The Revolution Blog

Ergonomic Brakes Stop that Operator Crunching Sound

Monday, Feb 29, 2016

Excess weight? Oddly shaped products? Noise? Short turning radius? Believe us, it takes a lot more than that to break a Hamilton Engineer.

Their latest challenge was to custom design an ergonomic braking mechanism with a toe guard for a major aeronautics manufacturer.

Done! The special application contact brakes feature an integrated toe guard. It sits only 1-1/2” off the floor and prevents workers from trapping their feet beneath the cart. No more smashed toes. Or ruined pedicures!


The braking mechanism’s ergonomic design ratchets back stress on the operator’s body, too. There isn’t the traditional push-down, and pull-up motion required to engage and disengage the brake. The new mechanism engages and disengages with a much more ergonomically friendly push-down motion. In addition, red and green brake arms flag the on and off states of the brakes.

This customer required a smaller envelope than the standard contact brake so the new profile has a shorter turning radius.

Bottom line, if you have a tricky application, there’s a Hamilton engineer who’s dying to sink his teeth into it. So challenge us!

Tech Specs

  • Capacity - 1,000 pounds
  • Swivel offset - 1-1/2"
  • Overall height - 12-1/8"
  • Mounting plate - 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" with mounting holes 2-7/16" x 4-15/16" slotted to 3-3/8" x 5-1/4" for 1/2" bolt size
  • Wheel - W-1041-SPRT-1
  • Rig finish - red enamel
  • Equipped with 4-position swivel lock
  • Toe Guard 1-1/2" off the floor when unloaded
  • Special ZB Heavy Duty Contact Brake

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