Pitchline Transmissions couples up with NDE Clarke

Drive shaft specialist NDE Clarke Transmisisons has bought its Coventry neighbour Pitchline Transmissions which has been making gear components for more than 30 years. The acquisition will allow NDE to move into new markets.

Under its new ownership, Pitchline is focusing on its core strengths and one result of this is a new range of gear couplings which the company claims represents "a leap forward in coupling design".

The new couplings accept much bigger shaft diameters for a given size, allowing smaller couplings to be used in many applications. For example, Pitchline`s old Size 1 coupling accommodated shaft diameters up to 38mm; the new High Power version extends this to 55mm.

The new couplings also support larger hub diameters and therefore larger gear teeth, increasing the torque transmission capacity by up to 30%. The range covers torque capacities up to 500,000Nm and shaft diameters up to 360mm.

Pitchline reckons the new range, which makes its European debut at the Hanover Fair, will cover 95% of gear coupling applications.