Machine Building

Lee Spring saves service time and components for F1000 racers

The engineers at Jedi Racing Cars Ltd. in Wellingborough had a recurring problem when servicing their customer F1000 single-seater racing cars - the half shaft CV pot joint they were using, derived from the original Mini, just wasn't intended for quick removal and often resulted in breakage of the adjacent casting mounted on the differential.

11th January 2018

Condition monitoring of critical calender roller bearings

With more than 30 manufacturing locations in over 20 countries worldwide, the RENOLIT Group is one of the leading global producers of high-quality plastic film and related products for technical applications. Repeated rolling bearing failures on various calender units at the production plant in Worms, Germany were causing unplanned downtime and costly production stoppages. Schaeffler was given the task of developing a monitoring concept that would improve the overall availability of the facilities. The challenges included the very slow roller speeds, high housing temperatures (up to 150 °C) and the difficulty of accessing the measurement points during production.

10th January 2018

Additive manufacturing a bespoke historic sundial

Renishaw has worked with the Friends of Berkeley Castle to create an additively manufactured sun dial for historic Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, UK. Because sun dials are specific to one latitude and longitude, a bespoke product was essential for the project to be successful. Renishaw used its own additive manufacturing technology to produce a precise final product. The finished sun dial was unveiled at the Friends' Summer Party in August 2017 and will be displayed in the Castle's garden on a pedestal.

8th January 2018

Moulding machine OEM opts for NSK's NH linear guides

A manufacturer of blow moulding machines has recently replaced its linear guides with the NH series from NSK. The move comes after the OEM received complaints about the poor service life exhibited by its previous linear guides, which are used to move the mould platens.

4th January 2018

Conductivity meter is useful for CIP systems

The food and beverage industry is faced with continually rising quality standards, increasing cost pressure and strict hygienic regulations. As a result requirements for processing systems and efficient cleaning are growing. In order to help guarantee food safety, production and filling facilities must be cleaned regularly. This is usually carried out using an automated CIP (Clean-in-Place) system which eliminates the need to dismantle the process system and is often part of a fully automated production process.

4th January 2018

How to connect 55m power cables from ship to shore

igus has made a video showing the shore power e-spool system undergoing rigorous testing at the company's laboratory. As you will see, the motorised cable reel with electric drive winds and unwinds up to 4 cables or hoses (power, data, air or media) and testing has been completed for 17,000 cycles. It can be installed on the vessel or terminal and supplies power while at berth. Assuming one ship to shore connection per day, the predicted lifetime of the system is 47 years.

4th January 2018

Pump and valve innovator uses TorqSense technology in test rig

To analyse the long-term performance and reliability of hard-working valves and pumps, serial innovators Manchester-based Bifold Group has adopted radio frequency-based torque transducers from Sensor Technology Ltd for two of its specialist test rigs.

27th December 2017

Intelligent manufacturing halves airfoil production time

Doncasters Precision Castings manufactures industrial gas turbine airfoils. The company has seen considerable growth in demand for its machining services, which has led to a significant investment of over £2 million in Mazak products.

27th December 2017

High-temperature control for exhaust analysis

The control of emissions from combustion engines has made several headlines in the past, bringing the subject to the fore on several occasions. For those involved in designing and manufacturing the analysis equipment it is essential that they reproduce accurate results and that requires precision equipment especially at high temperatures. For one manufacturer the expertise and precision it needed was found at Bürkert Fluid Control Systems.

27th December 2017

maxon motor aids environmental monitoring

Monitoring equipment is used to inspect the air in pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing sites where a sterile environment is paramount. It is essential that facilities producing injectible drugs, such as those used to treat patients with cancer who may have weak immune systems, or facilities offering stem cell therapy, are bacteria free to avoid risk of infection.

15th December 2017