Mechanical PT
A controlled STOP
Fast, powerful and controllable, servomotors are an essential part of many designs. But what happens when power to them shuts down? Without energy to...
Recent Articles in Mechanical PT
Lifting limitations with air bearings
Conventional stages with rolling steel bearings exhibit friction and other mechanical nonlinearities; they are also dependent on servo-loop filters (including...
Conveyors deliver products, people across many settings
From grocery store checkout lanes and ski lifts to moving sidewalks and airport baggage systems, conveyors are part and parcel of modern life. Within...
Abart Gear and Machine
A few months ago, we presented the mystery of Abart Machine and Gear Co., featured (left) in a 1959 issue of this magazine. The operation was acquired...
Handy shaft collars hold their own
Simple and ubiquitous, the trusty shaft collar is one of the most useful components in the power transmission industry. Used alone, collars act as mechanical...
Top 10 tips Coupling competence 101
Don't choose your coupling based on habit or price alone. Because engineers are creatures of habit, choosing a coupling type is often a matter of having...
Modeling bearing life
Bearings are important in all rotating applications. First priority is to select a bearing type and size that will withstand the magnitude and direction...
Indexer overload protection
In engineering, indexing is the movement from an initial position to a new position, starting and ending in rest. Mechanical cam-driven indexers are motion-control...
Mercury clutch mystery: Partially solved
In the August issue of Motion System Design, we presented the mystery of the centrifugal mercury clutch. The design was patented in 1950 by Automatic...
Peaceful planetaries
Planetary gearing offers distinct advantages over parallel gear arrangements, including lower backlash, higher strength and torque, and greater torsional...
Top 10 tips; Working with brakes and clutches
Consider total system inertia. One of the most important and most overlooked steps in selecting the appropriate brake for a drive system is considering...
Mercury clutch mystery
Here we present you with a bit of a mystery: That of the centrifugal mercury clutch. The design was patented in 1950 by Automatic Steel Products Inc....
Snakes slither using friction, weight redistribution
Researchers at New York University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that snakes use both friction generated by their scales in addition to weight redistribution to slither along flat surfaces....
Polymers hold promise for self-reporting mechanical stress
Force-sensitive polymers being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois (U. of I.) could one day lead to materials that speak for themselves...
Primer: Considering gear housings and carriers
Drive designers must make accurate life predictions to ensure reliability. Part of the equation is gear and bearing support flexibility — in the gearbox housing, planet carrier, and ring gear....
Save time with gearing components
Locking device quickly fastens rotating components The M-Type Shaftloc rotating-component fastening device is a locking mechanism for rigidly mounting...
