Timing belt elevators

[asid61]

Hello,
we were considering using a timing belt elevator this year in place of chain.
I know about timing belt spacing and tensioning, etc. but what I was wondering is how teams clamp their carriage to the belt itself. Does one simply clamp a plate over it, or is something more complex better? I can't find any examples online. A simple picture would be enough.
Also, if we go with 5mm HTD x 15mm wide pulleys, can we use two 18t pulleys or should we move to 24t due to the torque? we plan on 6 totes plus bin. I feel like the 15mm belt will make the 18t pulleys okay, but I'm not sure.
Thanks!

[Pendulum^-1]

http://www.polybelt.com/clamingp.php

Google timing belt clamping plates.

We plan to use a long timing belt length, clamping each end to the carriage, adjusting clamp location and belt length for coarse belt tension, and possibly an idler for fine adjustments, as needed.

[mott]

Originally Posted by Pendulum^-1

http://www.polybelt.com/clamingp.php

Google timing belt clamping plates.

We plan to use a long timing belt length, clamping each end to the carriage, adjusting clamp location and belt length for coarse belt tension, and possibly an idler for fine adjustments, as needed.

Jim,

Have you actually used/seen the clamps for HTD belt from polybelt? I see the picture they show on the item details page for HTD clamps doesn't have the round tooth profile. I didn't know if their pic just wasn't representative OR if they consider clamping round-tooth belts with a squareish-tooth clamp to be OK.

Thanks though for the link. This place is about 4x cheaper that anything we found just yesterday for these.

[Pendulum^-1]

Originally Posted by mott

Jim,

Have you actually used/seen the clamps for HTD belt from polybelt? I see the picture they show on the item details page for HTD clamps doesn't have the round tooth profile. I didn't know if their pic just wasn't representative OR if they consider clamping round-tooth belts with a squareish-tooth clamp to be OK.

Thanks though for the link. This place is about 4x cheaper that anything we found just yesterday for these.

We bought four clamps ourselves. As we are using 25 mm belt (~1"), we got 50 mm wide clamps. I'm pretty sure these were round profile; I'll check for sure on Tuesday (school closed this w/e) and report back.

[Mike Marandola]

Has anyone successfully 3D printed a timing belt clamp? I was thinking about trying that out.

[Billfred]

Way back in 2005, 1293 made an aluminum plate to clamp on the back, then another one on top that had cutouts in the shape of the tooth profile we used back then (don't ask me what it was--it was ten years ago!). You can't really see it here, but it's there. The lift worked fine all season.

[2544HCRC]

We have made our own clamps in the past out of Al plate and a file. It doesn't take as long as you think and the results are perfectly fine.

[asid61]

That sounds quite good then. We'll be sure to order the parts then (or I can get some rookies to make them).
Thank you so much!

EDIT: What is the best way to tension the belt? Slots? If we order belts from sdp-si, how long is the shipping?

[seg9585]

Originally Posted by Mike Marandola

Has anyone successfully 3D printed a timing belt clamp? I was thinking about trying that out.

Yes, we did (for chain)! Here's a video of our engineering model:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idJFSad9gCA

[Jaywalker1711]

Speaking of timing belts, just thought that I would leave this here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQY3FD4p6cA

[asid61]

Originally Posted by Jaywalker1711

Speaking of timing belts, just thought that I would leave this here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQY3FD4p6cA

That is literally the smoothest robot I've ever seen, uber-teams included. It's just so smooth in everything it does... I feel like you would have made a fantastic inbounder on Einstein even.

[Jaywalker1711]

What timing belts are you guys using, and where are you ordering them from?

We are having difficulty finding stock 12' timing belts

[gpetilli]

Originally Posted by Jaywalker1711

What timing belts are you guys using, and where are you ordering them from?

We are having difficulty finding stock 12' timing belts

The longest I know of is 250T which is 250 teeth at 5mm per is 1250mm or 49" (just over 4ft). If you cut the belt and use the single sided mounting you could go nearly 4', but not 12' (or 6'). If you really need that travel, it may be simplest to switch to chain.

[Pendulum^-1]

Originally Posted by Jaywalker1711

What timing belts are you guys using, and where are you ordering them from?

We are having difficulty finding stock 12' timing belts

We got 30' of 25 mm wide belt from polybelt.com. We will cut to length. A bit pricey, sure.

[AdamHeard]

For round tooth profiles plates can get slotted with a ball end mill very easily to make clamps.