TRANSMISSION WITH ELECTROMAGNETIC BRAKE AND CLUTCHES

1,220,242. Clutch/brake units and variableratio gears. E. BECK, and K. NOTZ. 1 May, 1968 [6 May, 1967], No. 20689/68. Headings F2C, F2D and F2L. A clutch/brake unit for machine tools, winding machines and sewing machines comprises friction plates 37, 38 slidably splined to an output shaft 6 and surrounded, with a small air gap, by a stationary housing 20, 21 housing coils 22, 23 which are alternatively energized to engage plate 37 with a driving flywheel 35 and plate 38 with a member 26 which can either be a simple brake member or, as shown, be selectively stationed or driven at a reduced speed by the input shaft. The plates 37, 38 lightly engage the flywheel 35 and member 26 when the respective coils are de-energized so as to reduce the air gaps in the magnetic circuits. The member 26 is coupled by a V-belt 53 to a lay shaft 48 which carries an axially movable plate 51 which is stationed on energization of a brake magnet 55 and which is driven from the input shaft by way of a V-belt 45 on energization of a clutch magnet 56. Cooling fins may be provided on the flywheel and on the coil housing. When the member 26 is stationed the main clutch/brake unit can be employed to drive the output shaft at a desired constant speed by appropriate selective energization of the clutch and brake coils 37, 38 under the control of an electronic circuit. For this purpose the output shaft 6 carries a toothed wheel 59 facing a magnetic pick off 60 which generates a pulse as each tooth of the wheel 59 passes it. These pulses are applied to the input of a transistorized amplifier 62, from the output b of which the amplifier pulses trigger a monostable circuit 67 which converts the pulse train into one in which the pulses are of equal duration but increase in amplitude as their frequency increases. The output pulses from circuit 67 charge a capacitor 71 which discharges across a resistor 72 in the intervals between consecutive pulses. The resistor 72 is manually adjusted in accordance with the output speed desired. The resistor pulses are applied to the input of a Schmitt trigger circuit 74 the output of which is applied to the clutch coil 22. The circuit 74 is also connected through a buffer stage 80 to a second Schmitt trigger circuit 82 which has the brake winding 23 in its output. If the resistor 72 is set to a small value the discharge of the capacitor 71 between pulses will be considerable. The signal will thus trigger the circuit 74 for only a relatively short time so tha