We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
  • TOPICS
    • Design
    • Manufacturing
    • Applications
    • Components
    • Industry
    • MRO
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Departments
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
  • NEWSLETTER
  • VIDEO
    • Power Transmission Engineering TV
  • BLOGS
    • Revolutions
    • Editors Choice
    • Motor Matters with George Holling
    • Bearings with Norm
  • BUYER'S GUIDE
  • NEWS and EVENTS
    • Product News
    • Industry News
    • Events
  • Advertising
    • Brand Awareness
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Online: Web Banners & Keyword Banners
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Email: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Response & Lead Generation
      • E-Mail: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
    • Print
      • Print: Display Advertising
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Print: IMTS/Hannover Messe USA Showstoppers (September 2022)
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Engineering sMart
      • Print: Specifications
    • Online
      • Online: Web Banners and Keyword Banners
      • Online: Buyers Guide
      • Online: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • Online: Specifications
    • E-Mail
      • E-mail: Newsletters
      • E-mail: Custom, White Papers & Webinars
      • E-mail: Sponsored Content (Native Advertising)
      • E-mail: Specifications
    • Special Promotions
      • Print: Engineering Showcase
      • Print: Showstoppers(IMTS/Hannover Messe USA)
      • Print: Buyers Guide
      • Print: Engineering sMart
  • Contact Us
  • AGMA
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Education
    • Emerging Technology
    • AGMA Media
      • Gear Technology
      • Gear Technology India
    • Standards
Subscribe
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Suhner Offers Flexible Shafts

Suhner Offers Flexible Shafts

July 27, 2012

So you need to transmit a rotary motion where no straight line is possible? Or, you need to allow for some uncontrollable misalignment?  How about transmission taking place between moving components? What if you need to control something in hazardous locations where you cannot directly handle the application, such as high-temperature environments, under hazardous conditions or in clean room applications?  For all these challenges, functionally designed flexible shafts are your answer.

A flexible shaft is a very effective and cost efficient way to transmit rotary motion. In flexible shaft design, it is important to know how much torque has to be transmitted, how small the minimum radius for the shaft has to be, what RPM is required, the environment the flexible shaft will work in and the preferred turning direction. Length is not critically important for the torque but does play a role in torsional deflection and therefore must be considered accordingly.

In flexible shaft design, not all parameters can be pushed or stretched in all directions. If more torque is required, for example, the minimum radius goes down and with it the flexibility of the shaft. If the minimum radius can be made small, the torsional deflection will go up, which for remote control cable is not a good thing.

Related to the basic "reality" of flexible shafts, two main design groups emerge. First there are torque-transmission shafts, mainly for higher speed, continuous speed, pure torque transmission applications like speedometer cable or shafts for drilling applications. Second there are torsion-stable flexible shafts for mechanically remote applications, with low-speed and focus on low-torsional deflection.  An example is slide adjustments for stationary cutting machines. Beside these, there are special cables like flocked shafts, hollow shafts, shafts with helix wire and so on. We've provided some sketches showing some examples of special flexible shafts. Direct influences to the detail of flexible shaft specifications include: the number of layers, the number of wires per layer, the diameter of the wire, the wire material (with higher or lesser carbon, different tensile strengths, different plating), and the manufacturing process (settings on the winding machines).

Considering influences related to shaft manufacturing processes, it must be understood that winding is a high-speed process where gap settings will influence the flexibility of the shaft. The winding speed and the gaps must be uniform and controlled. Gap settings are a key parameter, but not the only one. There are others like the tension of the wire, the quality of the spooled-wire package, the temperature of the operation and so on.

Product News
  • Related Articles

    Starter Air Valve Features S.S. White Flexible Rotary Shafts

    S.S. White Flexible Rotary Shafts Power Actuation System

    Moticont Offers Clean, Quiet and Efficient Voice Coil Actuator

Free Power Transmission Engineering Subscriptions
Subscribe
Free Power Transmission Engineering Subscriptions
Subscribe
FEATURED VIDEO
  • Regal Rexnord Motor Minute: Why Do Direct Drive Motor Shafts Have a Flat Side?
March 21, 2022
RECOMMENDED
  • Hannover Messe Focuses on the Industry of Tomorrow

    June 6, 2022
    Voith1.jpg
  • Automate 2022 Preview

    May 23, 2022
    Automate3.jpg
  • Interoperability: What it is, and why it matters in the age of automation

    May 17, 2022
    Kollmorgen1.jpg
  • Putting the Brakes on Supply Chain Issues and More

    June 6, 2022
    brakes.jpg
  • How Will We Fuel the Future?

    June 6, 2022
    how-will-we-fuel-the-future.jpg
  • Putting the Brakes on Supply Chain Issues and More

    June 6, 2022
    brakes.jpg
  • How Will We Fuel the Future?

    June 6, 2022
    how-will-we-fuel-the-future.jpg
  • Hannover Messe Focuses on the Industry of Tomorrow

    June 6, 2022
    Voith1.jpg
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Gear Technology
Powered byAGMA
Copyright © 2022 Power Transmission Engineering
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact