
This means slipping the belt over the pulley flanges. In a properly constructed system, you can attach the belt when at least one, but ideally both, pulleys are attached. If you build a system without some kind of tensioning mechanism, your system will rely on high tolerances, and you will not it will be difficult to construct.
#Timing belts and pulleys how to
However, you should include them in your bill of materials for their weight and cost.Ī common issue with belts and pulleys is how to tension them. Due to their construction, they will not stretch around your virtual pulleys, making your assembly a mess. This website is convenient because they link the exact part for you to buy, and has SolidWorks files for the belt. You should consider both belts and decide which makes the most sense for your design. It is worth trying to find belt that has the next smallest center distance as well, because it may be closer to your desired distance than the next largest. The calculator will come up with a real belt with a center distance greater than or equal to the one you inputted. With this calculator, you input the specifications of your pulleys and a desired center distance. Thankfully, there is an online calculator for this. Since your pulleys will (most likely) not be the same size, figuring out the length of your belt can be difficult. Once you have chosen the sizes for your pulleys, and made sure that all of the other specifications are similar, it is time to choose your belt. Generally, it is a good idea to choose the pulley that is actually slightly smaller than your desired radius. Remember that there are a finite number of pulley sizes, and only certain sizes exist. This protects your belt and pulley from the weapon. In other words, your pulley should be completely obscured by your weapon when looking from the side (along the shaft axis). For your larger pulley, make sure that your pulley’s outermost radius is not greater than your weapon’s innermost radius. However if you elect for a larger one, choose one smaller than the can of the weapons motor. For your smaller pulley, it may not be a bad idea to choose the smallest available. Generally, it is advisable to gear down, or use a smaller pulley on your motor than your weapon. You will be choosing two pulleys, one for you weapons motor and one for your weapon shaft. You may need to force your computer to open these files with SolidWorks by right clicking, selecting “open with”, and then finding SolidWorks.
#Timing belts and pulleys download
Please download the CAD files for your pulleys and add them to your final assembly.

Quick side note: this vendor provides SolidWorks models for most of their parts. Only the HTD and MXL pulleys are made of metal, have double flanges, and Fairloc Hubs. in a shell spinner), set screws will be better than pulley-driving your shell, while your motor pulley should be a Fairloc. If you are planning on attaching your pulley to your bearings directly (i.e. Fairloc hubs are much better and more secure for round shafts, while set screws are better for D shafts.

There are two methods for securing pulleys to a shaft: set screws and Fairloc hubs.

Note that using pulleys with flanges does increase the overall radius. These flanges are rims of metal preventing the belts from coming off. For our project, pulleys that have one or two flanges are desirable. There are many different types of pulleys on this website, but there are some that are better than others. Also, metal pulleys are less likely to strip or break than plastic ones, but you may want to consider plastic due to their lower weight. Choosing these parameters may seem complicated, but the most important thing is that the tooth style and belt width match for both pulleys.

Pulleys are defined by material, tooth style, number of teeth, and belt width. There are a few factors to consider when choosing pulleys. Written by Jacob Greenwood, the other technical lead of ASME at UCLA's BattleBots program.įor BattleBots, we use timing belts and pulleys. A quick, but detailed tutorial on how to choose timing belts and pulleys for your bot.
