Ruland rigid couplings are a high-strength solution for applications which are not subject to any misalignment.
If you're looking for a coupling with the highest torque and torsional stiffness for your servo application, you may want to consider a rigid coupling. More and more designers are turning to rigid couplings when they require the highest degree of accuracy. Rigid couplings are an ideal solution for motion control systems due to their accuracy, repeatability, and relatively low cost.
Rigid couplings are torsionally rigid couplings with virtually zero windup under torque loads, but they are also rigid under loads caused by misalignment. If any misalignment occurs in the system, the forces will cause the shafts, bearings or coupling to fail prematurely. Rigid couplings cannot be run at extremely high rpm’s since they cannot compensate for any thermal changes in the shafts caused by heat buildup from high-speed use. However, when misalignment can be tightly controlled, rigid couplings offer excellent performance characteristics in servo applications.
Although in the past many people wouldn’t consider using this type of coupling in a servo application, recently smaller-sized rigid couplings, especially in aluminium, are increasingly being used in motion control applications due to their high torque capacity, stiffness, and zero backlash.
