Load Control via Bellows Couplings

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For years, bellows couplings have been a mainstay for efficient motion systems because they offer high torsional stiffness, low moment of inertia, and minimal restoring forces under misalignment. They may help maintain tight control over loads, which is especially critical when considering that the flexible coupling often represents the point of least stiffness in an electromechanical system. In this way, couplings have a significant effect on the stability of the entire system, as well as the postional accuracy of the load. Bellows couplings benefits include misalignment compensation paired with precise transmission of velocity, angular positioning, and torque.

Most bellows couplings utilize a stainless steel tube which has been hydroformed to create deep corrugations that make them flexible across axial, angular, and parallel shaft misalignments while simultaneously maintaining the torsional rigidity inherent to a metallic tubular structure with a relatively large outside diameter. In shaft coupling applications, the stainless steel bellows absorb slight misalignments created by perpendicularity and concentricity tolerances between the mounting surfaces of the two connected components. They also absorb any axial force created by thermal expansion of the motor shaft during operation while minimizing torsional deflection and maintaining constant velocity. Exact transmission of velocity, angle, and torque, if not maintained, can compromise the operational performance of any servo motion system.

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