The manufacturer had been appointed to design and manufacture a rotary union that would be capable of transferring oil to the hydraulic controls on a range of cherry pickers via eight pressure ports. Unfortunately, the seals supplied for this system were tending to fail as a result of excessive friction between the sealing elements and their mating surfaces, leading to hydraulic fluid leakages.
SKF, which is able to provide both machined and moulded seals on short lead times, was invited to help solve this problem, and suggested that a custom machined seal kit, based on its R10-XS, S01-P, A02-A and F01 seals, be prototyped and tested on the rotary union. Tests were duly carried out on the machined prototypes, which proved successful. Orders were subsequently placed for production quantities of the equivalent moulded seals.
SKF was able to provide this solution in just two weeks, thanks to its ability to respond quickly to custom seal requests. Moreover, it was able to demonstrate the advantages of producing prototype seals using machining techniques and then manufacturing them in production quantities by moulding, ensuring tight control of costs.
By making use of its unique capabilities in materials selection and CNC machining techniques, SKF is able to offer machined seal solutions for a wide range of fluid power, fluid handling and power transmission applications. Partnering with customers from the earliest design stages of a project, the company is able to react quickly to requests for custom seals and components up to 4,000 mm in diameter in single pieces, or larger using a special welding technique.
The innovative SKF SEAL JET production system, with six strategically located centres in operation across the UK, and more than 90 globally, is capable of manufacturing virtually any kind of seal, for any conceivable application, in any dimension, design and specialist material.