Wedge Package Ring
Wedge package rings offer high power density in a compact design. These rings are highly sophisticated components to be used for transmission of the torque between gearbox and wheel set.
Area of application
Wedge package rings are primarily used in railway vehicles as part of the torsionally and angularly flexible couplings in hollow-shaft drive systems. They reliably transmit torque between the gearbox and the wheel set and compensate for angular misalignments, radial misalignments and elastic movements in the drivetrain. Thanks to their coupling rings, which are constructed from wedge-shaped elastomer packs, they provide combined rotational, radial, and angular flexibility, making them ideally suited for the high dynamic loads encountered in traction vehicles, where the wheelset shaft passes through the gearbox’s hollow shaft and a flexible, vibration-damping torque connection is required.
Technical details
The wedge-shaped metal/elastomer packages, arranged in a ring, are positioned between the alternately arranged coupling arms of two coupling halves. During torque transmission, the wedge package rings are compressed on one side and stretched on the opposite side, which enables high torsional, radial, and angular elasticity. Often, two coupling rings are combined via a universal joint drum to form a double coupling in order to compensate for larger misalignments and shaft distances. The elastic packs also dampen drive shocks and vibrations.
Characteristics
The wedge-pack rings enable particularly smooth and even power transmission, as their wedge-shaped metal/elastomer blocks effectively smooth out load peaks. In addition, the ring-shaped arrangement of the wedge packs distributes forces evenly across the circumference, which noticeably reduces stress on connected gearboxes and bearings. Thanks to their high tolerance for angular and radial misalignment, they can compensate for non-parallel shafts more effectively than conventional couplings. Furthermore, the torsional stiffness can be flexibly adjusted by varying the number and material hardness of the packs, enabling finer tuning of the drivetrain.