A brake that worked and never shipped

The situation

The Float Table's steel drive belt is held by a brake that locks it in place and releases when the user pulls the paddle. The team wanted an in-house brake to replace an expensive off-the-shelf component built to machinery-grade safety levels, which was more than the product needed.

What I did

• Prototyped and evaluated a brake with two brake shoes pressed together by an eccentric cam on a toggle. Locked by default, released when the paddle actuates.
• Tuned the cam eccentricity and tested braking surfaces: pads, plain rollers, textured rollers, flat steel, polished steel.
• Used forensic analysis of failed parts to refine the design.

What happened

The design worked. It was never released. Legal raised liability concerns, and the added per-unit cost on top of taking on in-house manufacturing and assembly risk for a safety-critical part did not pencil out.

What I took from it

Product decisions are not only about the engineering. Getting legal, quality and sourcing involved early would have told us this before we built the thing.