Controlflex Couplings for Motors
Controlflex couplings are a multi-piece assembly made up of two aluminum hubs joined together by one or two center inserts called frogs. Controlflex is a good starting point for light duty applications such as those with stepper motors or as encoder coupling for a servo motor becausy they are electrically isolating, capable of speeds up to 25,000 RPM, and designed to accommodate all forms of misalignment. Controlflex couplings with a single frog have higher misalignment capabilities and fit in space constrained applications. The double insert style offers higher torque and torsional stiffness. The frogs are designed to remain rigid while flexing under misalignment conditions.
The multi-piece design offers a great amount of flexibility when specifying a controlflex coupling. Designers can use the same coupling outer diameter on each design and fit the rest of coupling based on the performance requirements of the system. Controlflex has a wide range of shaft size accommodation within a given outer diameter, typically a 3:1 ratio of large bore to small bore. This is critical in servo motors where an encoder is generally used to maintain position. Often there is a large step in shaft size between the desired encoder and the motor. Other coupling styles would require special designs to accommodate these differences, whereas controlflex can accommodate this step in shaft sizes with standard off the shelf hubs.
Controlflex couplings are manufactured by Schmidt Kupplung in Germany and stocked and bored to size by Ruland in our Marlborough, MA factory. They are available in bore sizes from 1/8” to 1-1/2” and 3mm to 40mm.
