Line shaft

The transmission is a historic belt drive and one of the power transmission drives. Typically transmissions were used in the early industrialization, the roots of the construction date back to the ancient times.

Transmission facilities received today are to be regarded as an industrial monument and worth preserving documents of industrial history.

Historical Overview

In pre-industrial times were water wheels, windmills, and similar constructions for driving machinery. Their performance is so low that, in general, only a single plant was mounted on the output side. For a second Mühlgang, a second scythe and a second drive gear had to be created, or be shut down by switching the first machine. As industrialization central steam engines were built in many companies whose comparatively enormous power could be used to drive many individual machines. Therefore began to summarize the production in factory buildings.

Steel shafts, and pulleys in cast iron, which were connected via flat belt, the transmission belt of leather, fabric band or steel band for the transmission or the power of centrally generated. The transmission shafts were preferably designed as a running on the factory floor ceiling wave that passed through the entire hall, sometimes even in different buildings or floors. At the points at which a machine was to drive, a belt was brought down to this machine with a pulley.

Later, mobile steam engines, the Locomobile, on which could be used especially in agriculture, but also in mining and elsewhere came.

Transmissions have been replaced by individual drives of the machine, in which electric motors are usually used in mobile applications, and especially internal combustion engines today.

• Areas of application

Transmission drive in a printing ink factory, illustration by Carl Grote for the magazine The Gazebo, 1885

Threshing machine connected by belt drive with tractor

Lanz locomobile from 1911 in operation

Upright Drilling Machine with transmission drive

Transmissions in a former forge in Long House

Technical advantages

The transmission was as long as there were available no individual drives, a prerequisite for industrial, engine-driven fabrication and machining processes because it through them was possible only by a central energy source (eg, mill wheel, internal combustion engine, steam engine ) provided to distribute power to multiple machines to resolve the hitherto prevailing close connection of a consumer to "his" energy suppliers.

Compared to the gear drive often used in mills this was the necessary forces over longer distances, forward with a comparatively small amount of material. In comparison to the solid shaft from the waterwheel to the machine with control over the water supply, the prime mover was able to run at optimum efficiency, and adjust each customer separately its speed. The use of cascaded ( stepped ) pulleys ( pulleys of different diameters directly next to each other ) allowed the adjustment of different speeds of the driven machine. By an arrangement of two identical pulleys side by side, one of which, the Spacebar or the idler pulley by rotating on the shaft, a simple type of coupling has been created. The belt was moved for engaging with a so-called belt switch to the fixed disc fixed to the shaft, to disengagement of the blank disc.

If the shaft distance was large enough, one could achieve a change in direction with a crossing of the belt. Also inclinations of the wave to each other could be compensated by twisted belt without any problems. Other advantages see belt transmission.

• Technical details

Part of a transmission

Leather flat belts as they were typical; Width 75 mm

Development of Max Brown

Disadvantages

A disadvantage, however, was and is the slip, which leads to transmission losses and is excluded in gears or solid shaft. Other disadvantages include high idle or part load losses caused by the large number of bearings and belts that had always run along, maintenance and wear ( bearing lubrication, belts). In order to achieve uniform wear, flat belts were often produced as a Möbius strip.

The transmission posed a significant hazard for the workers in the factories: Especially in the power transmission belt, it always came back to the fact that loose clothing or long hair parts were recorded, which led to serious injury or death. In addition, it could happen that the belt jumped off of the shafts and wheels and the standing nearby workers inflicted by the abrupt staff released from serious injury. Transmissions ( belt and gear drives ) must therefore now only umhaust ( boxes or grid) are operated.

Have transmission systems, especially if they are driven by water power, no quick emergency stop. Other disadvantages see belt transmission.