Poly Flex steel half couplings, coupling spacers, adapter plates and custom cotton reels are all CNC machined and designed in our facility. They are a steel mating component which is used between the gearbox and the output shaft, with or without a flexible coupling. All metal components are plated in SA5 cobalt zinc for maximum corrosion resistance and durability.
Poly Flex offers three variations of steel half couplings. A pilot bored coupling, a parallel clamp coupling and a taper lock coupling.
A pilot bored coupling is commonly used in tapered shaft applications; however, a straight shaft can be used. Poly Flex has a wide range of pilot bored coupling ranging from four-inch to six-inch flanges. Standard shaft sizes range from 5/8” to 3” imperial or 16mm to 76mm metric, dependant on flange and body size. Poly Flex regularly manufacturers custom pilot bored couplings for customers to suit their application.
A parallel clamp coupling is for straight shaft applications, this half coupling can’t be used in tapered shaft applications. A parallel clamp coupling allows the customer to tighten the coupling onto the shaft. In some smaller horsepower applications, a keyway isn’t necessary with a parallel clamp coupling. Poly Flex has a standard stock of four-inch to six-inch parallel clamp couplings ready for shafting, however, we also carry blank custom parallel clamps for special applications to suit a customer. Standard shaft sizes range from 5/8” to 3” imperial or 16mm to 76mm metric, dependant on flange and body size.
A taper lock coupling is for straight shaft, hard to reach, tight applications. A taper lock coupling uses four socket head cap screws on the top in order to tighten the coupling to the shaft. Poly Flex carries four-inch and five-inch couplings on the shelf and have blank flange couplings for custom applications. Taper lock couplings are commonly used in lower horsepower applications. Standard shaft sizes range from 5/8” to 1 ¾” imperial or 16mm to 44.45mm metric, dependant on flange and body size.
Poly Flex carries coupling spacers on the shelf for four-inch and five-inch applications, however, we offer custom steel coupling spacers up to nine-inches. Coupling spacers are used to make up room where the shaft can’t be moved. They are also commonly used in alignment procedures where a flexible coupling is installed. Alignment can’t be performed with a flexible coupling in place due to it being a soft element.
Adapter plates are commonly used in engine/gearbox swaps when a customer doesn’t want to change their shaft coupling arrangement. An adapter plate uses one flange orientation one side and another flange orientation on the other, allowing two different flange patterns to mate. This is also used on flanges where a flexible coupling is unachievable due to the flange pattern having too many holes too close together.
Cotton reel adaptors are used to take up a gap larger than a coupling spacer allows. They can range in a variety of lengths and are custom manufactured to suit the customers application. Cotton reel adaptors can have the same flange either side or different flanges, dependant on what the customer is looking to achieve.
Poly Flex proudly designs and manufactures all our steel half couplings, coupling spacers, adapter plates and custom cotton reels. All our steel half couplings can be modified to suit a customer’s application. Poly Flex offers shaft machining, keyway cutting, and grub screws for all our steel half couplings.
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