Solutions in Motion™

In order to pick the perfect spring applied brake for your application, you must first determine the amount of braking torque required, and then pair that with the right brake and disc solution.

There are two main applications that spring applied brakes are suitable for: Dynamic Stopping applications and Static Holding applications. But both applications have different requirements that spring applied brakes need to handle:

The nature of automation and the facts of physics dictate that all moving parts wear out over time, and your right angle gearbox is no exception. Industrial settings are demanding and unforgiving. High speeds, high temperatures, wash down requirements and other factors take their toll.

Right angle gearboxes require less maintenance than many other industrial components, but less maintenance still  doesn’t mean   no  maintenance. Developing problems can damage seals, bearings, bolts, and other internal components or even cause the entire gearbox to fail. You can prevent untimely problems and extend the service life of right angle gearboxes with a few simple precautions.

Looking for a caliper disc brake for your braking application? There are also a number of cost-effective and efficient brake and disc combinations that should be considered. From active pneumatic and active hydraulic to lever mechanical actuated and spring applied brakes, you can customize your application with the perfect product.

Each application type requires a different type of caliper disc brakes and features, so we’ll help you narrow down what product you’ll need based on the application you’re using it for.

Certain types of commercial facilities have doors that are very large and very heavy. Often, these doors are an integral part of the flow of operations, such as in a car wash, where automation is essential. But not all commercial door actuators are the same. A pneumatic door operator assures the power and reliability you need to keep things moving.

Here at W.C. Branham, we’ve been designing and manufacturing actuators for more than 30 years, and we’ve been providing specialized pneumatic products for commercial doors at least half that time. In our experience, a premium quality pneumatic operator is often the best tool for the job.

Elon Musk is known around the world for his innovative creations such as Tesla Inc., Neuralink,OpenAI, SpaceX, and The Boring Company among others. And his latest invention is just as cutting edge as the rest.

The SpaceX Hyperloop is Musk's answer to slow, expensive, problematic forms of ground transportation between busy cities. The Hyperloop will be a newer, faster, safer, less expensive and more convenient form of transportation between high traffic cities less than 900 miles apart.

When choosing cylinders for industrial applications, you have to know the amount of force required to perform the job at hand. Cylinders can move, slow, or hold a load, rapidly and repeatedly, if needed. The force required depends on the load itself – its weight and movement angle, among other factors. As they say, you have to do the math. But using a cylinder force calculator would make it much easier.

We have created four charts to help you. Simply choose the chart that corresponds to the type of cylinder you expect to use.

Note: W.C. Branham makes cylinders in both metric and imperial sizes, so there are separate charts for each.

All industrial caliper brakes are designed to slow, hold, and/or stop fast-moving or very heavy loads. And they can do it very quickly, if necessary. However, the type of caliper brake you use depends on the application. Some are best suited for heavy-duty off-road vehicles such as Utility Trucks, Road Construction, Turf Vehicles, Lift Trucks, Aircraft Ground Support Equipment, Military Ordnance Trailers, Agricultural Tractors, Mining, whereas others are more fit for different types of industrial applications like Manipulator arms, Hose Reels, Web and Wire Tensioning, Packaging, Printing Presses, CNC Machinery, Conveyor Belts, Wind Energy, Indexers, and more.

So, which industrial caliper brake should you use?

One size does not fit all. That’s true just about everywhere, but nowhere is the need for a good fit more important than in industrial design applications. Equipment that doesn’t perform flawlessly impedes productivity and wastes money. Pretty good is not good enough. Sometimes, only a custom cylinder will do.

But how do you know when custom is the way to go?

Food processing is complex, which is why these types of facilities are often huge and require multiple types of movements, from transport and sorting to lifting and rotating. Speed, reliability and sanitation are critical for processing facilities, especially if they handle perishables. In this environment, a compact cylinder provides several distinct advantages. 

The bore shape of a compact cylinder can make a big difference, in both performance and costs. With a traditional rod-style pneumatic cylinder, the rod is attached to a round piston inside a sealed tube, allowing the rod to extend and retract through a cap in one end of the tube with each stroke.

The problem is that the rod can rotate slightly as it slides because the round piston that it is connected to rotates. Rod rotation reduces the cylinder’s performance by pulling the intended thrusting force off-line. Over time, off-center loading can cause premature or uneven wear on the seals and rod bearings, or cause the rod and/or piston to bend. The cylinder can also fail if the rod de-threads from the piston.

In certain industrial applications, rod rotation can be an especially serious problem. One solution is a guided cylinder that uses guide rods and guide blocks mounted parallel to the piston rod to hold it in position as it strokes back and forth.