Convertech Air-roll-lock differential shafts slip internally to accomodate multiple width rolls and materials on one shaft. Always custom-made, these air shafts lock for a precision fit and are available in several mounting styles.

Because Convertech Air Roll Lock Differential Shafts slip internally, we have eliminated the common issues still found in our competitors air roll lock differential shafts.

-No side-to-side wobble
-Positive expansion and retraction to a consistent diameter
-Duplex and multiple tension applications
-NO core dusting

USAGE: Slitting/Rewinding where multiple roll widths are running on one air shaft.

The Air Roll Lock Differential Shaft is suitable for the full range of converting and web production operations. Its rugged construction and shaft design is available in 3" and 6" diameters and up to 150" wide. Air shaft weights for your specific application are available upon request.

What is differential winding?
In a standard winding environment, common sense might imply that each winding roll would take up its stream with consistent winding tension independent of length or diameter variations. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Differential winding is needed if baggy web length variations are significantly large relative to web strain. Higher-modulus baggy products, where it is difficult to simply pull out the bagginess, are more likely to need differential winding for baggy webs.

By employing a Convertech Air Roll Lock Differential Shaft, each winding roll turns at the rpm appropriate for roll diameter and entering web length. Differential air shafts have an internal shaft driven faster than the winding rolls. GlideLock™ clutched rollers regulate tension accurately for each individual roll.

When to use a Convertech Air Roll Lock Differential Shaft:

-Differential winding of multiple cores on one air shaft, or in a duplex setup.
-Center winding with/without single or multiple lay-on rollers
-Center-surface winding
-Min-gap

Best of all you can have a Convertech air roll lock differential shaft in about three weeks.

PRODUCT UPDATE : Convertech Air Roll Lock Differential Shafts are now available in 10" diameters for the carbon fiber industry.

PRODUCT UPDATE : Convertech Air Roll Lock Differential Shafts are now able to slit from 1/2" wide and up.

PRODUCT UPDATE : GlideLock™ Clutched rollers and CoreLock™ Pads now work together to improve core grip, and ensure tension control on sensitive materials.

The newest design of Convertech's GlideLock™ clutched rollers feature CoreLock™ pads, which firmly grip the core while loading. Individual friction zones are created when multiple width cores are loaded on to the shaft, holding each core in place. The new pads ensure the rollers engage correctly on the cores, providing accurate tension control for each individual material.

PRODUCT UPDATE: With the converting industry demanding more efficiency and better roll quality, Convertech, Inc has consistently delivered newer, more efficient air shaft designs. Convertech's most recent upgrade to its highly successful air-roll-lock differential shaft design again improves overall performance and reliability.

Converters who seek to improve efficiency by winding multiple width rolls on the same shaft have typically approached differential winding with optimism, but have not always seen good results due to poor shaft design. Convertech's revolutionary air-roll-lock differential design changed the industry's perspective on differential winding and allowed converters to improve efficiency, and roll quality, with an easy-to-use and effective design.

Because differential winding can be a sensitive and delicate operation, it's vitally important that an air roll lock differential shaft operate at maximum efficiency with minimal effort. Convertech's most recent upgrade to their differential shaft design has improved the GlideLock™ clutched rollers by improving core grip while reducing the number of moving parts. This both improves efficiency and reduces the potential for repair.

The new improvements only enhance the differential shaft's ability to allow rolls to slide easily on and off the shaft. When disengaged, the GlideLock™ clutched rollers move freely, allowing operators to easily move cores and rolls along the shaft. Once engaged, the rollers lock independently in place and are able to control tensions from under .15 PLI on each individual core, regardless of each core's width.