Machine Building

News

SMARTCLAMP: performance monitoring for compressors under 30kW

Atlas Copco is launching SMARTCLAMP, a solution for compressor and vacuum pump performance monitoring where no built-in controller is fitted. Said to be easy to install, SMARTCLAMP gathers insights on the running hours and service status of equipment rated up to 30kW. According to the company, no extra energy source is needed for operation, as it SMARTCLAMP is simply attached to the incoming power cord to harvest energy from the machine while it is running.

15th September 2020

New EMKA Enclosure Sealing Technology 2020 Catalogue

The new EMKA Sealing Technology 2020 Catalogue covers the company's made to measure profiles and frames designed to enhance the performance and reliability of enclosure gasket installations. The publication contains a wealth of technical information and is downloadable for free on the EMKA website right now. The EMKA Sealing Technology Catalogue describes and offers numerous processing options which are used to produce application-specific rings and frames for its standard or custom profiles, including those sections which incorporate internal spring steel spines to ensure an especially robust edge grip.

15th September 2020

Mini STX PCs built to your specification

Now available from RDS is a new range of custom-designed Industrial Mini STX PCs, which the company says "Are powerful yet cost-effective systems built with industrial qualities, long-term supply and customisable interfaces". They are supplied ready to accept memory, storage and operating systems, and come with the first-class support that RDS is known for.

14th September 2020

Could this be a boost for machine builders, system integrators?

News has emerged that British businesses with practical ideas on how to boost the UK's manufacturing capabilities (including the use of robotics, AI and AR), could benefit from £300m of joint government and industry funding. It is being made available via the Manufacturing Made Smarter Challenge, in which the government will invest £147m (enhanced further by additional funding from industry) to support businesses which are implementing new technology to boost manufacturing productivity. The aim is to create thousands of new jobs.

14th September 2020

NSK develops ultra-high-speed ball bearings for EV motors

NSK has developed a new ball bearing that it says has ultra-high-speed capability and is well suited for use in the traction motors of electric and hybrid vehicles. As well as allowing electric motors to operate at higher speeds, the new bearing is also claimed to improve fuel economy (through reduced power consumption per unit distance), supporting an increase in vehicle range. Consumer concerns about range continue to drive the development of lighter, faster, higher output motors which in turn means electric motors are being subjected to increasingly higher speeds and performance demands says NSK.

11th September 2020

Updated DIN 46228-4: 2020-03 standard news from Phoenix Contact

In addition to using an appropriate crimping tool, the material quality of ferrules is, says Phoenix Contact, crucial for optimum (and therefore reliable) connection. The hardness of the sleeve has a considerable influence on the workability and therefore the mechanical strength of a connection. The minimum hardness has always been defined in the standard by the specified tensile strength (Rm) of a min. 250N/mm ². However, inferior working results can also occur if copper sleeves are too hard, due to the poorer workability, and this can ultimately result in anything from contact problems to increased safety risks.

11th September 2020

omlox initiative wins Hanover Fair 2020 Award

PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) is congratulating its partners at the omlox initiative on winning the Hanover Fair's Hermes Awards 2020. The achievement is, it says, the result of strong support from the initiative's partnering companies and the extremely active dedication of everyone involved. "Such achievements are only possible when many committed individuals actively work together to develop a cross-company standard for a new technology. By integrating omlox into our portfolio, we at PI not only want to offer an open platform for the advancement of omlox, but introduce it through our well-established, globally active organisational form in all regions and markets throughout the world," explains Karsten Schneider, Chairman of Profibus Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO) and of PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI).

10th September 2020

Strewth! igus helps team power through the Australian desert

A solar powered car using igus plain bearings has raced its way across more than 1,800 miles of Australian desert, helping Team Sonnenwagen achieve sixth place in the World Solar Challenge 2020. The team, made up of a group of students from the other side of the world to the race (in Germany), approached igus requesting lightweight, wear-resistant and lubrication-free iglidur plain bearings made of durable tribo-polymer: what was supplied helped them finish just outside the Top 3 having raced all the way from Darwin to Adelaide in less than a week on the power of the sun.

10th September 2020

Oxford University turns to Carter Bearings

For the last 5 years, Oxford-based Carter Bearings has provided support to one of the UK's leading teams in the Formula Student motorsport series, a prestigious racing programme organised and overseen by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). One of the leading entrants in it, the Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR) team, sponsored by Oxford-based Carter Bearings, remains a competitive force in the series. It is no coincidence that both entities are geographically located in Oxfordshire, at the heart of an area of the UK that includes so many leaders and innovators across science and technology, motorsports, medical and space engineering, to say nothing of its world famous Universities.

9th September 2020

Telford machine system builder diversifies

Telford-based machine building systems experts AFTSL have, like so many other businesses across manufacturing, been having a tough time as orders for new build machines began to dry up back in March. Although the company has (by design) always sought to offer a broad portfolio of products and serve many different industries to assure its ongoing success, the grip of COVID-19 also brought an unexpected new opportunity.

9th September 2020