Posted to News on 2nd Jan 2008, 17:04
Compact cam clutches offer higher torque capacity
Tsubaki is launching a new range of MREU (Motor Reducer European) cam clutches, which are designed for back-stopping operations in light-duty applications at high speeds - such as fans, air conditioning units and ventilation systems. The new clutches are designed primarily for OEM applications and are competitively priced with a special design of lift-off cam that ensures precise backstopping and optimised speed whie overrunning without further contacts between cams and races.
The MREU clutches have been introduced to meet the requirements of European machinery and heating and ventilation markets. Although extremely compact, they integrate a full complement of cams to provide the maximum number of load transmitting members for a given diameter. This is claimed to result in a higher torque capacity, size-for-size, than other cam clutches, as well as longer fatigue life.
MREU cam clutch feature lift-off type cams, offering the advantage that they are designed to have no contact with the inner and outer races of the clutch during overrunning. This offers benefits in terms of zero friction, longer wear life, and the facility for high-speed overrunning.
Example applications
A typical application of the MREU cam-clutch is extraction fans. These units can suffer heavy damage if they are rotating in the reverse direction as a result external air currents at the point when the drive motor is switched on. The MREU clutch can prevent this problem with its backstopping function.
Another typical application is for manufacturers of air cooling fans where fans in the same vicinity do not always operate simultaneously. In this situation, the convection of air current from one fan can make another in close proximity start to slowly rotate in the opposite direction, causing component damage or, in some cases, failure of the reducer or coupling units. The benefits of using a cam clutch in this type of application means selective operation or function can be achieved, hence reducing repair cost and and, importantly, energy costs.
Available in open types for internal installation and packaged types for external applications, the MREU clutches are just one series in a comprehensive range of full complement cam clutches available from Tsubaki.
The cam clutches are designed for convenient press fitting in housings. They are manufactured in a range of capacities and styles to offer the best functional characteristics for performing general overrunning, indexing and backstopping.
