Light-weight pneumatic fittings lift the load

Norgren has spent £1.45m developing a new family of lightweight plastic and brass pneumatic fittings. The company says it has designed the Pneufit C range - which consists of more than 280 items - to be reliable and easy to use.

There are patents pending on three aspects of the new range:

• an ultrasonic welding technique said to give the fittings extra strength for superior pull-out loads;

• an advanced grab-ring to provide a secure grip on many types of tube; and

• a swivel joint, claimed to be smoother than rival products, to provide ease of movement.

"The range is particularly appropriate for sectors such as printing, packaging and semiconductors, which increasingly require lighter, smaller composite fittings," says Sean Toomes, Norgren`s international marketing director. "The size and weight of pneumatic components are becoming more important as machines become smaller."

The new range is aimed at applications where brass fittings are considered to large or heavy. The Pneufit C devices will fit many types of tubing, including copper and stainless steel varieties, as well as the soft PU tubing which Toomes reports in being specified increasingly by OEMs because it connects better to plastic than to brass.

Norgren`s investment in the new range has included six new plastic moulding machines, more than 65 new mould tools, and ultrasonic welding equipment. The tube and thread connectors will be made at the company`s Litchfield factory, while in-line, non-return and flow-control valves will be produced at its Spanish plant, near Barcelona .