Shaft Collars Hold Tight Face Tolerance

Marlborough, Massachusetts, June 06. Shaft collars from Ruland are single point faced to ensure a high level of face to bore perpendicularity. The result is face runout of TIR < .05 mm (.002") on standard collars with even tighter tolerance on bearing locknuts and special designs. A precise shaft collar face to bore relationship is important for many applications. It ensures that components are both properly positioned and not tilted on the shaft. Collar face perpendicularity also ensures even pressure on interfaced components. Uneven pressure can result in premature failure of components such as bearings. When shaft collars are subject to shock loads, precise facing reduces the likelihood that the position of the collar will be shifted. A circular groove indicates the precision face on Ruland shaft collars. The collars should be installed so that the groove is on the side that will receive shock loads or is against components needing precise positioning or even pressure.

Ruland offers shaft collars in aluminum, black oxide carbon steel and stainless steel, as well as engineered plastic collars. One- and two-piece clamp-style designs are available with bore sizes from 3mm to 80mm in the metric series and from 1/8" to 6" in the inch series. Clamp-style shaft collars do not mar the shaft like traditional set-screw types. Clamp-style collars also have higher holding power because they wrap around the shaft when tightened thus applying compressive stress nearly uniformly on the circumference of the shaft. Two-piece clamp-style collars have an additional advantage since they can be installed on the shaft without removing other components. Ruland uses forged socket hardware in all its shaft collars, which allows for higher screw torque and increased holding power.

Shaft collars are widely used components in the power transmission industry. They function as mechanical stops, clamps often used on split hubs, bearing faces and as a means for locating components on a variety of equipment including motors, gearboxes, linear actuators, packaging equipment, printing presses, medical devices, and measuring instruments.

Shaft collars are part of Ruland’s complete product line which also includes rigid couplings with precision honed bores and five types of zero-backlash motion control couplings: beam couplings, bellows couplings, oldham couplings, miniature disc couplings and curved jaw couplings.

Company Information
Ruland Manufacturing Co., Inc. has been a precision manufacturer since 1937, making a variety of products including the valve that pressurized the spacesuit of the first American to walk in space. Ruland’s focus for the past 40 years has been on high performing shaft collars and couplings. The complete line of products includes shaft collars and rigid couplings, and a full line of motion control couplings: beam couplings, bellows couplings, oldham couplings, miniature disc couplings and zero backlash jaw couplings.