A gear motor is a specific type of electrical motor that is designed to produce high torque while maintaining a low horsepower, or low speed, motor output. Gear motors can be found in many different applications, and are probably used in many devices in your home.
Gear motors are commonly used in devices such as can openers, garage door openers, washing machine time control knobs, and even electric alarm clocks. Common commercial applications of a gear motor include hospital beds, commercial jacks, and cranes. Regardless of what type of gear motor you’re dealing with, they all work in the same manner.
A gear motor can be either an AC (alternating current) or a DC (direct current) electric motor. Most gear motors have an output of 1,200 to 3,600 revolutions per minute (RPMs). These types of motors also have two different speed specifications: normal speed and the stall-speed torque specifications.
Gear motors are primarily used to reduce speed in a series of gears, which in turn creates more torque. This is accomplished by an integrated series of gears or a gearbox being attached to the main motor rotor and shaft via a second reduction shaft. The second shaft is then connected to the series of gears or gearbox to create what is known as a series of reduction gears. Generally speaking, the longer the train of reduction gears, the lower the output of the end, or final, gear will be.
