A flexible compact spiral hose that provides a notably long service life — meeting twice the required number of test cycles — has been introduced by motion and control technologies company Parker Hannifin. The new Compact Spiral is designed for use in both stationary and mobile industrial machinery in a wide range of applications, including construction, defence, oil and gas.
Offering 5000 and 6000psi hose performance in a compact design, Compact Spiral can deliver improvement in productivity for OEMs and end users alike with greater routing, installation, durability, size and weight advantages over conventional SAE spiral hoses, allowing significant material, shipping and inventory cost savings to be realised.
Compact Spiral offers a number new features without any compromise to hose life: it can achieve two million impulse cycles — twice the ISO 18752-DC standard and four times the SAE requirement. This, says Parker Hannifin, translates to a significantly longer service life in nearly all applications, particularly in those where many repeat cycles occur within a short timeframe, such as in injection moulding machines.
Tighter bend radius can benefit design
Other benefits include greater flexibility, smaller outside diameter and a tighter bend radius thanks to a high performance inner tube that makes it possible to refine, redesign and significantly reduce overall hose construction. For example, the hose has half the bend radius and a 30 per cent smaller diameter than conventional SAE spiral hoses. It also requires one third less effort to bend, meaning that bends can begin sooner and reduces the total amount of hose needed by 20 to 55 per cent depending on the application.
This new hose is easier to route and install, saving valuable time and effort — and more hose can be routed into tight quarters where larger diameter, less flexible hoses simply might not fit. Users can also jump up to a larger hose size to achieve better flow characteristics for their hydraulic systems while maintaining an outside diameter similar to the smaller hose that was previously installed: for instance the outside diameter of a -12 size Compact Spiral equates to the diameter of a -10 size comparable SAE hose.
Available in sizes -8, -10, -12 and -16, Compact Spiral hoses also weigh up to 26 per cent less than standard spiral hoses. Combined with the increased ease of handling, this weight reduction can leads to significant fuel savings for equipment with many hydraulic hoses, such as car carriers and refuse trucks.
