News –

Hollow Socket Shaft Design Eliminates Couplings

Custom-engineered shaft options are now widely available to provide coupling-free installations on select gear units.

Waunakee, WI, 2020-07-28

NORD DRIVESYSTEMS adds another innovative product to their standard offering with a new hollow socket shaft design for NORDBLOC.1 single-reduction gear units. This cutting-edge shaft design mounts directly to a pump without the need for couplings, significantly reducing installation time and maintenance, greatly extending the operating life of the unit, and drastically reducing revenue loss as a result of unexpected downtime.

Couplings have always been a challenge, and they are a common failure point within drive systems. Keeping shafts aligned not only eliminates vibrations, but also prevents additional load and wear-and-tear on drive units. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done as even the most seasoned technicians are required to adjust and shim, sometimes for hours, to get as close to perfect alignment as possible, knowing that even the slightest mis-alignment will ultimately shorten the lifecycle of the gear unit. Add to that the growing scarcity of qualified technicians and it’s clear the time for a new way is now, and NORD is paving the way.

NORD initially approached PSG, a Dover company, with the idea of a coupling-free system for their Blackmer Series pumps. After many months of collaboration, the design was finalized for a hollow socket shaft for Blackmer’s GNX and GNXH products. The new turnkey design reduced the time and costs of integrating new units to almost zero, making it a preferred pump solution that earned PSG a net revenue improvement of 47 percent.

The hollow socket shaft option is available for aluminum case sizes SK 371.1 to SK 971.1.