LifeSense Hose Technology

Taking The Guesswork Out Of Hydraulic Hoses is how Diesel Progress describes the impact of Eaton’s breakthrough LifeSense hose technology. Featured in the magazine’s September 2011 issue, the article presents the technical background of the LifeSense development project and covers many of the important customer benefits this new product delivers to mobile equipment users.

Eaton product marketing manager Doug Jahnke presented the LifeSense story with clear examples of both the inner workings of the technology and the ways LifeSense helps customers improve the productivity and safety of their mobile equipment.

“One of our hose engineers was in the lab … was getting the same feedback whenever a hose was about to fail. So we started a project working with Purdue University to try and expand on what he learned to confirm those consistencies.”

“… users who use a time-based replacement process would get 50% or more — and sometimes far more — life out of their hoses with LifeSense,” Jahnke said. “… preventive maintenance becomes more of a routine process, and when they do have a hose that’s been identified as going to fail, they can do it during the preventive maintenance time or they can just stop the piece of equipment and replace it without having downtime out of the blue.”

The article goes on to examine a few real-world examples of how LifeSense hose can save customers from the cost of unscheduled downtime while also improving the availability of their production equipment.

Also covered in this issue are the new coupling lines Eaton recently added with the acquisition of Hansen Couplings and Coupleurs Gromelle, plus the new FF-Series of flat-face quick-disconnect hydraulic couplings.


http://www.eaton.com/ecm/groups/public/@pub/@eaton/@hyd/documents/content/pct_303713.pdf

Eaton Aeroquip Flexmaster Joints, Couplings and Gaskets

Flexmaster Joints from Eaton are a quick, easy, efficient and economical way to make pipe and tube connections. There are many sizes of Flexmaster Joints, from .38" to 6" for pipe and 3/4" to 5" for tube.

Gaskets for Flexmaster Joints come in both standard and high-temperature BUNA-N, EPDM, fluorocarbon and silicone. Gasket styles include standard and self-restraining, which feature a stainless steel gripping ring inside which allows the joint to maintain a firm grip on the pipe or tube, preventing movement along the pipe or tube.

Basically, there is a Flexmaster Joint for almost any application you can think of and even special configurations and seal materials can be made-to-order.

Although commonly referred to as Aeroquip Flexmaster Couplings, Eaton does not include Flexmaster under its Aeroquip brand and the coupling is a piece of the entire Flexmaster Joint configuration.

No threading, flanging, welding, grooving or other special end preparation of tube or pipe is required with Flexmaster Joints. Use pipe after it is cut to appropriate lengths, but the Flexmaster Joint will accommodate large tolerances in the length of the gap.

Pipe vibration and noise can be drastically reduced with Flexmaster Joints. The resilient, thick rubber of the Flexmaster joint gasket absorbs vibration and noise. As explained above, use of the self-restrained style gasket restricts movement along vibrating pipes and tubes.

Even misaligned piping and tubing is no problem for Flexmaster. The Flexmaster Joint design eliminates flanged bolt holes and pipe threads that require careful alignment. The Flexmaster bulged joint permits up to a total of plus or minus 4° angular installation misalignment at each end while maintaining a leak-proof seal.

Installation time can be slashed by using Flexmaster Joints. Basic assembly tools are all that's needed. After extensive use, the gaskets can be replaced easily and quickly.

For more technical information on Eaton Flexmaster Joints, please view the Flexmaster Joint PDF.