Automation products improve production of gold bars

Time is important in the production of precious metals. In order to obtain even more speed and precision, Autocon Innovations in South Africa decided to install Festo technology in a new machine for the production of small gold bars.

The automated system that Festo supplied increases the loading capacity of the machine from 1500 to 4000 100-gram gold bars, worth around 10million. The new machine also makes it easier to monitor the quality of the gold, since this can be read from the stamped logo and the serial number, and also from the precise weight tolerances. These tolerances are within a range of 5mg, which reduces the risk of theft to a minimum.

Festo supplied products for the automated system that ensure the production process is more reliable in the long-term. For example, the ELGG electric toothed belt-drive axis has a proven service life of 2500km per slide.

The new automated system offers a great deal of flexibility, since the combination of the new ELGG-TB electric drive and the EGC-120 electric toothed-belt axes enables an additional five slides to be added. Furthermore, the EGC series toothed-belt axes provide a wide choice of motor mounting options; the motor can be mounted on any of four sides, and this position can be changed at any time.

Follow the links above for more information about the individual products, or go to www.festo.com/cms/en-gb_gb/index.htm to find out more about Festo and its automation expertise.