Posted to News on 19th Feb 2013, 15:52
Custom-developed weather-resistant drive now a standard product
A custom-developed weather-resistant drive is now available as a standard product in the UK from R. A. Rodriguez.
The Kraanspoor building in Amsterdam is like no other. Constructed on a concrete craneway in a redundant shipyard, it is a lightweight office block that is glazed on all four sides from the ground to the top of the third floor. The climate inside the structure is controlled and is by driven louvres but the original specification had not factored in the effects of the harsh coastal environment. Indeed, in just 12 months after installation, the rack and pinion drives responsible for louvre actuation were failing through corrosion.
To rectify the problem at speed, the facility's management contacted drive specialist Framo Morat, a company with a great deal of experience in window actuation. Although the company offers several proprietary products for such a task, the special requirements of the Kraanspoor application resulted in a bespoke drive being designed and manufactured by the German company.
The award-winning Dutch building has a double-layer glass faade, on the outer hull of which are the electrically adjustable glass louvres with a silk-screen coating. The rack and pinion drives function is to open the louvres between 0 and 90 degrees to limit direct sunlight and glare from the water's surface.
The first consideration for Framo Morat in designing a replacement for the failing, first generation drive, was clearly the product's corrosion resistance. What the company recommended, however, was much more than just an appropriate housing.
Inside the salt-water-resistant cast aluminium alloy casing is a worm shaft and rack made from hardened stainless steel. Maximum input speed is 70r/min, static and dynamic forces are up to a maximum of 15,000N and 1600N.
All 1320 replacement Framo Morat drives are now installed on the Kraanspoor building and working well. Indeed, thanks to the build quality of these products they are expected to remain a reliable means of louvre actuation for many years to come. And the good news is that this special weather-resistant drive is now available to industry in the UK and Ireland from Framo Morat's exclusive representative, R. A. Rodriguez, in Letchworth. To find out more please visit www.rarodriguez.co.uk.
