Belt drives have continued to evolve with new applications. Industrial belt drives in motion designs consist of rubber, engineered plastic, metal, or (most common) multi-material belts that wrap around drive pulleys — grooved or otherwise profiled wheels mounted on a shaft — in turn driven by electric motors. Powered by various motor types, belt drives run […]
Belt + chain drives for linear
igus offers custom toothed belt pulleys delivered in 48 hours
igus is expanding its 3D-print and online ordering offering to include custom format toothed belt pulleys. Toothed belt pulleys are a common component in many machines and are widely used in linear drives of printers, robots, and packaging machines. However, if an individual variant is required, developing a custom component can take days or even […]
Self-lubricating toothed belt axis for clean use in food manufacturing
igus has introduced a maintenance-free toothed belt axis specifically designed to improve sanitation in food manufacturing systems. The new drylin ZLW toothed belt axis is based on hygienic design principles and uses FDA-compliant materials. Cleaning complex machines and systems in food production leads to longer and therefore expensive downtime. For instance, industrial bakeries are faced […]
Troubleshooting V-belt wear and failure
Although there are more than a dozen symptoms of premature wear and impending failure for V-belts — ranging from visible damage to audible noise — there are a few key ways that these friction-based belts can fail during operation. To help users determine the root cause of a failure or signs of potential failure, V-belt […]
What do the belt section designations H, J, K, L, and M mean for ribbed V-belts?
V-belts rely on friction caused by the “wedging” of the belt between pulley flanges — together with internal fiber cords — to transmit power in a wide range of industrial and consumer-goods applications. One variation of the traditional V-belt is the ribbed V-belt — also referred to as a V-ribbed, poly V, or serpentine belt. Ribbed V-belts take […]
Causes of tooth shear in synchronous belts, and how to avoid it
Synchronous belts transmit power via positive engagement between belt teeth and pulley grooves, making them suitable for applications that require high torque and making them less prone than traditional V-belts to slip in dynamic applications. But even synchronous belts can experience failure if they’re not installed, maintained, and applied properly. One way that toothed belts […]
How to account for belt and pulley inertia during system design
In order for a motor to accelerate or decelerate a load, it must overcome the load’s inertia, or resistance to change in motion, as explained in Newton’s First Law. In belt-driven linear motion systems, the motor has to overcome not only the inertia of the applied load, but also the inertia of the belt, pulleys, […]
What are some linear motion options for moving multiple loads independently?
From a mechanical standpoint, one of the more challenging applications in linear motion has traditionally been to move two or more loads independently, as is required in some handling, transport, and inspection applications. While using multiple linear systems, or preassembled actuators, is a simple solution mechanically, this option typically requires a significant amount of space […]
How to specify pulleys for synchronous belt drives
When designing a belt drive system, the first step is to choose the most suitable belt for the application. But the pulleys also play an important role in the performance of the belt — especially in synchronous belt drive systems, where proper meshing of the belt teeth with the pulley grooves can affect everything from […]
Synchronous belt materials: What’s the difference between urethane and neoprene?
Synchronous belts for linear motion applications — such as general transport conveyors or high-speed gantry positioning — are available in a wide range of materials suitable for virtually any application. The most common synchronous belt materials are neoprene and polyurethane, but specialty materials and backing surfaces are also available to address requirements such as temperature extremes, […]
