RULAND Manufacturing, represented in Australia by Naismith Engineering , has expanded its rigid coupling line to include smaller bore sizes. One and two-piece rigid couplings are now offered with bores as small as 1/8-inch in the inch series and 3mm in the metric series to support the increased use of rigid couplings in motion control applications.
Rigid couplings are torsionally rigid couplings with virtually zero windup under torque loads, but they are also rigid under loads caused by misalignment. While commonly used for shaft to shaft connections, rigid couplings are increasingly used in precision motion control applications where misalignment is not present. The precision of small-sized rigid couplings makes them suitable as an alignment mechanism when the coupling is installed prior to the tightening of connected components.
Ruland rigid couplings feature precision-honed bores for tight tolerance and precise alignment of the shafts to be connected. Screws have the special Nypatch treatment to prevent loosening when vibration is present in the system. Two-piece style rigid couplings also feature opposing screws for dynamic balancing and thus support higher speeds. The two-piece design allows for easy disassembly and maintenance without removing other shaft components.
Ruland offers a complete line of one- or two-piece rigid couplings in aluminium, black oxide carbon steel, and stainless steel, with and without keyways. A large number of standard sizes are available in straight and step bore combinations to fit shafts from 1/8-inch to two-inch in the inch series and from 3mm to 50mm in the metric series. Inch to metric conversion couplings are available by special order. The shaft couplings are stamped with the Ruland name and the bore sizes for easy identification.
Ruland’s product line also includes shaft collars and five types of zero-backlash motion control couplings: beam couplings, bellows couplings, oldham couplings, miniature disc couplings and curved jaw couplings.