Coupling solutions for optimum mobility on rails

In order to cope with the enormous cost pressure encountered in the railway and traffic industry, the right course should be set well in advance - because these are applications where easy-to-fit, space-efficient, and reliable products are desired in the first place.

The operating conditions of railway couplings are quite demanding. Confined engine spaces and stops with the engines running can cause high temperatures, and diverse environmental factors such as varying climatic conditions, water and boulders, and last but not least a service life of more than one million kilometres call for solustions that are both reliable and durable.

Highly flexible couplings are fundamental integral components of modern diesel-powered rail drives. Couplings for the main drive are designed to provide secure availability. Couplings for power take-offs perform partial functions including those relating to the power supply, the conversion, the hydraulic system, and the units providing specific additional functions such as heaters, ventilators, air conditioners, and tooling.

Main drive and power take-off couplings can be optimised to the needs and requirements of the specific application. REICH, with their many years of experience and manifold options, often come up with superior solutions. REICH couplings are operating to the customers' satisfaction in the most diverse applications including trams, railcars, locomotives, wagons, and track-laying equipment - wherever they are - and REICH coupling solutions are proving their value every day as a response to specific rail vehicle drive-related issues.

The following coupling solutions are available in different sizes and rubber qualities for the above mentioned applications:

• ARCUSAFLEX (AC) – Highly flexible rubber disc coupling, also with taper bush
  from 200 Nm to 110,000 Nm
• ARCUSAFLEX-VSK – Highly flexible intermediate coupling for cardan shaft mounting
  from 390 Nm to 20,000 Nm
• TOK – Highly flexible coupling for flexibly mounted engines
  from 1500 Nm to 86,000 Nm
• MULTI MONT SELLA (MMS) – Torsionally flexible claw coupling
  from 40 Nm to 1,000,000 Nm
• RCT – Torsionally rigid flange coupling for pump drives
  from 300 Nm to 5,000 Nm

The couplings for rail drives are suitable, as standard, for normal temperatures and low temperatures down to -45°C (and for elevated temperatures in, for example, encapsulated applications). The selected materials of all components were subjected to an in-depth assessment regarding their strength, their brittle fracture resistance, their proper functioning, and to a number of load tests, and successfully passed the relevant temperature tests.

REICH  is a highly specialised company in the field of power transmission. Their focus is on the development and manufacture of torsionally flexible and torsionally rigid coupling series with a high degree of vertical integration. These processes are basically accomplished in-house so that high competence in the design and manufacture of couplings is ensured for the respective power transmission applications.

Image source: Fotolia und REICH