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9/10/2015

Penn Machine Co. LLC: Solid and resilient wheels

Founded in 1920, Penn Machine Co. LLC produces solid and resilient wheels, and has a long-term license agreement with Bochumer Verein Verkehrstechnik Gmbh for Bochum resilient wheels. Penn Machine and Bochumer Verein have more than 300,000 resilient wheels in service worldwide.

Penn Machine/Bochum solid wheels are custom designed for each application or made to customer specifications. The company manufactures stress-balanced, vibration-optimized, tangential-corrugated and arched-shaped solid wheels.

Recently, Penn Machine introduced the Bochum Stress Balanced Light Weight Wheel to the North American market. The patented solid wheels feature less material in the web area of the wheel; as a result, they consume less energy, the company says. To dissipate and absorb noises (such as screeching in tight curves) and vibration energy, Penn Machine offers noise and vibration absorbers that can be incorporated into new solid or resilient wheels or retrofitted into existing wheels.

Soon, Penn Machine will introduce three new Bochum resilient wheels designed for high wheel loads and improved rider comfort. The Bochum TDAN wheel has been designed to fit into tight installation spaces (e.g., where bearing systems are integrated into the wheel hubs). The new Bochum LoRa wheel has smaller tread diameters and will be ideal for transit cars lacking or having poor suspensions, the company says. And the Bochum 06 wheel will offer a simpler way to assemble and disassemble the wheel.

Penn Machine is AAR and ISO 9001:2008 certified. To meet customer or AAR M-107/M-208 requirements, Penn Machine tests all wheels in its new in-house automated ultrasonic testing equipment prior to shipping.