Floating brakes for use in shaft hoisting systems for conveyance of raw materials in mines

First orders for our newly developed floating caliper brakes of the EBS series

Our long-standing expertise makes us even attractive for those who are usually constructing their own brakes. Our latest project led us again to the mining industry. In this sector, extreme conditions are daily routine at all frontiers. Millions of tons of raw materials in mines are transported over large conveyer belt systems and shaft hoisting systems under adverse weather and temperature conditions. Hard work as well for the braking systems.

In the mining industry, every shaft hoisting system is custom made and has to stand up to the high sector-specific certification requirements. Our clients are leading experts in the engineering of mining technology and successful contributors of self-constructed fixed caliper brakes. However, a switch to floating brakes was considered.

Floating brakes have many advantages. Because of their dry running plain brushes that can be lubricated with oil or grease if needed, they are low-maintenance. Because of the robust and compact design they are suitable for applications with limited installation space and one-sided accessibility or in case the rope winch do not allow a second spring-loaded brake module structurally. Owed to the floating construction, braking is possible on a brake disc or a guide rail even if the axial position shift. Since only one spring-loaded brake module is applied, efforts in adjusting the brake pads due to wear reduce significantly. Additionally, floating brakes are approx. one third cheaper than fixed caliper brakes of the EBS-Series.

Elephant Brakes by Rietschoten commands a large amount of references and experience with floating brakes. Furthermore, we fall back to long-term expertise in the manufacturing of brakes for mining machinery and are steadily establishing our range in the crane and hoist-building sector. Moreover, we are well-known for solving any problem with our tailor-made solutions. Flexibility is an important cornerstone for our decades of success. A fact that even reached the leading specialists of the mining industry.

After successfully performed tests we received an order for a project in Russia. We were asked to deliver floating brakes with a braking force of 175 kN, for the use as holding brakes for the hoist of a shaft hoisting system. The brake disc´s diameter was 2400 mm. The solution was to apply two of our spring-applied hydraulically released modular brakes of the type EBS004-88FL. This long-living, robust and corrosion-protected designed brake is particularly suitable for cranes, hoists and heavy industry.

Overall a worthwhile experiment. Elephant Brakes by Rietschoten proves: Floating brakes are suitable for the application in shaft hoisting systems.