Oldham Couplings

Oldham Couplings are a 3 piece design comprising of two aluminium hubs press fit onto a centre disk. Torque transmission is accomplished by mating the slots on the centre disk to the drive tenons on the hubs. During operation, the centre disk slides on the tenons of each hub (which are oriented at 90° apart) to transmit torque. While the couplings accommodate a small amount of angular and axial misalignment, they are especially useful in applications with parallel misalignment.

Ruland Manufacturing Co., Inc. has been supplying carefully made products, since 1937. We have manufactured everything from bicycle pumps to high, pressure valves, including the valve that pressurized the spacesuit of the, first American to walk in space. In recent years, all of our expertise has been, devoted to making the best shaft collars and couplings available. Oldham, couplings are just one design in the full line of quality motion control couplings manufactured by Ruland (see back cover for additional products).

Oldham couplings are three piece couplings comprised of two hubs and a center member. The center disk, which is available in a choice of acetal for high torsional stiffness or nylon for vibration and shock absorption, is the torque transmitting element. Torque transmission is accomplished by mating slots in the center disk, located on opposite sides of the disk and oriented 90 degrees apart, with the drive tenons on the hubs. The slots of the disk fit on the tenons of the hub with a slight press fit. This press fit allows the coupling (with an acetal disk) to operate with zero backlash. While over time the sliding of the disk over the tenons will create wear and the coupling will cease to be zero backlash, the disk can be easily replaced and the coupling’s original performance restored. In operation, the center disk slides on the tenon of the hub to accommodate misalignment. This design is particularly well suited for handling relatively large amounts of parallel misalignment. The disks are also electrically isolating and can act as a mechanical fuse. When the plastic insert fails, it breaks cleanly and does not allow any transmission of power, preventing other damage from occurring to more expensive machinery components.

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