| Power Transmission Engineering Magazine

It Doesn't End Here

December 1, 2016

This issue, we're pleased to present our annual Buyers Guide. It's our comprehensive directory of suppliers of mechanical components, including gears, bearings, motors, couplings, clutches, brakes, gear drives and more. This directory represents our best effort to give you updated information about the companies who can provide you with the components you need to design, build and maintain better machinery.

In Transit

December 1, 2016

The average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This number is probably low if you factor in a traffic accident in New York City, light rain in Chicago or it's simply Tuesday in Los Angeles. It's safe to say 25.4 turns into 45 minutes in many areas of the country at seven o'clock in the morning.

Eight Reasons to Use Air Bearings Over Mechanical Bearings

December 1, 2016

Mechanical guiding systems, such as crossedroller bearings, work well for most motion control applications; however, when precision, angular repeatability, and geometric performance (runout, straightness) are critical or where submicron bearing rumble is problematic, air bearings are recommended. An air-bearing stage is a rotary or linear positioner that floats on a cushion of air, using one of several preload mechanisms, nearly eliminating mechanical contact and thus wear, friction, and hysteresis effects. Here are eight reasons why an air-bearing stage might be the right choice for your application:

Timing Belts and Pulleys - Operations

December 1, 2016

Synchronous drives are especially well-suited for low-speed, high-torque applications. Their positive driving nature prevents potential slippage associated with V-belt drives, and even allows significantly greater torque carrying capability. Small pitch synchronous drives operating at speeds of 50 ft/min (0.25 m/s) or less are considered to be low-speed. Care should be taken in the drive selection process as stall and peak torques can sometimes be very high. While intermittent peak torques can often be carried by synchronous drives without special considerations, high cyclic peak torque loading should be carefully reviewed.

2016 PTE Buyers Guide

December 1, 2016

A comprehensive directory of suppliers of gears, bearings, motors, couplings and other mechanical power transmission and motion control components.

Bearing Lubricant Solution

December 1, 2016

A Chicago-area bakery was replacing the tray support bearings in its ovens on a reactionary basis. Their weekly inspection cycle was resulting in two mechanics spending an average of 20 labor hours per week to replace failed bearings. The premature bearing failures were caused by a combination of the high heat and humidity in the ovens, resulting in lubrication failure and contamination. When BDI was asked to recommend a solution, the bakery was averaging one month of bearing life in this application.

Baldor Basics: Motors

December 1, 2016

Beginning with this initial installment , and with the gracious permission of ABB/Baldor Electric, we are pleased to announce the beginning of a new series -- Baldor Basics: Motors. This is a collection of basicsdriven, motor-intensive articles authored by former Baldor engineer Edward Cowern, PE, a respected name by many in the electric motor industry. During his tenure at Baldor, Cowern - now enjoying his retirement - was tasked with producing a number of motor- and basics-related tutorials, primarily in response to a steady flow of customer questions regarding motors. Today's customers continue to ask questions and seek answers to address their various motor-related issues. As with Cowern's original introduction to the series, we hope you find these articles useful and would appreciate any comments or thoughts you might have for future improvements, corrections or topics.

Better Energy-Efficient Flow Rate Regulation

December 1, 2016

Implementing a power-on-demand concept based on variable speed drives allows for energy saving in any application that involves pumps or hydraulic systems. And when used in combination with an intelligent wiring and communication system, relevant machine data can also be easily recorded - the basis for comprehensive power management.

Product News

December 1, 2016

News about the most recent products to hit the market.

Industry News

December 1, 2016

News from around the industry.

Calendar

December 1, 2016

Calendar of upcoming events

Bearing the Brunt of Earthquakes

December 1, 2016

America suffers $4.4 billion in losses due to earthquakes every year. While that's a drop in the bucket for our $16 trillion plus GDP, it's still a substantial amount of money, and some people are working to lessen those losses. One group is Earthquake Protection Systems (EPS), a company that is designing bearings to better protect buildings from earthquake damage.