Slip Ring, as a rotating electric interface, acts as a precision mechanic and electric device for realizing continuous transmission for the power, the signal and the data between the rotator and the stator.
There are two core structures, including the rotator and the stator.
- The Rotator: a conductive ring which is installed on the rotating shaft of the equipment.
- The Stator: a kind of fixed brush which plays a role in remaining continuous sliding contact for the purpose of forming a conductive circuit with the dependence on the elastic pressure and its conductive ring. And according to its different transmission media, the slip ring can be classified into the followings, including electric slip ring for transmitting the power, fiber slip ring for transmitting the optical signal, fluid slip ring for transmitting the gas as well as the liquid.
Why the slip ring is so important?
1. There is a serious puzzle for the equipment which should be rotating within 360 degree, namely, if the wire directly connects the fixed and the rotating components, the wire will be soon cut off. And, the slip ring, as a universal interface for breaking the above-mentioned bound, can realize the smooth transmission between the current and the signal, solving the equipment puzzle to rotate without any cable limit.
2. The "two-channel" guard for the power and the signal
The role of the modern slip ring not only remains "the power transmission" but also serves as the followings, including transmitting high power supply, controlling the signal and the high-speed data and stabilizing the contact resistance in the process of its high-speed rotating. Once excessive the contact resistance, the signal will be easily fuzzy and the pressure drop will be easily rising and brush wire and the slip ring will be even fusing to lead to the equipment halt. Therefore, we can say that the slip ring acts as the first pass for stable operating of the rotating system.
3. Simplifying the structure for increasing overall equipment reliability
With the slip-ring plan, the cable can be avoided overhanging and twining, realizing simplifying the equipment mechanic structure, reducing overall failure rate and extending maintenance period, which means the root cause for its development from aerospace advanced field to its civil industry.
In spite of its small structure that cannot be easily noticed in the quipment, the slip ring can be applied in various fields, including the wind power, the medical treatment, the spaceflight as well as the national defense. Thanks to its each and every precision rotating, the slip ring, as the indispensable joint between the static and rotating components, will be increasingly important nowadays and the future for the purpose of realizing more precision and intelligence.
