Ensuring equipment and operator safety is critical when using heavy-duty power drills to open and close gate valves, butterfly valves and other high-torque rotary actuators. To this end, the Mach III T4X2R-STH torque-limiting coupling minimizes the risk of machine damage by slipping when the torque exceeds a preset limit, preventing harmful overloads in power drill… Read more »
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Spring-engaged and air-engaged brakes both compress friction and drive discs to restrict motion. However, you might find one is better suited for your application. In a previous blog post, we explored spring-engaged brakes, including their design and use cases. Now, to help you during the brake selection process, we turn to air-engaged brakes. How Do… Read more »
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Our torque limiters recently played a role in the Baja SAE off-road racing program at two universities, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and the University of Quebec (UQAM). This racing competition, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, was created to help young professionals develop teamwork and critical thinking skills about the modern automotive… Read more »
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To prevent salmon from swimming into flood drains in the Sacramento River, local agencies built a special hoist system that raises and lowers grated barriers. Part of the assembly is a custom torque limiter that slips the system whenever debris buildup creates an excess of force on equipment. These torque limiters feature a special housing… Read more »
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If your application needs a braking system, how do you know whether it’s better to use a spring-engaged or an air-engaged brake? Both are similar in design — they compress friction and drive discs to restrict motion — but each one has its own ideal use cases. In a new two-part blog post series, we’ll… Read more »
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We recently supplied custom torque limiters for a salmon hatchery in Port Armstrong, Alaska. This hatchery uses moving fences — or “crowders” — to push adult salmon from one end of a 50-foot raceway to the other end, corralling the fish for egg and milt harvesting. The hatchery uses a direct drive motor system that… Read more »
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Finding a standard air clutch that will satisfy all your technical requirements can be tough given the diversity of power transmission applications. That’s why our engineers will customize any clutch within our standard catalog to fit your exact needs. To take a recent example, we tailored one of our standard air clutches to retrofit an… Read more »
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Our Mechanical Friction Torque Limiters are designed to slip so that the torque never exceeds a pre-set amount during momentary overload, protecting the drive and other components from damage. A recent application involving pharmaceutical machinery demonstrates these principles and also highlights our ability to design and deliver custom torque limiters quickly. Friction Creates Challenges on… Read more »
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Before the development of the Wallace Weir Fish Rescue Facility, adult salmon returning from the sea to the San Francisco Bay faced a perilous situation. Due to the various drainage and flood-control canals in the area, many fish swam into and became trapped in basin drains, where they would die before spawning. To avoid this… Read more »
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In our last blog post, we highlighted a recent application for which our engineers customized miniature torque limiters for MRI machines. This month, we’re exploring an application that involved a custom servo brake for a fully automatic, nonwoven rewinder machine that processes rolled wet wipes — e.g., disinfecting, industrial, medical, gym, shopping cart and specialty… Read more »
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Sometimes, a standard torque limiter simply won’t cut it. At Mach III, our engineers can create modifications of our standard catalog models for many applications — including critical medical equipment. For example, in the following application, we customized our miniature torque limiters for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. Designed as a retrofit, these units overcame… Read more »
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We’re excited to announce we’ve expanded our standard miniature line of brakes, clutches and torque limiters with our new Miniature NEMA Spring Engaged Brakes Series. These brakes, which include our D2C2R-42H and D2C2R-48H models, are ideal for tight spaces, smaller shafts or applications with light torque requirements. Features and Specifications These new miniature brakes include… Read more »
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In our last blog post, we explored how to select your clutch to maintain and control web tension in printing, coating, laminating and converting processes. Now, let’s turn to brakes. As the material being processed in these applications depletes from the input roll, causing the roll diameter to shrink, the torque required to maintain tension… Read more »
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Although there are many instances in life where you want to avoid tension, sometimes you need it. For example, operations like printing, coating, laminating and converting depend on it to successfully process materials. Without constant web tension, issues like telescoping, dishing, wrinkling or web breaks can occur. For these reasons, it’s important to make… Read more »
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“How long will it last?” It’s often the first question we’re asked when helping our customers specify a friction clutch or brake. And the answer is always, “It depends.” We’ve seen severe applications where clutches and brakes require replacement wear parts after a few weeks and other applications where they last decades with no maintenance… Read more »
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Friction torque limiters provide simple and cost effective protection of higher cost components from damage by preventing torque in excess of a specified amount from transmitting from one component to another. This guide reviews how they work, their benefits and limitations, and tips for selection and use.
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In a beef jerky processing machine, the clogging of product was sending torque spikes through the drive system, damaging expensive components and causing costly downtime. A compact, retrofit solution was needed to provide overload protection.
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Trying to find a replacement for a Conway Clutch product that is no longer manufactured? Mach III has helped dozens of clients in this situation by providing solutions that fit both the torque and the mounting requirements. Photo credit: Robby Virus.
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Mach III has a number of options for tension control including SensiFlex® clutches and brakes. For applications with low thermal load requirements, standard air engaged brakes with low coefficient friction linings can often be used effectively. Such was the case with this application.
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The motto of BouMatic, a Wisconsin manufacturer of automated cow milking systems, is Gently, Quickly and Completely. In keeping with Gently, BouMatic needed a brake solution to prevent their patented Exit Reel from bumping Bessie on the backside.
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Part of a hoist system that raises gates to prevent spawning salmon from entering a drainage waterway along the Sacramento River, this torque limiter is built for outdoor exposure, supports an overhung load and is manually adjustable on-site.
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A positioning arm that held a panel in place as it was attached to the wing assembly of an aircraft was already in use when a problem was discovered. Overload placed on the panel was traveling through the drive train to the motor. Thinking outside the box, Mach III’s engineering team devised a solution that fit within the existing drive system.
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With little more than 2 inches of shaft extending from the machine frame to work with, Mach III designed a custom brake that would provide the required torque without necessitating further modifications to the equipment.
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