Stainless Steel Hollow BallsLong before the most recent hike in fuel prices the aircraft industry was looking for ways to reduce weight to save fuel. One area was the air cargo bay. To conveniently move the freight and utilize all the space in the cargo bay the bed is lined with ball transfer units. The ball transfer unit allows you to move the freight in 360 degree directions. Traditionally the ball transfer unit made for airplanes had a 1” solid ball placed on ring of 1/8” balls enclosed in a housing. The 1” ball alone weighed 67 grams. Thus the challenge was to develop light weight 1” Stainless steel 440 hollow balls that could withstand a load of 6,000 PSI. The Thomson team was up to the task, developing hollow balls that weighed 21 grams each and could carry the load required. Thomson today is the leading domestic manufacture of 1” stainless steel hollow balls. With these unique hollow balls already in place, Thomson, in conjunction with the engineers from a leading appliance manufacturer found another application. The appliance manufacturer was in need of light weight hollow balls that were magnetic, thus leaving out the plastic balls we also offer. In the end, stainless steel hollow balls turned out to be the perfect solution to be used in this flow valve application. |
