Quote:
Originally posted by Patrick Wang
My question is, how necesary is this to a geartrain design (we have always run with chains and sprokets before and have not encountered any need to shock load the system.) to shock load the system.
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Patrick,
Excellent question. My general answer is that I think that we did need it, and the only proof that I have is that even with these shock loaded couplings in use, we still stipped some gears (gears were replaced 4 different times).
There were two main reasons that we put on the shock loaded couplers: contact of the game and gear shifting on-the-fly.
From looking at the game, it was obvious that there was going to be some heavy contact between robots and from ramming the goals. That was pretty obvious.
The second reason of protecting ourselves from shifting on the fly was probably more important. Sure, it was pretty safe to slam the transmission into high gear when we were in low... but the real test was downshifting from high to low gear. This is what we were most worried about.
I remember the first time we shifted on the fly from high to low... I had to look away, in fear that the gearbox would blow, but to our relief, it didn't. Sure, we didn't really push the gearbox in this area, but at least it was possible if we needed it.
The negative thing about these special Lovejoy couplings is that they were heavy... weighing over 1 lb. each. We whittled them down to about 2/3 of their original weight, but they were still heavy. And worth it.
Andy B.