaft; and two keys as the solution to Ostrowski’s problem, thereby simplifying ordering and inventory. In addition, at the customer's request, all the components are shipped as a kit with a single part number in a sealed, compartmentalized container.

“Torque’s right-angle gear drive allowed us to mount our long, slim tube-motor parallel to the drive beam,” Ostrowski said. "That made the drive beam one integral unit with the motor and we knew we took the design to the next level of simplicity. Also, a simple extended shaft on one side of the gearbox significantly improved ease of manufacturability and allowed us to take another 1/4 in. out of the motor stand-off dimension.”

Gary Rusnak of Torque Transmission’s marketing department said Torque Transmission’s standard array of drives in each right-angle gearbox line satisfies a wide spectrum of application requirements.

“Torque Transmission has a gear drive and speed reducer to fit the needs of our customers,” Rusnak said. “If we don't, we will modify or custom design a speed reducer for their application.”

Value to the Customer

An innovator with more than 50 years of designing and manufacturing custom and standard power transmission components for low and fractional drive applications, Torque Transmission was able to provide ShadeFX with an equitable and cost-effective right angle gearbox and pulleys to meet its needs. In this way, Torque Transmission delivered value and a viable solution to ShadeFX when it was most needed.

“Our first order was for 10 Custom RAB-1 Right Angle Gear Drive and pulley kits at a cost of $123 each,” Ostrowski said. “We plan to use at least 100 more kits this year.

“The bigger value to us is that we later found out that Torque Transmission also does a significant amount of business in making timing belt pulleys, so we were able to reduce three suppliers down to just one -- Torque Transmission,” Ostrowski said. “We had a pulley supplier, a machine shop for the idler shaft, and Torque Transmission as the supplier. We are now able to eliminate the pulley supplier and the machine shop because we can get everything directly from Torque. They shipped every kit in a vacuum-sealed bag that was compartmentalized and well marked. Doing business with Torque Transmission is absolutely the cat’s pajamas!”