Hey, I am a Masterstudent mechanical construction at the university of the IME RWTH Aachen Germany. For my Master's thesis I need to design and construct a 2-speed-gearbox as a didactic element for a course (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8PE0BKHDCGyT3V2Z19FYXBoTUk/edit?usp=sharing). I am searching for a simple brake system to slow the system down and stop it. It would be a manual brake, no external power source. Just by hand. The gearbox will only run a few times a year. So it will not wear the break a lot. The brake needs to be able to adjust the speed. It should be able to give a - more or less - adjustable constant counter torque. It's not necessary to know the exact counter torque. You would adjust it with the naked eye, just by looking at the speed of the brakedisk. The maximum torque the shaft will give is 16 Nm. The shaft can turn up to 2000rpm. The shaft diameter is 25mm. The maximum size of the brake is around 125x125x125mm. It also needs to be able to stop the shaft. I first thought of an industrial disk brake. But I can't find the right size. Maybe I can use a diskbrake from a bike? Or is there another system than a brake disk? My budget is quite high, so the cost is not that important. Thank you! Koenraad
Hey, Nobody has a good idea? This is what I'm going to use: a hydraulic bicycle brake. Its maximu torque is around 8Nm. So maybe I'll use 2. I know the speed is way too high for the brake. And it will heat up very fast. But the gearbox only needs to turn a few minutes. And that only 4 or 5 times a year. I asked some bicycle brake companies what there maximum speed allowed is. I know they will probably say it's way too fast. But I think it's the most simple and cheapest way of doing it. Greets, Koenraad
Hi Koenraad, I know you said you didn't want an external power source - but it did make me wonder why not - since you can get brakes where they are power released - and brake applied when power removed. One such company that does a huge variety of brakes - is Warner Electric - see website below - which I thought you might like to have a look at. I have used some of their products before - including their electromagnetic clutches. I guess my only concern - with your "Scrap Heap Challenge" idea - is heat dissipation. Hope this helps. http://www.warnerelectric.com/brake-products.asp
Thanks Lochnagar, I already found a few sites for brakes. Warner Electric is the best one so far. I did not want an external power source, because I thought it would be doable without. However now it seems it's necessary. I can use an external power source, but only electric. Thanks a lot! Koenraad
