Electric Steering rotary Actuator
 
A New greener/cleaner style of electric rotary steering gear 
 
No hydraulic piping and A cost effective installation
 
Designed to be compliant with all major classification societies.

Wills Ridley are launching two brand new products with the potential to revolutionise superyacht and large commercial ship steering gear.

 

 

In a world where technology is constantly advancing and WE strive to reduce our impact on the environment for future generations; manufactures of engines, machinery, cars, and array of other products in industry are turning towards electrical or hybrid soluitions.

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The ‘Orion’ & the ‘Atlantis’ electric rotary actuators have been designed in the UK based on feedback from superyacht owners/captains & shipyards who were looking for an alternative to hydraulic steering gear and the electric linear Ball Screw Actuator. The Ball Screw Actuator has several limiting factors when complying with Classification Society rules; low tolerance to shock loading (can be damaged if the rudder is hit, causing costly repairs), difficulty to bypass the actuator as the ball screw and thread are usually mechanically fixed. It is common for electric ball screw actuator suppliers to use hydraulic auxiliary equipment in case of an emergency.

 

The Orion model is a Bevel helical box and the Atlantis model is a Planetary gear box.

The units are easily fitted to rudder stock and are welded to the hull to stop rotation - no hydraulic piping is required and no hydraulic oil.

The friction disc is designed to lift if the rudder experiences a shock load, the control system will then realign the rudders without the end user having to reset.

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The units can be installed on multiple rudders and electrically synchronised extremely accurately.

The systems have been designed as standard to have an output of approximately 10,000NM output torque. The rudder torques can be increased to suit each vessel by modifying the gears. Each unit will be designed to suit the respective vessel. An Inverter will be required, this will allow the units to be used on vessels with 3 phase or 1 Phase supplies.

There is a failsafe DC brake which will hold rudder position when there is no demand. Each unit will have a separate AC supply and 24V DC Auxiliary steering.