Rotary joints are required for feeding media (water, steam, thermal oil, air, etc.) into rotating shafts, rollers or spindles. They are usually positioned at the end of the rotating machine component and form the interface to the stationary pipelines.
The cooling and heating rollers of many types of machine used in the woodworking industry are fed with media in order to ensure the necessary process temperature of the rollers. Rotary joints can be found, for example, in laminating machines, in double-belt presses, in glue application machines or in the inking units of printing machines.
The principal item of all rotary joints is the moving seal. Their reliability and long life span are crucial for the machine operators. In the 9001 series, HAAG + ZEISSLER uses a bellows system as the sealing element, which makes springs or O-rings redundant. A reliable and robust construction. The cartridge system plays to its strengths in continuously operating production plants where long service lives and short maintenance times are important. The robust but somewhat more expensive bellows solution more than pays dividends for the operator, because production standstills cost much, much more.
The procurement costs of the rotary joints make up only about 10 -20% of the total costs – the life cycle costs. If seals that are subject to natural wear are exchanged too frequently, this leads to standstill times and start-up scrap in production, which is directly reflected in the production costs. However, maintenance costs due to expensive high temperature greases are also a major cost factor.
Rotary joints have been developed for over 35 years at HAAG + ZEISSLER in Hanau with the goal of optimising the product for the machine operator.
High-temperature rotary joints for heat transfer oils, for example, operate with solid-lubricated bearings. The operator doesn’t have to purchase expensive greases. Diamond-hard sealing surfaces exhibit no measurable wear even after years of operation.
In case of extreme loads, the higher procurement costs pay for themselves within a few weeks of operation.
However, the manufacturers of woodworking machines can also benefit from an optimised rotary joint. The rotary joint sits on the end of the shaft. If it is shorter or can even be integrated in the shaft journal of the roller, then the entire machine can be made narrower. Costs can be saved just through the reduced width of the machine frame and the entire support structure with its reinforcements, thus considerably reducing the machine price without loss of quality.
Thanks to the new construction kit system with sealing cartridges and modularly constructed housing assemblies, HAAG + ZEISSLER can deliver almost any rotary joint within a few hours. The stationary connection elements and the rotor flange or thread types desired by the customer are modularly adapted. Different interior tubing variants are covered by integrated spacers. One or two-way variants are generated by elbow segments or sealing flange. Various bellows cartridges are available for different media, speeds and temperatures. Sealing cartridges with ball bearings or plain bearings are used according to the application. A special version is supplied with maintenance-free, solid-lubricated high-temperature ball bearings. All rotary joint configurations are also manufactured in stainless steel. The individual connecting parts required by the customer are always available and are adapted to the basic body of the rotary joint.
HAGUE + ZEISSLER keeps more than 2000 different rotary joints and swivel joints in stock for its customers in the sizes ¼” to 300 mm. These can be sent on their way to the customer’s factory within hours. Delivery times aren’t really an issue in Hanau.