07.05.2016

Ryco’s J Seal – A Little Revolution in Hydraulics Reliability

This article looks at the Ryco J Seal, an innovation that is setting a new standard in hydraulics reliability.

“He Who Defends Everything, Defends Nothing” – Sun Tzu, the Chinese philosopher credited with this saying, may have understood warfare, but he knew nothing about hydraulics. In hydraulics, Pascal’s Law dictates that everything must be defended – against leaks. Since the earliest days of our industry, improving the way elements of a system are connected has been a guiding obsession.

For some time now, the JIC fitting has been the connector of choice. It has provided a cost-effective connection highly resistant to leaks. The heart of the JIC fitting is the 37^o bevel to the male and female faces. It makes an excellent seal, but it relies on remaining in perfect nick. The lateral and eccentric forces to which JIC fittings are subject in normal use almost guarantee some wear over time, and Pascal is ready to punish the slightest imperfection with a weep.

The Ryco J Seal

Ryco set out to design a coupling which would tolerate typical lateral and eccentric displacement, yet remain tight. They reasoned that if the female strike face were a convex bevel, it and its counterpart could shift, yet remain in perfect tangential contact. Clearly, success depended on getting the precise geometry correct. Analysing the wear patterns in failed or failing JIC couplings, they determined the correct radius and orientation of the convex bevel.

The result of this tiny adaptation is the Ryco J Seal, which is immediately interchangeable with existing JIC fittings. It brings many benefits as well as damage-tolerance:

Self-aligning
Excellent Vibration tolerance
Abuse-tolerant – excess torque and stretching
Easier fitting – no modification needed
Fully compatible with JIC

We really do think the Ryco J Seal is a little revolution, and we’re happy to talk to our customers about it. So if you’d like to learn more, give us a call today.