Tube Railing Travel: Can Small Gear Track Support 6' a Second?

[Jokenda]

I am considering a tube railing system to transport a carriage. It will incorporate gear track/gear drive motion. I wish to support this on 1" to 1 1/2" steel tubing. the rate of travel will be 6' a second.

Is this possible on such small deminsions. I have had experience on much larger tubing and the speed was not a factor. I fear the smaller gear and gear track will limit speed and duty cycle.

I am also having problems finding Gear Track and Drive gears. All I have found are plastic and I feel will not hold up.

Also, gear track found is for flat mounting and not concave to match tubing. I do not wish to employ costly machining to set Track.

Duty cycle will be 5 to 10 seconds with rests up to 10 seconds. Duration of use can be upto 24 hours but will be more aptly 8 hours.

Distance of travel 6', return 6'. (Complete Cycle.

Thank you,
Jokenda

 

[Navin A S]

Unfortunately, it is not likely that you will be able to achieve a speed of 6 feet per second with 1" to 1 1/2" steel tubing. You would need larger tubes for that kind of speed, as well as more robust gear track and drive gears. The plastic ones you have found likely won't hold up to that kind of use. Additionally, the concave shape of the tubing may also pose an issue when trying to mount the gear track. You may need to consider custom machining to fit the track to the tubing.