“Slip clutch” safety feature

Bourns, Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, offers a new "slip clutch" option in specific multiturn potentiometer models. The slip clutch, developed for models 3547, 3548 and 3549, is designed as a safety feature that helps prevent damage to the potentiometer in applications where the full travel is used, thereby increasing reliability and reducing potential service costs and system downtime, the company says. Bourns’ multiturn potentiometers with the slip clutch are designed for mechanized or machine-to-machine applications, such as linear actuators, cable transducers and mechanical position sensors, where the mechanical actuator may occasionally rotate the shaft beyond the mechanical stops or beyond the set number of turns. The slip clutch option is an internal design feature that does not alter the physical dimensions of the component. This new feature allows the device to idle at the extreme clockwise or counter-clockwise ends without inducing damage to the stops on the potentiometer.

www.bourns.com