PA Notes

PA Notes are technical documents written by the Product Application department that are intended to address particular technical issues or design matters for Gates users and customers.  The very first PA Note, Volume 1, Number 1 was issued on August 29, 1951.   The current PA Note content is up to Volume 57.

Its interesting to look back at that first PA Note and see the content and the state of the art for belt power transmission in 1951.  Topics included in Volume 1, Number 1:

1)  The use of a V-flat drive on a generator.   (When was the last time you designed a flat belt drive?  In fact, when was the last time you saw a flat belt drive?)

2)  Designing a flat belt drive on a turbine application.  (Flat belts were the belt of choice for high speed applications "back in the day".  Now, we would instead design with Micro-V or Polyflex V-belts.   Belt technology has come a long way.)

Consider how long that Gates Product Application has been writing PA Notes - look at the major events of 1951 to place the time in context:

• The Korean War was underway
• The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified
• The first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast in the United States, a college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised on NBC
• Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States
• William Shockley invents the junction transistor

 Its a much different world that we live in, 59 years later.  The world has changed, as has the technology used in belt power transmission.  However, belts still remain one of the most useful, capable, and economical method of transmitting power between shafts.   Today's belts use highly engineered rubber and urethane compounds, a variety of belt tensile cord types, materials, and gages, and in some cases approach having so much power capacity that users can't believe how much power can be transmitted in such a narrow belt.  A far cry from 1951!