New Hampshire Industries introduced split-formed pulleys to the outdoor power equipment marketplace in 1990, and has since expanded its application to a variety of industrial and commercial applications.  NHI split-formed pulleys are today used in air compressors, air handling units, automotive lifts, clutch assemblies, gate openers, garage door openers, and  physical fitness equipment to name a few applications.

While the first product applications were single drive pulleys, New Hampshire Industries has expanded its capability to manufacture single and multiple groove products as both drives and idler pulleys.

Recognizing the diversity of our customers' needs, NHI continues to develop new pulleys manufactured by the split-forming technology.  This design base of pulleys, combined with a capability to manufacture hubs to weld in place allows us to manufacture configurations for V-belt, flat belt and round belt/cable applications limited only by our customers' imagination for new applications.

While all the possibilities of design variation could take a book to discuss, there are some basic considerations that you should follow when designing for split-formed products:

·         Check the NHI catalog to see what standard product(s) might fit your needs.  Consider if a slightly different length hub might fit and allow you to take advantage of a standard product to minimize cost.

·         Plan to use standard sheet or coil material gauges.  Unless your product will use 100,000 lbs. of material or more per year, custom thicknesses are very expensive.

·         The sheet material used for the pulleys must be ductile, able to be cut cleanly at half the material thickness, and work harden during the split-forming operation.  NHI has used primarily steel, but has also worked with aluminum and stainless steel for specific applications.

·         Work with compatible materials - steel hubs attach best to steel pulleys, aluminum to aluminum, etc.

·         Grooves need to be symmetric about the centerlines of the round blank.  After operations can be used to trim a width or machine a part, but they are just that - after operations with their own costs.

·         Plan ahead if you want to use a V-belt pulley for multiple grooves spaced to fit a "joined back" V-belt application.  To manufacture multiple groove split-formed grooves, NHI must run a narrower overall width than is standard.  This can be designed and manufactured into the part, or we can trim standard parts with a secondary operation to achieve the required width.  The production quantity required helps to determine which is the most cost-effective approach.

·         To minimize cost, recognize that the use of stamped blanks is the most economical route.  There may be some edge roughness to the part due to the stamped edge.  The plus side of stamping is that features such as holes or logos in the web area can be added at very low cost.

·         Use of standard sizing for bores, keyways, and splines in hubs help to keep the cost down.

Contact NHI (jblatchford@nhipulleys.com or (800) 654-1090) with your questions early in the design process.  We can help you best by understanding your application early enough in the design cycle to manufacture the most cost-effective product that meets your needs.  Evolutionary or revolutionary, we want to supply the product that best meets your performance and cost targets.