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We are proud to announce a major expansion of our industrial automation and converting portfolio. Motion Drives & Controls has been officially appointed as the sole UK distributor for Double E, a global market leader with over 50 years of elite engineering pedigree.
This partnership represents a massive step forward for UK manufacturers, particularly those in the converting, web processing, packaging, and printing sectors. By bringing Double E into Motion Drives and Controls, we are significantly upgrading the scale, flexibility, and technical capability of the hardware we can deliver to your production floor.
Global Heritage, European Precision
While Double E is an American-owned company headquartered in Maine, their high-performance hardware is manufactured at their state-of-the-art facility near Venice, Italy. This combination allows them to merge robust American design concepts with highly precise, cost-competitive European manufacturing.
For our customers, this means access to a massive, highly flexible range of web-handling solutions that are built to endure continuous 24/7 duty cycles.
The Product Lineup: Upgrading Your Engineering Backbone
The Double E range directly addresses the common mechanical pain points that cause material waste and unscheduled downtime. Rather than forcing you to rely on a rigid, standard catalogue, Double E focuses on highly customisable versions tailored to your exact application.
Next-Generation Safety Chucks
If your operators are currently using mallets to tap open stubborn, hinged safety chucks, you are exposing your line to premature wear and alignment issues. Double E safety chucks feature a unique sliding handwheel mechanism rather than a traditional hinge. The handwheel slides forward smoothly, preventing the sticking and chrome damage common with legacy systems.
Even better for existing operations, Double E chucks share the exact same interface and journal end dimensions as older industry standards (including VT1, VT2, VT5, and VT7 interfaces) as well as Superchuck footprints. This makes them a completely interchangeable, drop-in replacement that instantly upgrades your system reliability. They are available in both flange and pedestal styles, with options for side-lay adjustment and brake integration.
High-Performance Air Shafts
Double E is renowned for its flexible, high-performance air shaft designs. Their bread-and-butter strip shafts utilise a robust aluminium extrusion with segmented rubber or aluminium strips that conform perfectly to the core upon inflation. Driven by multiple internal bladders, they offer incredibly reliable grip and simple maintenance.
For specialised applications, the range extends from ultra-stiff steel shafts capable of handling extreme roll weights to advanced carbon fibre air shafts for high-speed, lightweight operations. Differential air shafts, cantilevered assemblies (CBA), and leaf-shaft designs are also available to handle any web tension variable.
Expanding Core Chucks & Adapters
To accommodate varying torque levels and roll weights, Double E offers both mechanical and pneumatic expanding core chucks. Acting as a high-grip bung for your cardboard or plastic cores, these units minimise core distortion while maximising torque transmission. They easily accommodate core diameters ranging from the popular 3-inch (76mm) standard all the way up to heavy-duty 300mm setups.
Advanced Roll Handling & Production Tools
Through the integration of the Schlump group, the Double E portfolio includes specialised material handling equipment designed to protect both your operators and your materials.
Roll Movers & Lifters: Battery-powered roll movers allow operators to easily manoeuvre massive, heavy rolls into position with minimal physical effort. Specialised hoist-based roll handlers allow a single operator to lift a heavy roll and effortlessly rotate it from a vertical to a horizontal orientation, aligning it perfectly with the machine spindle.
Core Cutters & Trim Winders: Clean up your processing space with custom core cutters that allow you to slice bulk cardboard cores to precise lengths internally, saving on raw material costs. For printing and converting lines, Double E's air-driven trim winders neatly collect waste edge-trimmings onto a deflatable shaft for fast, clutter-free disposal.
Full Service, On-Site Support, and UK Stock
We aren't just adding these products to our website; we are fully integrating them into our consultative engineering service. Our team, including Managing Director Luke Fowler and our senior technical engineers, have already undergone extensive training at the manufacturing facility in Italy.
We are actively managing transition inquiries and processing new specifications. To ensure your production lines face absolutely minimal downtime, we will be holding extensive stock directly at our warehouse facility in Warwick.
Beyond rapid component dispatch, the Motion Drives & Controls team will be providing full on-site integration, mechanical fitting, commissioning, and operator training across the entire Double E range.
Ready to Upgrade Your Line?
Whether you are looking to replace ageing chucks with a more reliable sliding design, transition to lightweight carbon fibre shafts, or eliminate material handling bottlenecks, our engineering team is ready to assist.
Explore the new possibilities for your facility. Contact the Motion Drives & Controls sales team today to discuss your technical specifications.
