Operation of Industrial Safety Couplings

FULL-DISENGAGEMENT VERSION (F)

Features of the safety coupling:

• In the event of an overload, the driving and driven ends of the coupling are fully disengaged.
• The ball-detent plunger modules have an internal catch which holds the drive ball back from the detent flange once released.
• The spring preload and corresponding disengagement torque are continuously adjustable.
• The safety coupling requires manual re-engagement.
• The safety coupling can also be disengaged manually. 
  

R+W safety couplings can generally be divided into two groups.  One group includes the automatic re-engagement version, in which the spring pressure applied to the ball-detent system is constant, allowing the clutch to re-engage by itself once the torque and speed have been reduced.  The other is the full-disengagement version of the industrial series safety couplings.

Type 1: Automatic re-engagement

These types re-engage automatically after the overload has passed.  In machines where angular timing is critical, the single position version is used.  This type re-engages precisely 360° from it’s disengagement point, eliminating the need for time-consuming adjustments after the overload incident.  Another type is the multi-position version, which re-engages at a standard angle of 60° with optional engagement angles of 30, 45, 90 and 120°. 

Type 2: Full disengagement

Machinery running at higher speeds should not use automatically re-engaging safety couplings, as the ball-detent mechanism can wear rapidly after disengagement at a high rotational velocity.  The full disengagement system was developed specifically for these situations.  When an overload occurs, the disc spring snaps completely over center and causes a complete disengagement of the driving and driven ends of the coupling.  In its standard configuration these types can be re-engaged at up to 6 different angular positions.