Extrusion International 4-2023-USA

33 Extrusion International 4/2022 Many thousends of units with finished bores are ready to be deployed into coupling assem- blies, and a new highly auto- mated machining technology, committed to short run bore diameter modifications of R+W coupling hubs has been in- stalled, reducing the cycle time for machining custom bores and tolerances to a small frac- tion of what it was before. But this is only the beginning. Starting in March the clas- sic bellows coupling model BK up to 300 Nm began to be as- sembled at R+W America in lieu of back ordering product to be made at the company headquarters in Germany. This has allowed R+W to start delivering orders of up to 10pcs in 2 weeks or less, without any additional expediting necessary. The best-selling bellows couplings models MK2 and BKL with clamping hubs are coming fully online in April and are already being assembled locally for rush orders. This represents a vast improvement over pre- vious methods, and increases the situations in which orders can be delivered in 24 hours for emergency cases. Similar overall improvements to the standard delivery times for the MK2 and BKL product lines are expected in the immediate future, and line shaft cou- pling assembly already started in June of this year. The North American market and specifically the U.S. market has been regardes as extremely important to R+W since the opening of R+W America in 2001. Over this time the company has gradually built-up design, distribution and machining services but stopped short of full bonding assembly operations until now. The assembly process for bellows couplings is critical, and with a small precentage of opportunities for high vol- ume production runs. In most cases the two end hub attachments, usually some form of shaft clamping de- vice, are held together by their bores or centering fea- tures on a precision mandrel, while high strength bear- ing retaining compound is used to permanently bond the bellows between them. Assembling in this way helps to guarantee concentricity between the hubs while allowing the bellows to remain in a relaxed state, without any bending or crimping stresses applied to it. This requires a highly flexible production facility and a large variety of tooling. Because of the demanding nature of the applications into which bellows cou- plings are often deployed, the bonding process also needs to be perfectly controlled. Recent growth in North America experienced by R+W has finally enabled the company to replicate processes performed at the company´s headquarters in Germany on a similar scale. “Considering the long-term growth prospects for both manufacturing and automation in North Ameri- ca, and the increasing need for speed and flexibility in the marketplace, this move is a win-win for both R+W and its customers,” says Dan Skrocki, President and 20-year veteran of R+W America. As each individual product group comes online the new precision coupling factory is increasingly unique outside of Europe – especially as far as manufacturing of precision bellows couplings is concerned. Designers of motion systems are under increasing pressure to make things faster, lighter, more compact, and more energy efficient. Precision manufactured bellows couplings offer advantages in all these areas, while performing the basic work of transmitting rota- tion and relieving bearing loads between drive com- ponents. The formed metal bellows is one of the only types of compensation elements found in couplings that is continuously symmetrical. This lends itself to a natural balance and consistency of output rotation that is ideal for smooth running at high speeds in addition to making angular positioning more reliable within a single rotation. Compared with other types, the bel- lows are also extremely light weight. The thin-walled stainless steel tubes they are made from carry signifi - cant torque loads and maintain a very high torsional stiffness while using minimal material. They are rou- tinely mounted to customized drive interfaces to help avoid unnecessary use of shafts and adapters between components, which aids in reducing overall size and inertia. Along with being free of any wear or moving parts, these features amount to their being an increas- ingly popular tool in mechanical design for demanding applications. Making them more readily available to the engineering community is the next logical step in keeping with this trend. R+W Antriebselemente GmbH www.rw-kupplungen.de New R+W America Production site in West Chicago, IL