S.S. White Technologies is focusing on its flexible shafts for aerospace manual valve control override systems. Manual override systems are critical to airlines’ increased expectation for on-time departures. S.S. White has designed and developed several flexible shaft assemblies to manually actuate (control/override) valves in the event the automated system fails.
S.S. White’s flexible shaft technology provides a unique set of advantages for manual valve control override systems. The flexible shaft is a precisely defined and configured, nested group of springs. These springs are wound tightly so that the shaft maintains torsional and rotational strength. In other words, flexible shafts can bend, but can still also rotate. This makes them especially useful for manual control for valves, as they transmit rotary motion like a solid shaft, but they can still be routed around obstacles.
In an aircraft, the electrical system operates automatically, but when there is a failure, flexible shafts can play an important part in manual valve control override systems that can keep planes flying.
Manual valve control override systems are critical to airlines due to increasing expectations for improved reliability and on-time dispatches. Backup manual override systems allow the aircraft to be dispatched from the gate and continue its planned flight.
Backup manual valve control overrides involve equipment that is often located in a highly inaccessible location. The flexible shaft can bring the override position to a much more accessible location, and it can also allow the valve to be actuated manually from a remote location. Moreover, flexible shaft backup systems are a one-time fix, as the faulty valve is swapped out for a new one when the aircraft meets its destination.
Image credit: S.S. White