I'm designing a belt guard for an air compressor attached to an engine. Does anyone know of a supplier that has off-the-shelf guards?
Also, this is a "fully enclosed" guard, but I would like to allow service entry points. Any suggestions?
Thanks! Mo
Look up in OSHA or your state program for guard opening sizes vs distance from moving parts.
Service entry points are a good idea for grease fittings and other items that need to be accessed. If holes are large (BASICALLY if you can touch it guard it) then a small plate can be attached to the guard to cover hole.
The other thing you can do with grease fittings is to plumb them to the exterior. Now you do not have to mess with guard and your fittings MAY get greased.
Make it easy to disassemble and REASSEMBLE (then it WILL get reassembled) guards are not put back when it is a large PIA to do so.
Get the mechanic and or electrician who services this to help you with design.
Get ready to redesign when first attempt fails. Someone ALWAYS forgets something.
Just 20 years of Safety and Health experience talking
Many manufacturer's of shaft mounted gearboxes offer standard guards for piggy-back applications, like screw conveyors. You might be able to find one close enough for your reqyuirement. Check with Martin Sprocket, Falk, Hub City, or any of the many others. Otherwise, there are a lot of machine shops that can make them with a few critical measurements, shaft diameters, center distances, pulley diameters, pulley width, and amount of take-up required.