High grip self locking quick-change angle-poise joints

Application Note 20.

The gravity locked join below employs free rollers shown in red that are placed in a loose assembly  between a circular outer rim and an inner shaped three lobe cam block that is also free.

The red rollers are made of sintered tool steel and impregnated with a friction enhancing agent. Upon gentle rotation the rollers will roll and allow adjustment between the components of the knuckle. Upon more aggressive movement the rollers lock, trapped by the cam. As soon as slipping starts the Trib action causes the friction to rise rapidly and the joint locks solid. External levers can be attached to either the outer ring, the rollers or the cam. Hence the relative positions of these levers can be adjusted  by  removing the force (usually gravitational) to release the friction grip, usually done by lifting  or releasing the force holding the friction faces together.

The following diagrams illustrate the general principle for use with display arms or keyboard arms.

for more information email: info8@tribtech.com

The TribTech name derives from "tribos" - Greek for 'rubbing'. 'TribTech' is a trade name used by Ball Burnishing Machine Tools Ltd. of 12 Brookmans Av. Hatfield, Herts. AL9 7QJ. United Kingdom;  Company Reg. No. 1408807, VAT Reg. No. 421 6210 04; a knowledge based company that develops, patents and licenses technology. All rights reserved by Ball Burnishing Machine Tools Ltd. Last modified: May 01, 2008 copyright © 1999/2008. The information and data provided herein should be considered generally representative for the tools and technologies described. In all cases users should carefully evaluate the tools and technologies to determine their suitability for a particular purpose.