What is rope drive

The rope drive is widely used where a large amount of power is to be transmitted. For power transmission by rope, grooved pulleys are used. 

The rope drives use the following two types of ropes :

• Fibre ropes 
• Wire ropes 

The rope is gripped on its sides as it bends down in the groove reducing the chances of slipping. Pulleys with several grooves can also be employed to increase the capacity of power transmission. 

These may be connected in the two ways following below :

• Using a continuous rope passing from one pulley to the other and back again to the same pulley in the next groove, and so on. 
• Using one rope for each pair of grooves.

Number of rope required = Total power transmitted / Power transmitted per rope 

Rope drives are, usually, preferred for long centre distances between the shafts.

Rope drive are cheaper as compared to belt drive.