The purpose of a hydraulic hose is to allow hydraulic fluid to flow from one component to another. In a hydraulic system, the hoses are channels that ensure that hydraulic fluid is able to travel unrestricted and is a vital part of keeping hydraulic systems moving. Hydraulic hoses are specifically designed to transport hydraulic fluid to or among hydraulic components, actuators, tools, valves, etc.
To have proper hydraulic hose routings means taking into consideration the correct type of hose, length of hose, how the hose lays without twisting, bend radius, fittings, adapters, clamping, etc. which all help in reducing the chances of lost productivity, equipment failure and personal injury. Another purpose for proper hose routing is to minimize the stress on the hoses, fittings and such components such as rotary unions and hydraulic swivels. As you can tell, much thought goes into the purpose and layout of a hydraulic system.
While much design thought is spent in laying out hose routings as partially described above, sometimes areas can be too cramped making hoses short and difficult to install, they can twist or lay improperly, and tight areas can make hose replacement difficult.
One of UEA’s customers approached our hydraulic engineering department a few months ago with a situation where they had a valve that they were feeding oil to and then running hoses from that valve to various ports in a rotary union that I had designed for them a few years prior. This valve was in close proximity to the rotary unions and the hoses that ran from the valve to the swivel were in a confined area making the hoses short and time consuming to install. The customer’s idea was to have a custom manifold specially designed to mount directly to the surface of the hydraulic swivel where the current ports were and not have to run a bunch of hoses between the two components. This sounded like a doable concept, so work began on the project as a team effort.
The customer facilitated an initial Microsoft Teams Meeting inviting his manifold supplier and myself so that he could show us how their hydraulic system was set up and then discuss what he was trying to accomplish. That was pretty much all that was needed for me to begin a partnership on this project between the manifold supplier and myself and after a few e-mails that were exchanged back and forth, a new rotary union that was designed to have a mating interface with a custom manifold was quickly designed and then approved by the customer.
Teamwork between three companies is what it took to assist with one of our customer’s projects which in-turn will improve their assembly time and reduce the number of hoses and various other parts in their product.
This rotary union with integrated manifold is one of the ways UEA has assisted one of their customers with a new design concept. The hydraulic team at UEA can help you develop a rotary union or hydraulic swivel that is designed for your system.