Favorite status in mechanical engineering

Ringspann's BM series complete freewheels are among the favorites of designers in international mechanical and plant engineering, primarily because of their versatility and flexibility in terms of assembly. Designed as standard for nominal torques of up to 57,500 Nm, they are used primarily as backstops in gearboxes and as overrunning clutches in multi-motor drive systems.

Many designers of high-quality drive systems for use in production machines and manufacturing systems opt for solutions from Ringspann's one-stop shop when selecting the freewheels they need. The manufacturer's BM series complete freewheels are currently enjoying particularly strong demand from this segment of the capital goods industry. These are ball-bearing, sealed freewheels that are delivered oil-filled and ready for assembly. They are available as standard in 19 sizes with bore diameters of up to 150 mm and for nominal torques of 150 to 57,500 Nm.

Manuel Assmann, designer in the freewheel division of Ringspann, also points out at this point that "the maximum transmittable torque of these freewheels is twice as high as the specified nominal torque, and that the versions with bores from 15 to 90 mm can be made available to customers at very short notice." This alone means that the company already covers a wide range of applications that are typical for mechanical and plant engineering. A closer look reveals that the complete freewheels of the BM series are mainly used as backstops in gearboxes and as overrunning clutches in the drive trains of multi-motor units. This means that the designers use them both for the implementation of safety and emergency stop devices (backstop/rotation direction lock) and for the configuration of clutch solutions (overrunning/driving function).

Keyway connection offers advantages

The special attractiveness of Ringspann's BM complete freewheels for drive technology applications in mechanical and plant engineering is also based on some crucial details of their design. The keyway connection on the outer ring of the freewheel is particularly worth mentioning here. It offers three very specific advantages: versatile and uncomplicated integration of the freewheels into new and existing designs, assembly effort reduced to a minimum and high functional reliability. Manuel Assmann explains: "Our keyway connection simplifies the installation and removal of the freewheel. In addition, the power is transmitted via a keyway milled into the middle of the outer ring. This ensures an even distribution of the forces acting on the freewheel, which gives it high operational reliability and service life." However, if the customer prefers to use a radially movable retaining bolt instead of the keyway solution, this can be pulled out during maintenance work so that the drive system can then be turned backwards.

Clamping piece lifting X as an alternative

Typical for Ringspann is that the ready-to-use complete freewheels of the BM series are also available in two basic versions with different clamping elements: In the standard design, they have clamping rollers - and are then also suitable as feed freewheels; in the second design, however, the inner clamping pieces of the type X specially developed by Ringspann work. Since these clamping pieces lift off the outer ring track of the freewheel due to centrifugal force in idle operation due to their special geometry, the BM complete freewheels equipped with them operate largely wear-free and achieve a very long service life. "This applies to their use in the backstop and overrunning function and comes into play under the condition that the inner ring of the freewheel has to follow a high shaft speed in idle operation, but the driving operation in the overrunning function runs slowly - which is quite typical for many applications in mechanical engineering," explains Manuel Assmann.

Typical applications of BM complete freewheels in mechanical and plant engineering include: their use as backstops in spur gears or worm and screw presses, as components of the drive systems of chain wheels, as overrunning clutches for speed-dependent engagement and disengagement of the drive shafts of series-connected motors and much more. In addition to the high quality and high availability of its service life-optimized, ready-to-install complete freewheels, Ringspann always offers its customers the option of configuring application-specific variants or implementing manufacturer-specific special solutions.