Why bother fitting a torque limiter to a machine?

Spending money on things that are designed to protect us in the unlikely event of an accident or failure can sometimes be seen as an unnecessary expense or one that can be minimised, but how many of us would now be happy to buy a new car without seat belts or airbags or ride a motorbike without a crash helmet?

Insuring against loss or damage is something everyone is familiar with. Most of us will pay for car or home insurance and whilst we may begrudge the initial outlay, when something does go wrong we are suddenly very glad that we made the investment.

Fitting a torque limiting device into a piece of equipment is no different. Yes you can run a machine without one - many people do - but if, or when, something goes wrong, there is no seatbelt or crash helmet to save the day and whether damage (or extended downtime) is incurred is purely down to luck. Is riding your luck really the best way to operate?

We have heard machine designers say that their customer "can't afford to fit a torque limiter, they haven't got the budget'. The question is: can they really afford not to fit one, and do they have the budget to repair or replace the equipment when it gets destroyed? Accidents do happen, machines do go wrong and people sometimes do press the wrong buttons; in times like these torque limiters can save a small fortune.

A torque limiter connected to a sprocket, drive pulley or fitted between two shafts will continue to transmit torque up until its pre-set limit is reached at which point it will slip or disengage the drive. Once the load torque has dropped below the setting of the limiter, the drive will be ready to operate again without having incurred any damage.

Friction-type limiters can be used where load holding is required, and backlash-free ball indent-type units can offer protection to high-precision drive systems or systems where total disconnection is required in the event of an overload.

With trip torque settings ranging from 0.1Nm to hundreds of thousands of Newton Meters, and a wide variety of standard and application specific product designs, there will be a torque limiter to suit your need - all you have to decide is: can you really afford not to fit one?

To learn more about the benefits of torque limiting devices please visit www.mayr.co.uk.