Most companies today are looking to replace existing heavy steel shafts with lighter alternatives to meet health and safety guidelines. We have many satisfied customers where we have successfully retrofitted their machines with lightweight extruded aluminium shafts which are both lighter than steel and more competitively priced than their carbon fibre alternatives.

All ATEM airshafts from 76mm upwards are available with a self centring action. When air is applied the first set of strips are inflated and centre the core with the airshaft.

When the first set of strips have inflated these are locked off and the internal piston continues forward to inflate the second set of gripping strips.

So long as a load of 1200KG per metre is not exceeded the shaft will remain concentric during the winding process.

A self centring action is critical on today's high speed converting machines where speeds can exceed 500m/min. Concentricity between the airshaft and core is a key component to the smooth running of the machine and also achieving an excellent rewind profile.

Atem Airshafts from 100mm diameter upwards do not use air inflation valves. Air pressure is used to both inflate and deflate the airshaft. This eliminates the possibility of air leaks when standard inflation valves are used and also significantly reduces the time taken to inflate and deflate the airshaft.