Our patented TRACKSTAR™ return training idler anticipates belt misalignment and adjusts for it immediately. It works on a principle that does not depend on gross belt displacement before correction - and - works equally well in both directions. On the return side of the conveyor the TRACKSTAR™ keeps the belt centered and leads it to the tail pulley to avoid off-center loading, a major source of belt tracking problems.
Complex profiles that are difficult or even impossible to cut using conventional cutting processes are cut easily and economically with computer controlled water jet cutting. Virtually, any kind of material like granite, plastics, glass, sheet rubber, graphite composites, friction materials, laminates, ferrous and non-ferrous metals are cut effectively with a water jet. While laser cutting is generally faster, the water jet eliminates heat build-up at the cutline, making it possible to cut materials that a laser may damage.
Our Material Processing Division arises from the growth in capabilities of our other divisions and the demand from our existing customers to perform ancillary services which, although related to friction material fabrication technologies, are services which can be applied to a much wider range of materials and products.
We routinely prepare metal parts by heat cleaning and/or abrasive blasting. Our ovens range in size from kitchen sized test ovens to a 10 ft square. Most are programmable and can heat to 850 ºF for removal of adhesive, paint and rubber as well as worn friction material. We also have a 48 in Pangborn rotary blaster as well as a Wheelabrator Tumble blast machine for abrasive blasting.
Our Material Processing Division arises from the growth incapability of our other divisions and the demand from our existing customers to perform ancillary services which, although related to friction material fabrication technologies, are services which can be applied to a much wider range of materials and products.
We have conventional Arter Rotary surface grinders which can grind metal or composites to an accuracy of ±0.002. We have wide belt sanders for abrading substrates and a very precise 36 in. Curtin-Hebert drum sander which can sand to accuracies within 0.001 in.
Oak Friction Product Division bonds Cleveland Oak supplied friction material to customer or Cleveland Oak supplied core parts for a variety of industrial customers such as press and forge manufacturers, stamping plants, appliance and machinery manufacturers and many others who require original or replacement friction components. We supply cut piece parts such as water jet gear tooth segments as well as bonded and riveted parts to both original equipment manufacturers and industrial users.
Our bonding is done in temperature controlled, programmable ovens, monitored with recording thermographs to insure a proper bond. Our production volumes range from custom manufacture of one or two extremely large clutch plates for a forging press to one million plus parts per year for a washing machine manufacturer.
Our bonding process is carefully monitored every step of the way to insure you receive a high quality part, on time, as economically as is currently possible.
Oak Friction Products Division contract manufactures friction shoes, bands, plates, segments and facings for a variety of industrial customers. Our services range from "bond-only" work where we bond customer-supplied lining to customer-supplied backing plates up to providing complete manufactured parts packaged and ready to put on the shelf.
We can provide virtually any type of inspection reporting including bond line charts, destructive testing, non-destructive testing and sampling and in most cases we utilize and document 100% inspections.
Our delivery times are as fast as possible. We strive to meet customer's emergency requirements by working overtime and overnight if required as well as expeditiously process standard deliveries.
Oak Friction Product Division fabricates friction products for a variety of industrial customers such as press manufacturers stamping plants, appliance and machinery manufacturers and many others. We stock virtually all types of molded, extruded, sheeted and woven friction materials from 0.060 to over 3 in thick and can provide both metric and standard sizes. We can supply full sheets and rolls for customer fabrication from our warehouse, as well as provide pre-fabricated segments, pads, linings and gear tooth facings. As mentioned in other sections of the site, we also contract manufacture as well as reline complete parts.
Our Material Processing Division arises from the growth in capabilities of our other divisions and the demand from our existing customers to perform ancillary services which, although related to friction material fabrication technologies, are services which can be applied to a much wider range of materials and products.
We routinely prepare metal parts by abrasive blasting. We use a 48 in. Pangborn rotary blaster as well as a Wheelabrator Tumble blast machine. We also heat clean parts; our ovens range in size from kitchen sized test ovens to 10 ft square. Most are programmable and can heat to 850 ºF for removal of adhesive, paint and rubber as well as worn friction material.
Thermoset adhesive bonding of friction material to large clutch plates for metal forming presses.
Cleveland Oak has the capability to bond friction material to large clutch plates (up to 116" diameter) and does so on a regular basis. This case, however, presented special challenges, not the least of which was that the new customer's spare plate (from another vendor) had failed and they were in a breakdown situation.
The 116" diameter plate required special lining as well has being of very large diameter. The lining consisted of 40 segmented trapezoids with rounded corners, which normally would not be an issue except that these were 1.5" thick and required bolting to the plate as well as bonding. The counter-bored bolt holes were to be plugged with lining. Because of time restraints the friction lining had to be laminated to build the required thickness, then cut to final size on the water jet saw.
The job actually went smoother than expected and the relined plate was shipped 8 days after receipt of the order. The 12,000 ton forging press is up and running. Since then we have also relined the spare plate, albeit in a more leisurely manner.
Our capability, coupled with commitment to customer requirements, product knowledge and ability to innovate came together to complete this challenging project. Contact us to see what we can do for you.
Cleveland Oak incorporates a computer controlled water jet saw for many purposes in friction material fabrication as well as cutting many other materials where heat generated during the cutting process can damage the material. We have successfully cut foams, plastics, tempered glass, and ceramics as well as our normal cutting of friction materials.
The water jet, coupled with CAD software, makes it very economical for us to run low volume and prototype products where in the not-too-distant past tooling costs made short production runs cost prohibitive.
One good example of this is the manufacture of gear tooth clutch facings. These look very similar to bicycle sprockets and as such are usually molded or cut on gear hobbing machines making it a very expensive and time consuming process. Utilizing the water jet we can, in most cases, cut a gear facing within a few minutes of receiving or completing a drawing. With this ability we can offer same day service in breakdown situations.
Cleveland Oak can cut gears to 30" diameter with accuracy of ±0.005". We do production runs of close to 10,000 parts per year as well as run the aforementioned one-offs. There does come a point where, at least using friction material, molding the part can be more economical and we can provide molded parts as well.
Contact us to find out if we can help with your specialized needs, or make it easy on us and give us a more routine project.
Bonding friction material to core, then subsequent water jet cutting of finished part in one operation.
The traditional method of manufacturing a clutch plate is to first fabricate the core plate by stamping or cutting or machining. Then likewise fabricate the friction material as a disc or segments and then bond the two together using a thermoset resin adhesive with the proper bonding temperature, time and pressure. This is something we do all day every day.
Water jet technology has enabled us to develop another methodology which opens up exciting (for us at least) new design alternatives which were previously impossible. By bonding the friction material substrate to a flat metal core beforehand and then final cutting on the water jet, a number of advantages and design freedoms become available. First, much more complicated shapes can be cut without the need for exact matching of both components as both are being cut at once. Time can be saved by utilizing one cutting operation instead of two, and rejected parts due to slippage of the friction material on the core plate can be avoided as well.
The primary advantage to the end user is design flexibility. The part shown was has the key projection cut after bonding thus the entire part has material coverage which in this case was an advantage. Virtually any shape composite can be cut using this method. Let us know if we can do something like this for you.
Contract manufacturing services of clutch plate inserts for the metal stamping industry.
Our bread and butter business is the contract manufacture of Clutch Plates and Brake Shoes. This example is for 0042 Series Plates manufactured for BCN Technologies used on Bliss stamping presses.
The primary concerns of any OEM are Quality, Delivery and Price.
Quality
In this case the basic process includes fabrication of the friction segments; cutting to shape and coating with adhesive, stamping of the backing plates, assembly of bonding fixtures, curing under pressure in a controlled oven, finish grinding to final thickness and then final forming of plate. Final inspection includes marking plates with identification numbers and boxing in marked boxes specified by BCN. Our quality program includes Process Sheets, Inspection Forms and Testing Procedures developed in concert with BCN to assure a product which exceeds customer requirements.
Delivery
We have developed a schedule with BCN which assures a constant supply of the various size plates. We also keep a back-up stock on hand for unexpected demand.
Price
Oh yeah, Price. Without a competitive price all of the above would be nice but in order to be competitive we have engineered jigs, fixtures and processes which allow us to make these plates at a very competitive price. Ask our competition, but better yet, ask us for a quote on your production requirements, we'll be more than happy to work with you.
