The optimum shaft coupling for your application

At abp, we focus on torsionally rigid, flexible shaft couplings as a connecting element between the motor and transducer. Our shaft couplings transmit forces backlash-free and angularly synchronous. Shaft couplings from abp – this means high torsional rigidity and minimal restoring forces. The resulting very low load on the shaft bearings considerably extends the service life of systems and machines.

Our product groups in the field of shaft couplings

Shaft couplings from abp – from the catalog or as custom-made products. Over 25 years of experience, a close exchange with you as a customer and innovative developments ensure the smooth use and long service life of our products in your applications.

Shaft coupling from A to Z

The shaft coupling is an essential mechanical component in mechanical and plant engineering. It is used to connect two shafts together and thus transmit torques between two rotating elements such as a primary drive unit and a machine component. This connection can be rigid, elastic or flexible.

Misalignments, vibrations and shocks caused by installation inaccuracies or thermal expansion can be compensated for by using a shaft coupling, even with high rigidity.

A shaft coupling from abp is virtually maintenance-free and performs its task with high precision throughout its entire service life. It also decouples the encoder from the machine drive mechanically, thermally and, in some versions, electrically.

On this page we have summarized all frequently asked questions about shaft couplings for you. Not the right one for you? Contact us now – we will be happy to advise you personally!

What is a shaft coupling?

A shaft coupling is a mechanical component that mechanically connects two shafts in order to transmit rotary motion and torque. It is used to compensate for small misalignments and radial, axial and angular misalignments between the shafts and to minimize vibrations, enabling smooth and precise power transmission.

Shaft couplings are divided into backlash-free, flexible and torsionally rigid models, which are specially designed to compensate for shaft misalignments, vibrations and shocks in drives. They can be equipped with a clamping hub, feather key and grub screw to ensure secure mounting and fastening.

A shaft coupling from abp can be used in numerous industrial applications, for example in mechanical engineering, automation or in drive solutions to efficiently connect drives and machine components. There are rigid, flexible and semi-rigid couplings, each of which fulfills specific requirements.

What is a shaft coupling used for?

Alignment errors in drive technology can be attributed to manufacturing and assembly tolerances as well as bearing play and temperature influences. Such misalignments sometimes lead to considerable bearing loads. The result is increased wear and premature failure of the system.

The use of a shaft coupling from abp can compensate for these misalignments and reduce bearing loads to a minimum. This considerably extends the service life of systems and machines.

Species

What types of shaft coupling are there?

There are various types of shaft coupling (from standard to special couplings), which are used depending on the application requirements and alignment conditions. The main ones include:

  • Rigid shaft couplings: These couplings firmly connect two shafts together with no room for misalignment. They are ideal for applications where precise shaft alignment is required.
  • Flexible shaft couplings: These shaft couplings use flexible materials to absorb small misalignments, vibrations and shocks. These include spring couplings and spring disk couplings, which are used in many areas such as mechanical engineering and drive solutions.
  • Bellows couplings: These couplings use a flexible bellows to transmit torque while compensating for small axial and radial misalignments. They offer high precision and are ideal for precision engineering applications.
  • Double loop couplings: This special type of shaft coupling enables very good compensation of radial, lateral and angular misalignments and has a thermally and electrically insulating effect.
  • Helix couplings: These couplings can be used universally to ensure backlash-free transmission of rotary movements and to optimally compensate for misalignments.
  • Jaw couplings: Claw couplings, as the name suggests, consist of two claws that interlock. Plastic spiders in various Shore hardnesses are used as damping elements. They are widely used in areas where vibration damping is required, for example in automation.
  • Spur gear couplings: This type of shaft coupling is a rigid, non-shiftable coupling that transmits torques via tooth flanks. It is ideally suited for the precise transmission of large torques in both directions and is self-centering and repeatable with low space requirements.
  • Friction clutches: These clutches have an infinitely adjustable slipping torque if the permissible torque is exceeded. The mechanical drive is therefore optimally protected against damage.
  • BKXSP safety coupling: This special shaft coupling has a safety backup should the bellows break. Internal claws interlock and ensure a transitional operation that enables the system to be shut down regularly.
  • Nickel bellows couplings: This type of shaft coupling is characterized by a very high torsional spring stiffness combined with minimal restoring forces. It is ideal for high-precision and very sensitive measuring tasks.
  • Heavy duty spiral couplings: Heavy-duty helical couplings have a high torsional spring stiffness and can be used universally for backlash-free and angle-synchronous transmission of rotary movements. Compared to the single helical variants, they offer a higher torque, more even power transmission and better vibration damping.
  • Couplings with FDA-compliant plastic: This shaft coupling is suitable for use in the food industry and is used in conjunction with a rotary encoder in filling systems, conveyor belts and packaging systems.
  • Special solutions couplings: This type of shaft coupling is specially designed by abp on request to meet your individual requirements in order to provide customized solutions for specific applications.

What should be considered when selecting a shaft coupling?

When selecting a shaft coupling, there are several important factors to consider to ensure that the coupling is best suited to the application:

  • Shaft misalignment: Consider whether your shafts are perfectly aligned or if they have small misalignments. Depending on the degree of misalignment, you may need a flexible shaft coupling or a flexible shaft coupling that can compensate for these errors.
  • Torque and power: Determine the maximum torque that the shaft coupling must transmit and the required power. The coupling must be dimensioned for these values in order to ensure reliable and safe power transmission. There are also solutions such as shaft couplings with torque limitation, which can disconnect the connection between a driving and a driven shaft if the torque limit value is exceeded.
  • Operating conditions: Take into account the environment in which the coupling is used. Factors such as temperature, humidity, chemical influences or mechanical stresses can influence the choice of materials and the design of the shaft coupling.
  • Material: Shaft couplings are often made of aluminum, steel or various stainless steels. Depending on the requirements, these materials offer various advantages, such as lightness, corrosion resistance and high strength.
  • Area of application: The specific area of application of the shaft coupling plays a decisive role. For example, applications in medical technology often require FDA-compliant couplings, while automation applications have different requirements in terms of flexibility and vibration damping.
  • Design and space requirements: The size and shape of the shaft coupling must be adapted to the available installation space.

The right choice of coupling reduces loads and increases the service life of the connected components. At abp, we not only score points with high-quality shaft couplings, but also with reliability, fast delivery times and high service quality.

abp. Trusted worldwide.
Our in-house production enables us to implement your customer requirements flexibly and quickly. Our contact partners will be happy to advise you on your project. You can reach us on 07724 580080 or via our contact form.

Applications

For which industries and applications is a shaft coupling from abp suitable?

Shaft couplings from abp Antriebstechnik are used in a wide range of industries. Typical areas of application are:

  • Food industry: A shaft coupling from abp can be found in filling, packaging and processing machines. These are applications where particularly hygienic requirements prevail and couplings with FDA-compliant components are often necessary.
  • Automation: In automated production systems, abp shaft couplings ensure the precise transmission of movements and forces, for example in robots or conveyor belts.
  • Plant and mechanical engineering: Shaft couplings are essential components in
    components in machines and systems for reliably transmitting torques between different machine modules.
  • Bearing and conveyor technology: A shaft coupling from abp can be used to connect conveyor belts, storage and lifting systems and to compensate for misalignment.
  • Positioning systems: For precise movements in positioning machines, e.g. in electronics or semiconductor production, a high-precision shaft coupling from abp is indispensable.
  • Laser technology: In laser technology, our shaft coupling ensures precise movements and alignment of laser optics or positioning.
  • Packaging industry: A shaft coupling from abp can help to transmit precise movements in packaging machines, for example when sealing or labeling products.
  • Renewable energies: In wind turbines or biogas plants, the abp shaft coupling transmits torques and compensates for thermal and mechanical expansion.
  • Drives and robotics: Shaft couplings are key components in robots and drive systems and are used to transmit movements flexibly and precisely.

What is the difference between a rigid and a flexible shaft coupling?

  • Rigid shaft couplings: With these shaft couplings, two shafts are connected to each other in a torsionally rigid manner. Offsets are not possible in either the axial or radial direction. Exact alignment between the shafts is important here, as otherwise a high level of wear can occur on the bearings.
  • Flexible shaft couplings: These shaft couplings use flexible materials to absorb small misalignments, vibrations and shocks. These include spring couplings and spring disk couplings, which are used in many areas such as mechanical engineering and drive solutions.

How does a shaft coupling work in applications with stepper motors and linear axes?

In systems with stepper motors and linear axes, backlash-free shaft couplings enable precise torque transmission and exact position control. These couplings compensate for shaft misalignments and ensure that the rotary motion of the stepper motor is transmitted precisely. They are often used in automation, robotics and drive technology where maximum precision and power transmission are required.

Torsion spring position

What role does torsional stiffness play when selecting a coupling?

The torsional stiffness (also known as torsional rigidity) is a decisive characteristic when selecting a shaft coupling, as it describes the extent to which the coupling deforms elastically under torsional load (torque). It has a significant influence on the precision and dynamics of the power transmission.

Role of torsional spring stiffness in the selection process:

  1. Precise torque transmission:
    • A high torsional spring stiffness ensures that torque is transmitted with virtually no twisting. This is important for applications where precise motion control is required, e.g. in CNC machines or measuring systems.
    • Couplings with low torsional stiffness can lead to delays or inaccuracies during fast movements or load changes.
  2. Vibration damping:
    • High torsional spring stiffness is less damping and can amplify vibrations, therefore less suitable for unstable loads.
    • Couplings with low torsional stiffness are more flexible and can better absorb vibrations or shocks in the drive system. They are suitable for applications with alternating loads, e.g. in conveyor systems or pump drives
  3. Dynamics and acceleration:
    • In highly dynamic applications such as servo drives, high torsional spring stiffness is essential as it enables rapid changes in movement without delay.
    • Torsion spring stiffness plays a lesser role in slow, smooth movements.
  4. Service life of the clutch and adjacent components:
    • If the torsion spring stiffness is too low, deformation can lead to higher loads on the clutch and adjacent components.
    • Choosing the right stiffness protects the clutch from overload and reduces wear.
  5. Compensation of misalignments:
    • Couplings with high torsion spring stiffness are usually less flexible when compensating for axial, radial or angular misalignments.
    • Couplings with moderate to low torsional spring stiffness are therefore more suitable for systems with larger misalignments.

The torsional spring stiffness is a key factor for the performance and service life of the shaft coupling. It should be selected to suit the application:

  • High stiffness for precision and dynamics.
  • Low stiffness for damping and flexibility.

A careful analysis of the requirements (e.g. torque, offsets, vibrations) is essential in order to select the right coupling.

Further
product groups

Our products are developed in close dialog with our customers and combine their requirements with our solution expertise. For this reason, we at abp see ourselves not only as consultants, but also as partners and reliable companions.

_0001_Abp_Stirnrad_12485
Gearing parts
_0000_Abp_DHAF_8580_Drehgeberzubehoer_12591
Encoder accessories
Abp_WGKG_4060_Kegelradgetriebe_Winkelgetriebe_12456
Gearboxes