Thai
Elite Member
Opinion:
Will CVT's prove reliable in the long run?
by Phil Bailey
The Constantly Variable Transmission has been around for many years. In industry, it was used to keep a mechanical device such as a feed water pump running at something approaching a steady speed. The principle is quite simple. When a motor accelerates from a standing start, it pulls hard on one side of a belt and relaxes the other side. If the pulley that is being pulled upon can expand and allow the belt to drop down deeper into its vee, the effective pulley ratio will change. If the pulley is constrained from expanding under belt tension by a spring, then adjusting tension on the spring will allow certain speed conditions to be maintained.
Today, as with everything else, industrial CVTs are pass
Will CVT's prove reliable in the long run?
by Phil Bailey
The Constantly Variable Transmission has been around for many years. In industry, it was used to keep a mechanical device such as a feed water pump running at something approaching a steady speed. The principle is quite simple. When a motor accelerates from a standing start, it pulls hard on one side of a belt and relaxes the other side. If the pulley that is being pulled upon can expand and allow the belt to drop down deeper into its vee, the effective pulley ratio will change. If the pulley is constrained from expanding under belt tension by a spring, then adjusting tension on the spring will allow certain speed conditions to be maintained.
Today, as with everything else, industrial CVTs are pass
