Drivelines advancing with CVT

Advances in driveline systems from existing players as well as new corporate partnerships are also being seen in the off-highway equipment sector to deliver innovative transmission solutions.

Bonfiglioli recently announced a new partnership with CVTCORP, a leader in the development of high-efficiency, mechanical continuously variable transmissions (mCVT) for the off-highway market. This licensing deal will allow Bonfiglioli to manufacture and sell the CVTCORP mCVT patented technology for use in telehandlers as well as other equipment. The agreement between Bonfiglioli and CVTCORP will include the partners developing more transmissions based on the mCVT.

CVTCORP has developed a highly efficient mCVT available as the Ecomec 150 and used in the latest Skyjack Ecoshift telehandler. This patented mCVT technology is said to be a scalable system that will allow manufacturers of off-highway machines to downsize the engines used in their products and deliver overall performance gains of up to 20-30%.

Continuously variable transmission systems have already started being offered by some off-highway machine suppliers with Caterpillar and Liebherr both pioneering this technology for use in respective wheeled loaders models for example. However the arrangement between Bonfiglioli and CVTCORP will see a much broader array of equipment being able to benefit from the efficiency gains offered by its advanced driveline technology.