Fastening & Joining

Quick-release shaft collar secures components on shafts

April 2, 2014

It can be difficult for technicians to keep tools and reels secured on smooth shafts. That’s the major reason designers at Amacoil, Aston. Pa., designed EasyLock shaft collars. They hold items on shafts and install quickly without special tools on smooth, case-hardened (Rockwell 55 or higher) shafts. The collar’s holding force can be manually adjusted from 90 to 1,124 lb. And a quick-release feature makes frequent changeovers easy, which reduces downtime.

The collar’s holding force can be manually adjusted from 90 to 1,124 lb. And a quick-release feature makes frequent changeovers easy, which reduces downtime.

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When technicians increase the clamping force, the cone-shaped EasyLock point pushes harder against the object being secured. This makes the collar well suited for high-speed spooling applications because as clamping control increases, the point pushes into the core of the spool or reel creating a dynamic, nonslip interface between the shaft and spool core. Starting and braking moments are, therefore, transmitted from shaft to reel, permitting rapid start-ups and shutdowns without rotational play of the spool on the shaft because the spool and shaft start and stop together. The conical point is specifically for spooling and some converting applications because the point can be pushed into the core — between the spool and shaft. When used for applications where there is no spool or core, the point is usually removed to let the flat face of the clamping unit be tightened on the tool or device being held in place.

The maintenance-free collars are available for shafts with diameters of 10 to 40 mm. English sizes can be specially ordered.