Punk Couplings wins award

Punk Couplings has been awarded the Best New Product of the Year award during the British Engineering Excellence Awards 2016.

Its Gim-Ball coupling design utilised three nested rings with mating spherical surfaces to reinterpret the traditional Cardan joint with axles transmitting the torque.

Simon Parker, managing director, said: “Winning this award strengthens our belief that Punk couplings can revolutionise the torque transmission industry.”

In the marine world these joints are mainly used on the shaft that links the gearbox to the propeller shaft with the universal joint allowing for any misalignment between the two components and to allow the engine to be installed on flexible mounts.

Compared with the universal joint Punk Couplings claims that their system has a reduced parts count, it requires less space and it has an increased speed and torque capability.

The main use of these Punk couplings on work boats would be on the Cardan shaft that allows the engine to be flexibly mounted and still maintain connection to the rigidly mounted propeller shaft.

These Cardan shafts are widely used in the transmission systems where the engine is not close-coupled to the propulsion unit.

The Punk Gim-Ball possesses a high degree of damage tolerance, continuing to operate with one axle completely failed, the company is currently seeking to license the manufacture of the Gim-Ball, along with the company’s full range of couplings and associated technology.

Punk Couplings also won the 2016 Seawork Marine Engineering Innovation Award.