Here not only the hydraulic lines, developed and manufactured by ContiTech
Fluid Technology, have to be up to par. The same is expected of the
connection between the lines and the central hydraulic.
For ContiTech developers it is not enough, though, to merely respond to
market demands. With the newly developed high-pressure hydraulic coupling,
DRACON 500, ContiTech is now marketing a product that far exceeds current
requirements and thus establishes a standard that others have to measure up
to.
"We are already today developing solutions for tomorrow,² explains Markus
Murk, head of Industrial Lines at ContiTech Fluid Technology. ³420 bar
qualifies as the standard at the moment and it will soon be 450.² With the
500-bar coupling ContiTech has acted on its own initiative to push the
previous limits up several notches.
³We are the first to market a coupling of this kind for a pressure level of
up to 500 bar,² notes Murk, underscoring ContiTech's technological edge in
this regard. With an outer diameter of 90 mm, the coupling is being offered
for DN 32, allowing for high volume flow rates.
Arriving at a pressure resistance of 500 bar involved more than simply
adapting the previous couplings to the more stringent demands. ³We had to
develop a completely new coupling,² says Murk. In the final analysis the
only way to meet such ambitious targets was to effect fundamental changes in
design and mechanics and that for outer diameters similar to those found
on the previous couplings with this nominal diameter.
Each of the coupling¹s individual parts had to be reengineered for the
higher load requirements. Flow rates and characteristics were optimized to
such an extent that high volume flow is possible without any loss of
pressure. ContiTech¹s developers also eliminated any risk of the seals being
washed away. The fast-release couplings are being offered in a screw-on
design to ensure that they can be connected under system pressure.
Enter 12 at www.engineerlive.com/ape
Mario Töfer is with ContiTech AGHanoverGermany. www.contitech.de