28 Dicembre

Case history of the Quickrelease Shank

This item belongs to the family of coupling shanks, between hammer and drill bars. Its qualities do not include “one-shot” performance like bars or drill bits but, instead, durability, reliability and possibly practicality combined with safety during use. Up to the mid-1990s, the technology used in almost every plant was based on threaded or keyed systems. The former are definitely economical but less practical in use, as well as being dangerous for operators in tool disassembly phases. The latter are more practical but are composed of several parts that can compromise safety, albeit partially. Without doubt, operators need to be very careful when using these systems and they take quite a lot of time to assemble/disassemble tools.

THE CUSTOMER’S NEED
During meetings with the most demanding customers, highly sensitive to safety issues, the need emerged almost immediately for a system that required minimal intervention by operators but that, at the same time, could guarantee performance and reliability equal to or even greater than existing systems.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
By researching and observing existing systems in various drilling sectors, we realised that a “bayonet” system represented our best idea: quick in terms of tool assembly and easy to use. It was precisely in this direction that we developed our first prototype which, despite some early teething problems, immediately demonstrated its enormous potential: reliable, practical and safer for operators. The only drawback was the higher cost of tools. With the second generation, the qualities of the first have been enhanced and the cost of tools have been reduced thanks to smaller joint dimensions. Necessary changes to make tools compatible with competitor systems which, in the meantime, had been introduced and, although identical in concept, came in different sizes. In line with our policy, research continued and the third generation has only kept the operating principle of its predecessors: every other part has been redesigned. This has made it possible to produce a modular shank and, therefore, only worn parts need to be replaced, thereby reducing operating costs whilst the tools, thanks to being machined whole, are as economical as those used in traditional threaded and keyed systems.

TODAY
Twenty-five years after the first drafts, the operation of the QuickRelease shank seems obvious, as well as the most logical one to use in the environments in which it operates. In reality, the time, skills and resources dedicated to create this product are, without doubt, the greatest ever deployed in our R&D history. Endless hours of design, dozens of prototypes made, hundreds of test cycles and countless customisations have made our QuickRelease a reliable system, practical to use and economically advantageous thanks to its modularity. We can safely say that the QuickRelease system represents us in the shank sector just as the Galileo does in drill bits, two iconic products in the Graber catalogue.

For more information:
https://www.gra-ber.it/en/product/quick-coupling-shanks

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