Inroduction to Production Line Tension Setting Equipment:

Belt tension equipment which is used on high volume production lines has to have the following special attributes;

1. Ruggedness and Reliability to withstand 3 shift continuous operation
2. Ergonomic design, facilitating ease of use and increased operator acceptance
3. Equipment that is easily supported by the plant maintenance department
4. A high level of support from the supplier, with same day/next day spares backup
5. In plant engineering support which is experienced in all aspects of volume tension setting

CLAVIS production line tension setting equipment possesses all of these attributes. It comes in several levels of capability and sophistication. The element which is common to all systems is the sensor head, which features an optical  belt vibration sensor and an electromechanical hammer to force the belt into vibration. Typically 3 tension measurements a second may be taken.
The sensor head is mounted on a 'jig plate' which is a fixture which locates the sensor head temporarily adjacent to the belt to that a tension reading can be recorded. The key feature of the jig plate is that it must be easy to locate and easy to remove. We are experts in jig plate design. We can design the jig plate either from a physical engine of from CAD model data.
With the sensor head located in position adjustment belt tension adjustment can now be undertaken. This can either be performed manually or fully automatically in a closed loop setting technique.

Manual adjustment requires the operator to adjust the belt tension into the required frequency range either by looking at the frequncy readout or by following 'SLACK-O.K.-TIGHT' indicator lamps on the equipment.

Closed loop operation removes any decision making from the operator. For applications where belt tension is set by a screw jack adjuster, a power tool is placed onto the screw adjuster which is then wound down under the command from the tension measurements. This is a very high speed operation and takes as little as 4 seconds. For applications where the belt tension is set by swinging one of the driven components (such as the alternator) outwards, a pneumatic cylinder is used, with air admission and release, again under the command from the tension measurements.