Slip-free holding brakes make the grade for surgical instrument
01 September 2013
Special tooth brakes from Mönninghoff are used to fix a three axis medical device for positioning a surgical probe. The brakes are part of an assembly that can be freely positioned by hand when power is off.
Mönninghoff supply the complete articulated arm with three tooth brakes
Engaging the brakes by applying a safe 24V dc supply fixes the arms accurately in the chosen position. A key part of the decision to use tooth brake technology was the ability to produce high torque within a compact envelope - 200Nm with a body diameter of only 95mm in this case.
Mönninghoff electromagnetic tooth brakes normally have around 280 standard teeth. In this holding application, however, the number was increased to 480 giving a maximum error on the engagement position of +/- 0.375 degrees. This accuracy is well within what is deemed to be acceptable for probe positioning.
In the event of a power supply failure during use, the brakes disengage, allowing safe withdrawal. However, these tooth brakes can also be supplied as spring-applied, energise-to-release versions that hold position in the event of power failure.
Electromagnetic tooth brakes are also suitable devices for fixing the position of scanners, antennas, barriers and gates, where their slip-free and small size properties are ideal for such applications.
Energise-to-engage brakes are available from 20 to 2,200Nm and spring-applied models from 10 to 1,600Nm. In the UK, Mönninghoff tooth clutches and brakes are available from Techdrives, which also provides applications guidance and technical support for these products - more details are available from the website.
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