What Is a Belt Tension Meter?
Belt tension meters are devices used to measure the strength of belt tension.
In general, belt tension meters are used to measure the strength of tension by pushing the belt on the pulleys with a tester and measuring the amount of deflection and repulsive force. Although anyone can easily measure the tension by simply pushing the belt with a tension meter, there is a disadvantage in that the measurement depends largely on the intuition of the person measuring the tension, and the results may vary from person to person.
Recently, belt tension meters using sound waves are also used as a more quantitative method of measuring tension.
Applications of Belt Tension Meters
There are many machines with rotating mechanisms that use belts and pulleys to transmit rotational power. Adjustment of belt tension is essential to maintain the performance of such machines. Therefore, belt tension meters are used in the maintenance of all kinds of machinery, from household cars to industrial equipment.
It is important to adjust the belt tension properly, because too low a belt tension will reduce the efficiency of power transmission, and too high a belt tension will cause belt and pulley malfunctions and damage.
Principles of Belt Tension Meters
Belt tension meters can be broadly classified into two types: those that use sound waves for measurement and those that measure the amount of deflection.
- Measuring by Sound Waves
This method uses a microphone to read the sound waves generated by bouncing a finger or other object off a stationary belt. Belt tension meters automatically calculate the belt tension based on the sound waves detected, thus minimizing individual differences in measurement results, as is the case with analog belt tension meters.
In addition, some of them can transmit measured data to a PC via USB, making data management easier.
On the other hand, there is a risk of situations with too much ambient noise, because the microphone will be noisy. - Measurement by the Amount of Belt Deflection
Belt tension meters are used to measure belt tension by directly pressing the belt stretched on the pulleys.
The distance between the pulleys is called the span length, and the belt tension meters are pressed at the center of the span length. A constant load is applied to the belt at this position, and the belt tension is calculated from the amount of deflection at that time.
The disadvantage of this method is that even though it does not require a power supply and can be used in noisy environments, the results tend to vary depending on the person taking the measurement.