FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Our team regularly modifies product designs from the catalog or creates new products from the ground up to fit our customer’s needs. Contact our engineering department to see if we have a product that is not listed in our catalog that will fit your needs, if there are modifications that can be made to an existing product design, or if we can make a completely unique design.

A tooth brake/clutch typically has 2-5 times more torque capacity for a given size than any other style of brake/clutch.

Absolutely. Our engineering department can find a number of tradeoffs that will allow a brake/clutch of a certain size to have a higher torque capacity. Some common changes include the use of selflocking teeth for tooth units, increasing the number of friction discs for friction disc units, increasing spring force on spring engaged units, and magnetic force on magnetically engaged units.

The current required to hold a spring engaged brake/clutch is often much lower than the current required to engage the unit. A two-step power supply can often be used to drastically reduce power consumption and heat generation.

Most likely – yes. At SEPAC, we have designed products to be used in almost every environment imaginable. Contact us to discuss your specific environment.

Tooth brakes/clutches can occasionally be used to stop low inertia, low speed loads, but generally, the load should be static before a tooth brake/clutch is engaged. Units can have modified designs with tooth profiles to allow for more dynamic stopping.

In most cases – yes. Stopping a rotating load generates heat and wears the discs, but occasional dynamic stops that have low enough energy so as to not damage the unit from heat are usually acceptable. Brakes/clutches can be designed to allow for more dynamic stopping of higher inertia and higher speed loads.

This is very common. In this scenario, rotational motion will be allowed until the teeth are tip-to-root, and then the clutch/brake will engage properly, and no more rotation will occur.

There are so many variables involved in the actual load at which a brake or clutch can no longer hold torque, that it can be anywhere from not far over the rated capacity, to several times the rated capacity. If you would like a clutch or brake with a maximum holding capacity that is close to the minimum holding capacity, there are design changes that we can make that will allow this.

Yes. Design for custom mounting and space/cost saving integrations are very common.

Yes. Many customers find it acceptable to sense that a clutch/brake is engaged or disengaged by sensing if the load is being transmitted or not. For those projects which require an extra level of assurance, we can add a sensor (usually an inductive proximity switch) to sense full engagement, full disengagement, or both.

No. For most friction disc products, the torque rating reduces as the speed is increased, until about 300RPM, at which higher speeds do not have a large effect on torque rating.

Yes. A simple arc-suppression circuit is recommended for most applications.