VULKAN Couplings (www.vulkan.com) has unveiled a new innovation of the Rato DS coupling that is directly connected to a composite shaft.

Aside from being a torsional coupling, the combination of high radial stiffness and low bending and axial stiffness makes the Rato DS ideal to work as an integrated misalignment coupling when it is rigidly connected to an intermediate shaft. A torsionally stiff misalignment coupling at the intermediate shaft’s rear end creates the second bending flexible pivot, which offers a double cardanic design. This unique combination of the intermediate shaft and the Rato DS is known as the VULKAN Integrated Shaft Coupling (ISC).

Even at high misalignment levels, the angular deflection of the Rato DS causes a minimal level of strain against the torque load, which results to a lower power loss. Thus, it effectively eliminates the need for a misalignment coupling between the shaft and Rato DS. The intermediate shaft can be connected directly to the coupling’s inner ring where the Rato DS is not radially supported.

The new ISC design’s advantages include the major reduction of parts, less design of the bearing and lighter weight, which leads to reduced alignment and installation efforts. The new design of the ISC also has no noise transmission path over bearing or metallic parts between the engine and gearbox. The Rato DS rubber element of the assembly provides outstanding sound isolation against structure borne noise.

Depending on the speed of the shaft the ISC design based on RATO DS can be offered with composite shafts to a maximum length of 7 m. All RATO DS coupling elements whether dual couplings or single row couplings can be utilized for the ISC design.