Automation Parts

Couplings For Individual Encoder Applications Controlflex from Schmidt-Kupplung is designed for the requirements of shaft encoders. This encoder coupling compensates all kinds of misalignment with very low restoring forces and in a remarkably small envelope. The coupling is electrically insulating, builds short and always works with constant angular velocity. The coupling manufacture also realises individual systems and encoder-coupling solutions optimised for specific applications. These include, for example, shaft-encoder applications with positive locking and fail-safe for stage technology, with customer-specific hubs for expanding or hollow shafts or with greater misalignment requirements.

Renold Couplings Protect Against Eddy Currents The Renold Hi-Tec coupling range of rubber in compression couplings protects the bearings of large rotating machines from eddy current damage. Eddy currents pose a problem in rotating machinery. The larger the machine and the higher its rotating speed, the stronger these currents become. The resulting eddy currents can cause extreme damage to both sleeve and rolling element bearings. In some extreme cases, they can even cause the bearings to weld together. The high rubber content of the Renold couplings combine with the no metal-to-metal contact of the two coupling halves, which effectively insulates the motor from the driven machine. This ensures that damaging shaft currents are not allowed to flow from the motor to the bearings of the driven machine and effectively safe guards against a costly repair and failures. Machines that are most affected by eddy current damage to bearings are: fans, compressors, turbines and pumps. However,...

Renold Couplings Highlights Folly Of Fuse Theory Fuse theory, a myth related to couplings, is costing industry a fortune, according to Paul Shuffleton, managing director of Renold Hi-Tec Couplings. According to fuse theory, rubber-in-shear type flexible couplings protect diesel-driven generator sets by failing or acting like a fuse when there is a potentially damaging short circuit. This is a myth, because the majority of rubber-in-shear couplings fail through fatigue rather than because of a short circuit. This is also the main reason for failing rubber blocks. Rubber-in-shear couplings consist of a rubber element fused in-between two metal hubs. One hub drives the other through the rubber, the flexing of which protects against shock and vibration. The coupling is only as strong as the rubber element, so if the rubber fails then the coupling fails too. When this happens on a diesel-driven generator set, some engineers believe there has been a short circuit and that the relatively ...

Gearboxes & Couplings For The Big Apple Major subway car builders like Kawasaki, Alstom and Bombardier have all used Renold couplings in their propulsion systems with proven success. Renold has won a US $14 million contract to supply rail traction gearboxes and couplings to Alstom for trains ordered by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCT). The contract is phase two of a three phase schedule and is expected to be fulfilled over an 18 month period commencing May 2008. The couplings are being fitted on the new R160 series trains destined for operation on the famous New York Subway. The subway system carried over 1.5 billion passengers in 2007 and the R160 cars will run on the highest traffic areas of the system, so reliability is an essential factor in design and manufacture. The new gearboxes and couplings are fitted in-between the AC traction motor and the drive axle. They allow the safe transmission of torque while the motor and gearbox shafts are misaligned, vertically and h...