Machine Building

Bearings withstand shock and vibration at woodworking plant

When a manufacturer of MDF boards switched to special NSK spherical roller bearings on the work roll of its grinding machine, the plant extending bearing lifetime from 2-3 months to over a year, duly saving €13,400 in downtime and annual bearing consumption.

5th February 2020

3D printed parts contribute to Bloodhound's successful test

A titanium nose tip and steering wheel additively manufactured by Renishaw have been used to optimise the supersonic car that aims to break land speed record in South Africa. Both parts were used in the Bloodhound SSC, now Bloodhound LSR, car that reached its benchmark target of 500mph in the South African desert in November 2019.

4th February 2020

Connecting container ships to shore power

Improving efficiency when handling bulk cargo from increasingly large ships is all the more important when speed and fast turnarounds are needed. Does traditional, stationary shore power fit into this picture? What do shore power connections look like for new terminals?

31st January 2020

Amputee bonds with son thanks to 3D printed hand

Danny Florence lost both legs, a hand and most of his fingers, after contracting meningitis at the age of 5. For 21 years he managed adequately with one hand, but when Danny became a father, he realised it had an impact on the bond he had with his son. Danny was fitted for a 3D printed Hero Arm, produced by multi-award-winning designer and manufacturer of affordable prosthetic limbs, Open Bionics.

31st January 2020

KEB drives, controllers, HMIs used by Concrete Canvas Ltd

By installing servo drives with integrated functional safety, HMIs and controllers from KEB Automation on its new production line, Concrete Canvas Ltd has reduced wiring installation costs and is benefiting from greater flexibility in terms of future expansion plans for machines and additional lines.

27th January 2020

Pilz works with machine builder to implement new safety concept

German company Herbst was working on the delivery of a specialist horizontal mixing machine when some of the fundamental framework conditions changed close to the delivery date - meaning that the safety concept for the machine had to be adapted as quickly as possible. Within a few days, Pilz worked with Herbst to incorporate the PSENmlock safety gate system, which met the new requirements.

24th January 2020

Spelsberg GRP enclosure installed in UK's deepest mine

Over a kilometre under the North Sea - 8 miles from dry land - sits a Spelsberg GRP enclosure. It is installed at the face of the UK's deepest mine as part of an Air Spectrum dust suppression system - this an environment so alien that NASA rovers, dark matter experiments and underground labs all call this place home. This is Boulby Mine, the frontline of Cleveland Potash Limited's polyhalite mining operations.

24th January 2020

Slimline short-stroke linear position sensor in race car clutch

With a housing diameter of just 19mm, customised stroke range of anything from 2mm to 50mm and linearity to +/- 0.25 per cent, Positek's P118 series pushrod style linear position sensors are well suited to precision measurement tasks where space is at a premium and where durability, reliability and affordability are key factors.

24th January 2020

Robot applies labels accurately to strapping instead of pallets

Canned drinks are big business worldwide and the numbers involved are staggering. For example, just one of the better-known soft drink brands claims to sell 1.9 billion cans every day across the globe, and around 2.5 billion are produced annually in the UK alone. In the manufacturing and supply chain, getting the cans to the consumer makes use of proven processes that have evolved over time and which are constantly being refined as user demand and legislation changes.

24th January 2020

Hub drives - the next step for modular robots

Philip Norman, from Ross Robotics, has made his modular robots even more modular by utilising maxon motors and gearboxes. Ross Robotics specialises in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that are modular. The robots are designed to be made from generic parts to build robots small, medium and large. Tools and sensors are modular too and can be plugged on to suit the application. One robot can then perform different functions, which is highly unusual in the robotic world.

22nd January 2020