Timing belt clamps
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:10 pmHere is the way that I am clamping two open ends of a timing belt used to drive the X and Y axis.
It uses a scrap piece of belt that is clamped / squeezed between a machined block. The scrap piece engages the two ends and then through shear friction due to clamping the whole thing stays together. The key here is make sure that the gap that the belts and the scrap piece are in are about .010 to .020" less that that the total overall thickness of the two. Once clamped you cannot pull them apart.
Overall tension adjustment to the belt is done by a idler pulley located at one end of the system. The other end of course is the driver.
This solution is cheap and quite robust.
Richard
It uses a scrap piece of belt that is clamped / squeezed between a machined block. The scrap piece engages the two ends and then through shear friction due to clamping the whole thing stays together. The key here is make sure that the gap that the belts and the scrap piece are in are about .010 to .020" less that that the total overall thickness of the two. Once clamped you cannot pull them apart.
Overall tension adjustment to the belt is done by a idler pulley located at one end of the system. The other end of course is the driver.
This solution is cheap and quite robust.
Richard