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Servo brake has no backlash

01 May, 2000

Servo brake has no backlash

ZF Industrial has developed a novel servomotor brake which, it claims, is smaller and cheaper than conventional permanent magnet brakes and exhibits no backlash.

The patented design contains spring-loaded elements that stop the motor almost instantly when power is removed by, for example, someone pressing an emergency stop button or breaking a light curtain around a robot.

The FBM brakes operate within 30ms and provided a guaranteed holding force which is not affected by wear on the holding surfaces. They are available with torque ratings from 2.5-70Nm.

ZF says that the brakes can be used with most servomotors, at speeds of up to 10,000rpm, depending on the size of the motor. They operate from 24V, 100V or 200V DC supplies. The brakes are aimed at the 20% of servo applications that need stopping devices.

ZF says it is working with several servo manufacturers which plan to offer the brakes as part of a servo package for precision applications such as robotics, printing, wrapping and packaging.