When
Mapal, the precision tool manufacturer and technology partner completely revised its hydraulic chucks in 2020, the focus was on making the product range more efficient and durable. The new hydraulic chucks were then to be given a uniform appearance — the requirement that the design should guarantee the greatest possible stability with optimum use of resources.
In collaboration with the design agency Ottenwaelder and Ottenwaelder from Schwaebisch Gmuend, the product managers at Mapal developed a new design concept for the product family. In order to emphasise the uniqueness of the upgraded chucks, the naming was based on the English word “unique”.
The two hydraulic chuck series - the UNIQ mill chuck and the UNIQ DReaM chuck - combine Mapal’s performance promise of quality and function, in particular through an optimum interplay of geometric and functional properties. Thanks to a polishing process, newly developed for the UNIQ series, the high-gloss surface of the chuck is more resistant to dirt and corrosion.
Mapal also attached great importance to making the use of the hydraulic chucks process reliability. The blue colouring of the actuating screw contributes to this. Specially created signatures also contain handling instructions.
When they were first launched, Ottenwaelder and Ottenwaelder entered the UNIQ hydraulic chucks to the
iF Awards in 2020 - and was honoured. This was followed in 2021 by the
Good Design Award and at the end of 2024, the sustainability-oriented
Green Good Design Award presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.
Tobias Bayerle, global head of product and application management (toolholding), said: “We are proud that we have won several internationally recognised awards with UNIQ. The development of the series proves that you can not only win through practicality, but also that product design can offer customers added value. If you can impress with both performance and design, then you have done a lot of things right. Since the introduction of the UNIQ series, we have always seen exponential growth in this area.”
Chucks with sustainability credentialsA hydraulic chuck is suitable for reconditioning, and if the hydraulic oil is refilled during servicing, the chuck is as good as new and ready for a second service life. A UNIQ hydraulic chuck can handle up to 15,000 clamping cycles, which is well above the average value of a shrink-fit chuck. Shrink fit chucks are energy guzzlers, consuming up to 12,000kW hours and 3.6 tons of CO
2 per year. This is saved by using a UNIQ hydraulic chuck.
In addition, a hydraulic chuck can be changed much more quickly than shrink-fit chucks which take between 4 and 6min longer, and this time-saving adds up over time. Furthermore, hydraulic chucks are also much easier to handle as they do not heat up like shrink-fit chucks.
The UNIQ mill chuck is specially designed for clamping milling tools with HA shanks. Thanks to its high temperature resistance of 80°C, even with very long milling cycles, it impresses in highly dynamic milling applications, such as SPM (structural part machining), HSC (high-speed cutting) or HPC (high performance cutting), for high-quality components with excellent process reliability and high metal removal rates. It is universally suitable for roughing, semi-finishing and finishing operations.
The UNIQ DReaM chuck is optimised for reaming and drilling applications as well as for use with finishing cutters. It enables maximum rigidity with minimum interference contour thanks to the clamping introduction in the HSK collar and low material usage. The outer contour of the UNIQ DReaM chuck is based one-to-one on DIN 69882-8 for heat-shrink chucks. This makes it very easy to switch from shrink-fit technology to hydraulic chucks.