June 22, 2012

Keen motorcyclist understands the customer’s ‘need for speed’ in manufacturing

Electrical supply, repair and field service provider CP Automation has appointed Paul Butterfield as sales manager for the company’s power transmission products.  The new recruit plans to put his expertise to good use providing solutions across industry, with the converting sector a particular focus.

Paul Butterfield
CP Automation is a specialist in the repair and replacement of automation equipment including electronic boards, PLCs, AC and DC drives. The company’s continued growth and increasing number of customers has created the need for this new appointment in the management team.

With almost thirty years experience in the electromechanical engineering sector, Butterfield started his career as an apprentice at William Lamb, a footwear manufacturer. He then progressed from apprentice engineer to a variety of sales roles within the industry.

In his new position at CP Automation, Butterfield hopes to introduce a range of gearboxes, motors and tension control devices for the converting industries, such as paper, film, foil and textiles.

“One challenge for us is to build long term relations with other European suppliers and thus increase the electromechanical portfolio of the company. Giving clients more options ultimately translates to a faster repair and maintenance service. There is always a need for speed in manufacturing,” concluded Butterfield.

Butterfield, a keen motorcyclist, is no stranger to speed; he enjoys riding his Honda FireBlade as often as the weather permits. When not flying through the scenery on his bike, Butterfield takes a more laid back approach and relaxes by hill walking in the countryside.

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May 01, 2012

Compact worm gear enables heavy-duty fixed machinery or portable lifting equipment to five tonnes

Electrical and automation maintenance and repair company, CP Automation, is now distributing Chiaravalli’s failsafe spring-applied motor gearboxes. The devices are ideal for heavy duty applications such as printing and paper converting, as well as applications like portable lifting equipment when coupled to a battery-operated DC motor.
Compact worm gear enables heavy-duty fixed machinery or portable lifting equipment to five tonnes
Available from stock within a week, with optional 24-hour despatch service, the Chiaravalli CH and CHM worm gearboxes could represent a rapid solution for industries where downtime can prove expensive.

“We can fit both AC and DC motors to a CH or CHM gearbox whereas most gearboxes are only suited to AC motors,” said Tony Young, director of CP Automation.

“This allows OEMs and machine builders to expand into new markets where portable equipment may be required. By fitting a 12V, 24V, 48V or 90V DC motor they are ideal for portable battery-operated lifting devices up to five tonnes. Because worm gearing has such a high ratio it will not back-drive. However, because the motor’s brake is applied by a spring it is failsafe. Once the equipment you are lifting is in position, the brake safely holds the motor.”

The CH gearbox has a motor mounting flange that can separate from the housing which incorporates the oil seal. This avoids the risk of damaging the oil seal in case of replacement of the input flange and allows the O-Ring to be eliminated.

The worm screw has a ZI involute profile providing a gear ratio up to 1:300 as well as better performance at reduced temperature. The gearboxes and motors are painted with RAL 9022 aluminium colour epoxy powder to protect the parts from oxidation and the micro-blowholes that can come about from die casting pressure.

The CHM gearbox has a square shape, making it considerably more versatile for mounting. The machining of the components, carried out using numeric control machines, guarantees maximum precision for restricted tolerances, resulting in a product that will remain reliable over time. The groups are constructed with aluminium casings from sizes 025 to 090, while the sizes 110 and 130 are made from cast iron.

The gears are supplied with at least one filling plug that is also used during testing to check for possible leaks. A connection flange allows two gearboxes to be combined in order to obtain high gearing ratios.

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April 02, 2012

Automation demonstrates best of breed drive equipment at Drives & Controls 2012

CP Automation will be exhibiting its RevCon regenerative unit, which allows the user to return braking energy back into the mains supply, at Drives & Controls 2012. The company will also have RevCon’s RHF two way harmonic filter units on show at stand number D1628.

A RevCon regenerative unit allows braking energy to be returned to the mains
Also on display will be the complete range of Roxburgh UL, CE marked EMI/RFI Filters from 1A to 820A. Typical industries include automation, machine tools, HVAC and gensets and common applications include machine tools, heating, motor drives, inverters and servos, compressors, lifts, escalators and cranes.

Another highlight of CP Automation’s stand will be external dynamic brake choppers rated up to 100KW, as well as universal regenerative braking units available up to 690V. These work with any manufacturer's inverter and feature options including RFI filters, harmonic filters, DC bus feed for systems and a DC to DC boost chopper.

Rounding off the display will be a slip ring motor controller rated up to 690V supply and 1850A. The Sprint JL/X range, which uses a thyristor stack to provide a firing angle controlled three phase output, is suitable for controlling slip ring motors in either two or four quadrant modes.

Specialising in supply, repair and field service for industrial electronic boards, PLC's, AC drives, resistors, DC drives and inverters, CP Automation’s workshops are fully equipped to rapidly identify faults and component failures and to provide a speedy professional service.

“Our experienced and highly trained engineers provide both in-house and on-site servicing of AC drives, DC drives and control systems,” said Tony Young, director of CP Automation.

“We have a vast stock of drives, motors, resistors and components available, borne of distribution agreements with Cressall Resistors, Electroplan Revcon gmbh, Alpha 3 Manufacturing and many other major automation equipment suppliers.”

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March 13, 2012

EMC filters for machine tools, HVAC, servo drives, VSDs, generators and induction lighting


~ DEM Manufacturing and CP Automation strike technical partnership ~


Electrical and automation maintenance and repair specialist, CP Automation has agreed a distribution deal with DEM Manufacturing. CP Automation will sell the company’s Roxburgh inline electromagnetic compatibility and electro-magnetic interferences noise filter in the UK. The arrangement will complement CP Automation’s existing maintenance services and product range, which includes inverters, power resistors and PLCs. 

Roxburgh filters
DEM Manufacturing designs and produces cost-effective standard and custom solutions, including industrial filters and general EMC filters, for some of the world´s leading OEMs. The company’s Roxburgh industrial filters range includes single-phase filters, three-phase filters and neutral filters from 1A to 1000A.

DEM’s general EMC filters range includes IEC ( International Electrotechnical Commission) inlet filters, chassis mounting filters and PCB (Printed Circuit Board) filters. In addition, Roxburgh offers a wide range of EMC components including common mode and differential mode EMC chokes, spark quenchers and open toroidal chokes.

Typical applications for industrial filters include machine tools, HVAC, servo drives, variable speed drives, generators, renewable energy, marine and induction lighting applications. Roxburgh also offers EMC filters designed to meet military and defence standards MIL461E and DEF59-41.

All Roxburgh EMC filters are designed and tested to meet Directive 2006/95/EC and UL1283 rev 5 product safety standards. Approvals held include UL (Underwriters Laboratories) and CSA (Canadian Standards Association).

“DEM Manufacturing sells through a variety of channels,” says Darren Fuller, the company’s sales manager. “Adding CP Automation into that equation enables us to strengthen our presence further. The fact that our new partner already provides products and services used in variable speed drive applications makes them a good fit to supply and support our equipment.”

“The Roxburgh range is recognised in the industry as reliable and robust,” explained John Mitchell, business development manager of CP Automation. “Our current offering, which includes Cressall dynamic braking resistors and REVCON regeneration units, is applicable irrespective of the drive manufacturer. I think this level of independence is something that the DEM range genuinely compliments.”

“By adding EMC Filters to the portfolio, we are able to help further, as many of our customers are designing big systems where it’s not always economical to fit an individual EMC filter for each drive in the panel,” continued Mitchell. “What’s more doing so wouldn’t necessarily mean that the result would meet EMC tests. More and more we are seeing design engineers looking to install one EMC filter for the entire system. Equally with manufacturing lead times changing, we have seen an increase in demand for projects running late due to product availability.”



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