Stafford’s new line of Stackable shaft mounting collars are designed to fit at a 90° angle for rigidly mounting tubes, shafts, or other devices. The Stafford 90° mounting system features two stainless steel shaft collars with machined flat slots on their O.D. that precisely fit into each other at a right angle. They are suitable […]
Company profile: NBK America
Company Name: Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha (NBK) America LLC Established: 2015 Headquarters: King of Prussia, PA CEO/President: Sadao Kamioka Products: Specialty Screws and other machine elements and components for motion control technology. Mission Statement/Motto: “With more than 450 years of history in Japan, the NBK brand has always stood for the design, manufacturing and sale of […]
What purpose do gimbals serve in torsionally rigid line shafts?
By Zak Khan Line shafts transmit motion in systems over long distances. But to do so, they must have support along their lengths. A specific kind of line shaft, torsionally rigid line shafts, have unique properties that allow them to work with supports that function with the aid of gimbals. Torsionally rigid line shafts are […]
How do operating conditions impact coupling material choices?
When we have a job to do in a harsh work environment, stress builds quickly and it affects our efficiency. The coupling in your design is no different. Certain operating condition require specific coupling construction materials. Here, Randy Kingsbury, mechanical engineer and vice president of sales and marketing at Helical Products Company, explains some common […]
How do I avoid selecting an oversized coupling?
Less is more. Or, at least, more in not more. When your coupling selection is too big for its motion system britches, at best, your losing efficiency. Stepping up a size to a coupling that it slightly larger than necessary isn’t always going to cause a catastrophic failure, which is why we often let it […]
When are custom couplings the best choice?
Randy Kingsbury, mechanical engineer and vice president of sales and marketing at Helical Products Company, tells us when a custom coupling might make the most sense for a motion system. “The one thing I can say is our most expensive part is a custom part and our least expensive part is also a custom part. […]
When should you select a custom coupling?
By Mike Santora “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”— an old phrase perhaps most appropriate in reference to the coupling selection for a future design. With time constraints moving at the speed of commerce, designers go with what they know has worked in the past. That’s a legitimate argument. Plus, there is no reason […]
What are new alternatives for vibration damping?
By Joyce Laird, Contributing Editor Vibration damping reduces noise in applications ranging from appliances, vehicles and ships to all types of industrial machinery. By dissipating vibrational energy from substrates into other forms of energy it serves to reduce both noise and vibration resonance in the end product. Noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) can adversely affect […]
Coming to America: NBK talks ancient history and new future
By Mike Santora It would have been all but impossible to predict anything like the concept of modern motion control 456 years ago. Forget the modern coupling, not even the pencil (1564) had been invented when Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha (NBK) was founded in 1560. So, while the motion control component company’s new U.S. subsidiary NBK […]
What is a hysteresis coupling?
By Zak Khan Hysteresis refers to a specific magnetic phenomenon. Certain magnetic materials, called ferromagnetic materials, have a tendency to remain magnetized to some degree even after the magnetic field they are subjected to is removed. This “memory of magnetic history” is referred to as hysteresis. This also means a magnetic field in the opposite […]