Background:

A manufacturer of original equipment and replacement tires for consumers and fleet customers, announced a $550 million expansion and modernization of its Southeastern US Truck and Bus Radial Tire Plant location.

As part of this plant modernization project, the customer wanted to upgrade their rubber mill to improve its safety and efficiency. The existing system in place was controlled using the plug stop method, but the customer wanted to upgrade to a VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) controlled drive accompanied by a safety brake on the gearbox input shaft.

The customer contacted Hindon for support with retrofitting the safety stop braking system on their rubber mill. This new system would need to be easily adapted to the existing gearbox as well as electrically integrated into the plant PLC with various limit switches for monitoring brake position and condition. Hindon was asked to design and supply a brake disc/hub assembly for use with the electrically released disc brake that could be easily mounted on the gearbox shaft.

 

Application Challenges:

  • Retrofit solution suitable for use with existing plant equipment and also designed to meet requirements of customer’s new process
  • Braking system to be easily integrated into plant PLC
  • High duty cycle requirements

Solution:

After understanding the end user’s requirements for the new safety braking system, Hindon designed and supplied a spring applied electrohydraulic thruster released disc brake along with a brake disc/hub assembly to be mounted on the gearbox input shaft.

The large thruster disc brake was equipped with automatic lining wear compensation, manual release lever, and inductive proximity limit switches for both “brake released” and “lining wear” for integration into the plant PLC.  The disc brake has an easily adjustable external torque spring enabling the customer to fine tune their braking process such that a stop is achieved within their specification, but not so fast that they risk damaging or causing unnecessary wear on the rest of the system.

This type of thruster disc braking system is easy to commission and ideal for high duty cycle applications, providing the customer a simple, robust, and reliable solution with minimal maintenance requirements, while meeting or exceeding all technical performance requirements of their specification.