# shell (tech.)



## brian

Hi everyone,

I'd like to know the best way to say *shell* in a technical context. I am specifically speaking about a large, industrial tunnel washer or continuous batch washer (_Waschstrasse_): picture.

The exterior part of the machine is the *shell*, and inside the shell is a (wash) cylinder that spins.

Basically I'd like to know if I can use *Schale* to describe the exterior casing of the machine, or whether that word is not used in technical German and instead something else is used (e.g. _Gehäuse_ or something).

Thanks!


----------



## Kuestenwache

"Gehäuse" is what I would use.


----------



## brian

I was afraid of that.  I'm already using _Gehäuse_ to refer to a different "housing" on the machine, the _bearing housing_ or _Lagergehäuse._

Maybe I could call this one the _Maschinengehäuse_... but that sounds weird. Any ideas?

Is _Schale_ really that bad? 

Thanks for the help.


----------



## Frank78

Maschinengehäuse sounds fine, although I have no idea what you wash with this monster


----------



## brian

Many, many, many tons of clothes. 

Basically, dirty clothes go into one end, the whole cylinder (but not the shell), which is full of water and soap, spins continuously, and the clothes move down along the cylinder in "batches" until they reach the end, at which point they are clean.

Anyway, should't it be _Maschine*n*gehäuse_? Or is there a difference?


----------



## Frank78

brian8733 said:


> Many, many, many tons of clothes.
> 
> Basically, dirty clothes go into one end, the whole cylinder (but not the shell), which is full of water and soap, spins continuously, and the clothes move down along the cylinder in "batches" until they reach the end, at which point they are clean.
> 
> Anyway, should't it be _Maschine*n*gehäuse_? Or is there a difference?


 
Yep, I corrected it. Just a typo.


----------



## Baranxi

By the way, for the _bearing shell_, the somewhat more common (and as far as I've been taught, "more correct") way to refer to it in German is _Lagerschale_.

So you could refer to the other shell as Maschinengehäuse or Gehäuse ;-)


----------



## Quelle

Vielleicht: Verkleidung


----------



## brian

Baranxi said:


> By the way, for the _bearing shell_, the somewhat more common (and as far as I've been taught, "more correct") way to refer to it in German is _Lagerschale_.
> 
> So you could refer to the other shell as Maschinengehäuse or Gehäuse ;-)



This is why I have such a love-hate relationship with German. 

It seems you all do not like _Schale_ for _shell_ even though you say I can say _Lagerschale_ for _bearing housing/bearing shell_--although every dictionary I looked at said _Lagergehäuse_, not _Lagerschale_ (here, here, etc.).

I just don't understand why it would sound okay to use _Schale_ as a technical term in _Lagerschale_ but not in _(Maschinen)schale_.


----------



## Baranxi

brian8733 said:


> It seems you all do not like _Schale_ for _shell_ even though you say I can say _Lagerschale_ for _bearing housing/bearing shell_--although every dictionary I looked at said _Lagergehäuse_, not _Lagerschale_ (here, here, etc.).


Well, I have it in my terminology (I'm studying to become a translator with a focus on engineering), my teachers use it exclusively, and google gives ~100,000 hits for Lagerschale and ~33,000 for Lagergehäuse.



> I just don't understand why it would sound okay to use _Schale_ as a technical term in _Lagerschale_ but not in _(Maschinen)schale_.


I guess there is no understanding it; technical German simply has its specific terms, as does technical English, and they just don't always make sense.


----------



## brian

Okay, you're the expert. I'd rather be able to use one word (not a compound word) for _shell_ anyway, so:

_bearing housing = Lagerschale
shell = Gehäuse_

The reason I want a short, non-compound word for _shell_ is that I also have to say things like _shell front_, _shell rear_, etc. which I suppose will be _Gehäusevorderseite_ or so, which is much more manageable than _Maschinengehäusevorderseite._ 

(But I was hoping I could say _Schale, Schalevorderseite, _etc.)


----------



## Frank78

"Schale" sounds quite odd for a machine.
I´d call the thing on the very outside "Gehäuse". What about ""Hülle" for the inner cover or even "Hülse" because the thing inside is a cylinder.


----------



## brian

Well the inside thing (the _cylinder_) is going to be exactly that in German, too: _Zylinder_. That's how the native Germans translated it in other documentation, so I'm going to stick with it.

Anyway, I have no problem using _Gehäuse_ for _shell_, except that we have other _housing_ and _house_ terms which may require _Gehäuse/-gehäuse_.

I'm also not sure now whether there is a difference between _bearing housing_ and _bearing shell_....


----------



## Frank78

brian8733 said:


> Well the inside thing (the _cylinder_) is going to be exactly that in German, too: _Zylinder_. That's how the native Germans translated it in other documentation, so I'm going to stick with it.
> 
> Anyway, I have no problem using _Gehäuse_ for _shell_, except that we have other _housing_ and _house_ terms which may require _Gehäuse/-gehäuse_.
> 
> I'm also not sure now whether there is a difference between _bearing housing_ and _bearing shell_....



So the cylinder is covered by some metal right? Thats what I would call "Hülle/Hülse" and cover of the whole machine Gehäuse.

Dict.: bearing housing - Lagergehäuse
        bearing shell     - Lagerschale

I'm also not sure now whether there is a difference between _bearing housing_ and _bearing shell_....  In general/English as well?


----------



## Hutschi

Is this rotating? In this case it can be a "Trommel" like in Trommelwaschmaschine". I just see: the inner cylinder is the "Trommel". 

I think, _Zylinder_ or _Zylindergehäuse_ is ok for the outer one.


----------



## Baranxi

brian8733 said:


> I'm also not sure now whether there is a difference between _bearing housing_ and _bearing shell_....


According to my omniscient (har) script, there actually is! And thus, also a difference between Lagergehäuse and -schale:
The journal of the shaft runs in the _bushing _(Lagerbuchse), which is usually made up of two _bearing shells_ (Lagerschalen). The bushing itself is held in position by the _bearing casing _(Lagergehäuse), which is also usually made of two parts (bearing cap (Lagerdeckel) and bearing block (Lagerstuhl) ).

I'm by no means an expert, but I guess in some cases, the shells may be part of the casing? But there is, apparently, a difference, both in German and in English.
I do apologize for not remembering that and including it in my previous comment, thus rendering my contribution a non-contribution


----------



## brian

Hutschi, yes, it does rotate. The thing is that it works differently (and looks different) than a normal _Trommel_ in a _Trommel- _bzw. _Waschschleudermaschine_, which is much smaller and rotates constantly. The cylinder in a tunnel washer/continuous batch washer (_Waschstraße/Takt-Waschanlage_) does not rotate constantly: it rotates in one direction, then goes back a little bit, then more in the other direction, then back a little bit, etc.

Anyway, I just checked some old documentation and it looks like one translator used _Zylinder_ and one used _Trommel_; as for *shell*, one of them used *Wand* (the other didn't have to translate it for his documentation).

Thoughts on _Wand_? I never would have considered it.

Baranxi, thanks, I'll have to check again myself and see if we distinguish between _bearing shell_ and _bearing housing/casing_. Thanks!


----------



## Robocop

brian8733 said:


> Anyway, I just checked some old documentation and it looks like one translator used _Zylinder_ and one used _Trommel_; as for *shell*, one of them used *Wand*.
> 
> Thoughts on _Wand_? I never would have considered it.


Without specific context (I mean a sentence that uses this word), I have no idea how "Wand" could be used to relate the hull of your industrial tunnel washer.


----------



## berndf

brian8733 said:


> I just don't understand why it would sound okay to use _Schale_ as a technical term in _Lagerschale_ but not in _(Maschinen)schale_.


A _Schale_ has a particular shape. It has to resemble a sphere or part (usually a cap) of a sphere. This is also a _Schale_.


----------



## Hutschi

If you go to http://www.kuhn-gmbh.com and there to "Special offers"
and click on the picture of the "Complete batch washing system", you get more details in English.

They give in English the details of the device, and there I found:   • double drum design 

This means in German: Doppeltrommel-Design (in a rough translation).

So they refer to it as "Trommel" if I understand it right.

What do you think about it?



berndf said:


> A _Schale_ has a particular shape. It has to resemble a sphere or part (usually a cap) of a sphere. This is also a _Schale_.



It is not necessarily a sphere or part of sphere in technical usage. 
It can also be a cylinder "Zylinderschale" or others. It may depend on the area.

The word has more than one meanings:

1. outside Part (peel, shell) of a fruit
2. pottery, glass bowl
3. technical device (case, box, cover, cover made of panels), there may be more


----------



## Robocop

brian8733 said:


> The exterior part of the machine is the *shell*, and inside the shell is a (wash) cylinder that spins.


I' ve come to think that _*Aussengehäuse*_ (exterior/outer casing) or _*Anlagenverkleidung*_ (assuming that your industrial tunnel washer is considered rather a _Anlage_ than a _Maschine_) could work well.


----------



## brian

I want to thank everyone again for your help. 

I sent an email to one of our dealers in Germany to ask what terms they use for our machines when talking about / selling them. The response:

_shell = Außentrommel
cylinder _(in a large, tunnel washer) or _basket_ (in a normal washing machine) = _Trommel_
_bearing housing = Lagergehäuse_ (_Lagerschale_ is the shell of a bearing that consists of two parts--shells and bearings)

I'm still not clear on what exactly the difference is between _bearing shell/bearing housing_ and _Lagerschale/Lagergehäuse_, but that's for another day. 

Do you all agree with _Außentrommel_? I would've never thought of that. I did like _Außengehäuse_ but I'm afraid we probably have so many different _Gehäuse_ that it's best to use _Außentrommel_ here.


----------



## Hutschi

"Außentrommel" corresponds to "double drum" they used on their site.

"Double drum" consists of "Trommel (or "Innentrommel") and "Außentrommel".
So "Außentrommel" makes sense. 


"Schale" is usually one monolithic part, while "Gehäuse" can consist of more than one part.


----------



## brian

Ach sorry Hutschi, I must have missed your post from yesterday. I just looked at that company's website (the directions you gave), and that's exactly what I need.  Thanks.

I think I'll stick with _Trommel_ (not _Innentrommel_) and _Außentrommel_.


----------



## Robocop

brian8733 said:


> I'm still not clear on what exactly the difference is between _bearing shell/bearing housing_ and _Lagerschale/Lagergehäuse_.


- Das Lager sitzt in der Lagerschale, und beide zusammen stecken im Lagergehäuse.
- The bearing sits in the bearing shell and both together are enclosed by the bearing housing.


----------



## berndf

Hutschi said:


> It is not necessarily a sphere or part of sphere in technical usage.
> It can also be a cylinder "Zylinderschale" or others. It may depend on the area.


Right, as most simple explanations my explanation was wrong in the sense that it is not without exceptions. But the principle remains: _Schale_ is not just any kind of casing because it is associated with certain shapes.


----------

