I see that 448x has a locking mechanism for the intake rollers, however I am using a slightly different flipout system. Does anyone know a way I can create a lock? I have one with rails sliding out, however that relies on how close the arms are to the tray. If i move them any closer, they will get in the way of the tray stacking. Therefore, I need a locking mechanism that would work with the intake rollers slightly moved inward from the arms, where they are attached. Sorry if that made no sense. Thanks!
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I was thinking of using rubber bands and ratchets for my similar fold out design, so when the lift moves, the rollers fold out one way but can’t bounce back up after they’re deployed.
I don’t know exactly what you have but this is what I’m thinking:
Black is the slides
Green is the plastic slider
Orange is the rubber band
Red is a steel C-Channel or L-Channel that is the lock, which is on a hinge.
When the green slider goes forward, the C-Channel or L-Channel goes up and engages, acting as a lock to prevent the green slider from coming back.
I hope this can be useful but I seriously don’t know what we are dealing with. But this is the solution I can illustrate from what you have given me.
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Does anybody have pictures or videos of their roller compression mechanism?
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He did not upload any image at least yet, and in addition his profile has nothing about his team number (so I cannot search google for anything about his design). It would be more effective, @Doctortictac to provide illustrations or pictures of your design that we are dealing with, especially if none of our responses answered your question.
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Does was what I was thinking as well, I had trouble figuring out how I would create a locking mechanism.
Try putting the intake rollers slightly inward from another C-channel that is attached where the intake rollers are currently attached.
Let me know if this doesn’t work/I don’t understand the problem.
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The screw is the pivot point with a locknut and if I move the arms in further it will get in the way of the tray. Currently, it can stack 4, but it doesnt have enough compression to push up the 4th cube.
@2775Josh @64540A @Connor @CarCar @ThirdDegree sorry for the notifi but I have a competition soon and need to get this working. I am desperate, however thank you for the help so far
Thx for the credit but I didn’t even contribute anything XD. Good luck at the comp!
Really sorry, but I don’t quit understand how the roller flips out? A video would be awesome.
From what I can tell though, some small piece like a small C-channel, or a spacer or standoff on the end of the linear slides might help with compression.
try adding more flaps to the intake maybe.
The rubber band on the right of the pic seems to be pulling the intake open. Try removing that.
I have the same problem as well so don’t worry I’m also desperate
@64540A @Railgunawesome @CarCar @2775Josh @ThirdDegree The rail is the type that slides on the other rail. So it slides back at the beginning of the match with the roller arm blocking it. When the roller arm flips out, the rail slides out to block the rollers. These two images should explain it
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It looks to me like you could add more flaps(for more compression). You could also move your rollers to the inside row of holes on the short c-channels. However, you would have to put your bearing flats on the outside of them since they dont fit back in there very well.
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The concept of your mechanism shows that the rigidity of your rollers is based on rubber bands, and that your roller arms can flex outwards, losing traction/compression. If you search the forums for locking mechanism, there are a couple out there already that would hold those arms in place and minimize those losses.
And…if all else fails. More rubber bands?
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@robotguy @ThirdDegree do you mean the flaps from the tank tread upgrade kit? To double the flaps?