How Can I Connect Two Cylinders Coaxially to Transfer Pulling Force?

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on designing a coaxial coupling system between two cylinders to effectively transfer pulling forces using a clutch mechanism. The lower cylinder features a clutch with a turnable ring that can be positioned at 0°, -60°, or +60° to connect either string A or string B to a structure inside the upper hollow cylinder. The system is intended to handle a pulling force of approximately 80N, utilizing dyneema ropes with a diameter of 1mm. The challenge lies in ensuring reliable force transfer based on the ring's position while maintaining structural integrity during operation.

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TL;DR
connecting two cylinders and at the same time strings inside them, with a twist of a ring on one of the cylinders
Hello everyone,

I’m trying to build a coupling system between two cylinders to connect them coaxially and transfer pulling force from a string on the surface of cylinder one to a string inside cylinder two. Please have a look at the sketches attached. Both of the cylinders have an outer diameter of 44mm and the upper one is hollow with an inner diameter of 22mm. On top of the lower cylinder sits a clutch which consists of a turnable ring and some elements which slide in and out radially. By turning the ring 60 degrees either clockwise or counter clockwise an adapter which sits on the upper cylinder gets stuck in the clutch. So there is one open position of the ring/clutch at 0° and two closed positions at -60° and 60°. Until here everything works fine.

Now to my problem. From outside the lower cylinder two strings enter the clutch below the ring. One of them is a loop and passes through the clutch. I want to be able to transfer either a pulling force of approximately 80N from string B to some structure inside the hollow upper cylinder (skipping the structure idea and connecting the strings from lower and upper cylinder directly would be even better but I didn’t find a solution for that) or a similar force from this structure to string A. Which of the strings is connected to this structure depends on in which closed position the ring is. So turning the ring to the left (-60°) should connect the structure to string A and turning it to the right (+60°) should connect the structure with string B. The mechanism should work no matter in which angular orientation I stick the adapter into the clutch. In the end I will 3d-print the whole thing and use dyneema ropes with a diameter of approximately 1mm as strings.

I’ve tried several solutions but none of them worked good enough. I would be really grateful if anyone would come up with an idea how to solve this problem.
 

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Your explanation is hard to follow, since schematics don't show A or B.
Could you elaborate about the clutch, the ring and the adapter?
 
Lnewqban said:
Your explanation is hard to follow, since schematics don't show A or B.
Could you elaborate about the clutch, the ring and the adapter?

In one of the schematics the two strings which go into the clutch are labeled "string A" and "string B".
I didn't go into detail on how the rest of the clutch works because my intention was to keep it as simple as possible.
There are three jaws in the clutch. When the ring is open they can slide radially outwards a bit. In the open position it is possible to press the adapter into the clutch. When the ring is then turned (60° or - 60°) those jaws slide towards the adapter and fixate it. Now it's not possible to pull the cylinders apart or rotate them against each other.
In this position I should be able to transfer a pulling force from the string in the uper cylinder to one of the strings in the lower.
 

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