Latching Mechanism

[tanguma26]

ok guys were in some trouble late into the build season we had some mentor/teacher problems that caused one of our few mentors to not return without his expertise we have been severly behind schedual and are in dire need of assistance. our dillem is that we can not figure out how to make a latching mechanism thats able to be used repeatedly and have some tremendouse forces being exerted on it we have expirimentid with pnumatic actuator, winch latches, door latches and even gate latches. however to our dismay none have been succesful if you have any ideas to help it would be much appreciated

P.S. we do not have any sponsors and are on a very limited budget

[terryo]

Originally Posted by tanguma26

ok guys were in some trouble late into the build season we had some mentor/teacher problems that caused one of our few mentors to not return without his expertise we have been severly behind schedual and are in dire need of assistance. our dillem is that we can not figure out how to make a latching mechanism thats able to be used repeatedly and have some tremendouse forces being exerted on it we have expirimentid with pnumatic actuator, winch latches, door latches and even gate latches. however to our dismay none have been succesful if you have any ideas to help it would be much appreciated

P.S. we do not have any sponsors and are on a very limited budget

What action or task are you trying to use the latching mechanism for?
Can you provide additional details on your design, where you intend to employ the latch, so that the group can provide ideas?

Thanks

[tanguma26]

yes sir sorry for the lack of information we are using a pnumatic cylinder to pull the kicker back using some mechanical advantage through steel cables on pully system. we are using 6 tortion springs which have plenty of force to do the job however we cant seem to find a way to make a latching mechanism to hold that force as the pnumatic slides back out to starting position so that it can go faster and hit harder then if you use the springs tension while you force out the pnumatic cylinder

[jts]

Gate latches would be something worth looking into and are readily available. You could use a second pneumatic cylinder to release the latch. A spring return piston works pretty well for releasing the latch, although it is not necessary.

[Chris is me]

Something like this may work for you...

[terryo]

Originally Posted by jts

Gate latches would be something worth looking into and are readily available. You could use a second pneumatic cylinder to release the latch. A spring return piston works pretty well for releasing the latch, although it is not necessary.

tanguma26,
it looks like jts and Chris is me have exactly what you're looking for.
Thanks for sharing, guys!

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by tanguma26

...we have expirimentid with pnumatic actuator, winch latches, door latches and even gate latches. however to our dismay none have been succesful...

Assuming "winch latches" means some sort of a ratchet system, you've listed pretty much everything I've seen teams using. Gate latches seem an especially popular mechanism this year. How did yours fail to do what you want?