Product category:
Pneumatic Actuators, Motors, Accessories
News Release from: Staubli UK (Connectors) | Subject: JAC
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 09 November 2006
Motorsport coupling is easy to connect
A novel air jack coupling requires only a quarter of the connection force of comparable products.
Staubli has introduced a new air jack coupling, the JAC, which requires only a quarter of the force to connect as comparable products A major problem for many designs of air jack coupling is that they require considerable force to connect which can potentially cause damage to the car or result in slower pit stops
Equally important is that this restricts the positioning of the coupling on the car to sites where the degree of force needed can be applied.
On comparable connectors an axial force of some 350N at 30bar is typically required to connect to the plug.
This is equivalent to holding a 6 stone child at arms length.
In many cases the plug is positioned on the rear of the car to allow mechanics to put their full weight behind it to make the connection.
This can lead to additional problems such as pushing the car forward if the brakes are not applied.
To lower the force to connect, many teams reduce the working pressure in the air line to around 20bar with the result that it will take longer for the air jacks to lift the car from the ground loosing valuable time in any pit stop.
Manufacturers such as Porsche, fit the air jack plug on the top of the bonnet area and some times one-third of the way into the centre of the windscreen.
Connection becomes very difficult as body weight can not be used and the lever effect of being part way across the car reduces further the effective force that can be applied.
The solution from Staubli was to design a connector, using its seal and connector expertise, to allow easier connection of the lance to the plug and also accommodate a higher pressure of up to 60bar.
The resulting connector, the JAC, requires a force to connect at this higher pressure of just 80N, less than a quarter of the force from some competitors' connectors that only run at half this pressure.
The higher pressure of 60bar makes the JAC ideal for the latest designs of smaller, lighter, fast acting air jacks.
Importantly to simplify retro-fitting, the plug has been designed to be fully interchangeable with existing mountings.
Many lances fail and have to be regularly stripped down and serviced due to the seals being ejected on high pressure disconnection.
In the Staubli design the seals are not in the air flow path and so cannot be ejected on disconnection, therefore maintenance is very low.
Operation is simple and easy.
With the hose at the required pressure, just push the lance onto the plug fitted to the car and the lance will lock onto the plug.
The car will rise until the jack stops.
The lance can then be pulled away from the valved plug leaving the car in the raised position and the lance can then be placed safely away from the car.
When the car is ready to be lowered, simply pull up on the car-side connection to vent the system and retract the jacks.
The JAC is already being fitted to vehicles; Robin Ward from the Damax-Ferrari team commented: "The lower force needed to connect removes the need to have a mechanic just sit in the car to put the brake on, while we are lifting the car".
"We can now run faster using the higher pressure and are considering moving the plug to a less vulnerable place now it needs less force to connect".
"We will fit Staubli air jack connectors to all our other cars". Request a free brochure from Staubli UK (Connectors) ...
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