Brake assembly for a rotatable shaft
AssigneeUnion Carbide Corporation
InventorGary R. Kirwan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A brake assembly for maintaining uniform tension in plastic sheet material being unwound from a supply roll supported on a rotatable shaft. The brake assembly includes a pair of rollers which rotatably support the shaft. One roller is vertically displaceable relative to the other for controlling the movement of a linkage connected to a brake shoe in contact with the shaft. The surface area of brake lining in contact with the shaft is reduced in a proportion relative to the depletion of material from the supply roll.
Claims8
A brake assembly for applying a braking force to a rotating shaft with the magnitude of the braking force being proportional to a variable weight supported by the shaft, said brake assembly comprising, in combination;
- a frame;
- a pair of rollers for supporting said shaft, said rollers being laterally separated from one another and mounted upon said frame in rotatable engagement with one end of said shaft;
- means for adjusting the vertical height of one of said rollers relative to the other in response to a change in the weight of said shaft;
- a brake shoe having a circular brake lining;
- means for urging said brake shoe into engagement with said shaft;
- and
- means responsive to the vertical displacement between said rollers for moving said brake shoe relative to said shaft such that the amount of surface friction area of said brake lining engaging said shaft varies with the weight of said shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.