Think outside the box for cranes and hoists

Systems integration complexities in cranes and hoists market

When contemplating entering the cranes and hoists market, panel builders and system integrators need to think outside the box - not only laterally but vertically as well. Mainstream horizontal applications like conveyors cannot be shoehorned into the same category as cranes and hoists. Tony Young, owner and director of CP Automation explains the complexities of vertical lift applications. 

Cranes and hoists is a specialised market requiring expertise in variable speed drives (VSDs) and inverters, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), motion control, braking, safety systems and last but not least, best practices.

The latter is important when working at height and systems integrators need to be fully insured when taking on this specialised environment. They need to be ISO-registered and carry out risk assessments on all crane installations.

If one considers moving a heavy object on the end of a length of cable, there are lots of complexities involved, like using anti-swing program software for example, when setting motion ramps and profiles in an inverter or PLC.

The systems integrator needs to make sure that whatever the weight of the object, the crane or hoist should not be stopped so suddenly that the object starts swinging back and forth to the point of losing control and causing potential damage as well as delaying the actual hoisting.

This is not the same thing as a soft start because the problem is one of controlling motion along several axes at the same time. For example, where a load needs to be lifted from a ship while the boom of the crane is also rotating, the load is swinging around and needs to be slowed down correctly to avoid the crane operator losing control of the load.

A crane’s load suspended from a cable creates a pendulum that swings in motion. Anti-swing control calculates and compensates for this motion. The trade-off is between reducing load oscillations and transferring the load in a reasonable time.

Anti-swing software
In the past, before proprietary anti-swing software was available, this required considerable skill on the part of the crane operator. Controlling the load position and its swing may be implemented in a proportional derivative (PD) tracking controller to follow a prescribed trajectory.

Then, another controller may need to be added to the control loop to damp the load swing using techniques like time-delayed feedback of the load swing angle and an anti-swing fuzzy logic control. A mapping method used for generating the rules can be applied to mimic the performance of an expert crane operator.

Other functions may also need to be programmed in an IEC 61131-compliant PLC language like ladder diagram (LD).

By partnering up with electrical and automation companies, systems integrators and panel builders can increase their technical capabilities and understanding of the market. A good industrial automation supplier should be able to provide both in house and on site commissioning, servicing of inverters and ancillary products used for motors in cranes and hoists.

Systems integrators need to kit out workshops that are fully equipped to rapidly identify faults and components failures. They also need to employ experienced and highly trained engineers to provide both in-house and on site services for all types of drives. Furthermore, they should offer a complete industrial electronic service.

Training instructors need to be industry experienced engineers with current hands-on application experience, whose technical skills are annually assessed and updated. They should provide a comprehensive selection of first class industrial automation training products, assessment services and courses to meet customers’ changing needs.

So when designing panels for cranes and hoist applications, it pays to think outside the box. 

Re SpA appoints CP Automation as sole UK distributor

Re SPA of Italy has appointed automation sales and service company CP Automation as its UK distributor. Re SPA has been designing and manufacturing automation equipment, principally for the converting, paper and cardboard, metal wire, rubber, plastic, textile and non-woven fabrics processing sectors since 1974.

Re SpA  manufactures a range of innovative industrial solutions including pneumatic brakes and clutches, calliper brakes, powder brakes, tension controllers, load cells, air expanding shafts and safety chucks, mechanical chucks, rotary unions, web guiding systems and web viewing systems.

Tony Young, director of CP Automation, said, “This appointment acknowledges our company’s expertise in the UK paper machinery converting market. The distributorship will be headed up by Paul Butterfield, our specialist of 20 years in this area.

“Re SpA’s equipment is used in a wide range of applications, wherever there is a reel to be unwound or rewound, or a laminate to be processed. Over the years, production processes, automation and the requirements of an increasingly demanding and quality-conscious market have created a series of applications for which we offer solutions.”

Consistent growth has enabled Re SPA to maintain a policy of investing in research and development, in order to offer a complete range of products. This means that it is capable of satisfying customer requirements at every stage of the laminate machining process. Collaboration with customers is a fundamental element in the process of designing innovative new products as well as solutions that can be adapted to individual customer needs.

A solid, well-organised company structure guarantees customer service throughout the working life of the product. Applications sectors include production and transformation of paper and cardboard, production of corrugated cardboard, and printing, coupling and cutting paper, cardboard and plastic films.

Production of adhesive labels, continuous forms and revenue stamps are also key sectors, as well as extrusion of plastic film for packaging, converting and packaging, production and transformation of fabrics, manufacturing and processing of nonwoven products, processing and transformation of laminates for furnishings, transformation of metal wire, processing sheet metal and aluminium sheets, and processing rubber.

Control Techniques UK appoints Integration Partner for cranes and hoists market

Control Techniques UK appoints Integration Partner for cranes and hoists market

Control Techniques UK has appointed electrical and automation maintenance company CP Automation as its Integration Partner for the UK cranes and hoists market. 

Control Technique's VSDs 

The aim of the integration partner agreement is to allow Control Techniques to improve on and standardise its levels of sales and service across the UK in specific sectors. The company sees technical capability and a thorough understanding of the market, in this case cranes and hoists, as the key requirements for a new integration partner.   

“CP Automation is a services-led supplier of products specialising in repair and field service for industrial electronic boards, PLCs, AC drives, resistors, DC drives and inverters,” said Shaun Prinsloo, UK and Ireland regional sales director for Control Techniques. “Its workshops are fully equipped to rapidly identify faults and component failures and to provide a speedy professional service.

“Customers of Control Techniques will benefit from CP Automation’s experienced and highly trained team of engineers, who can provide both in-house and on-site commissioning and servicing of inverters and braking resistors such as those typically used for motors in cranes and hoists.”

Tony Young, managing director of CP Automation said, “I am delighted to have signed an Integration Partner agreement with Control Techniques. CP Automation offers a complete drive repair service. Our workshops are fully equipped to rapidly identify faults and components failures. Our experienced and highly trained engineers can provide both in-house and on site services for all types of drives. We also offer a complete industrial electronic service. 

“Our training instructors are industry experienced engineers with current hands-on application experience, whose technical skills are annually assessed and updated. We provide a comprehensive selection of first class industrial automation training products, assessment services and courses to meet customers’ changing needs.” 

Shaun Prinsloo added: “Control Techniques encourages customers to work with Integration Partners, whose staffs get exactly the same training as our own.  As far as the customer is concerned, our Integration Partners can be considered as being a full extension of Control Techniques.  My goal is for Control Techniques to work alongside Integration Partners in order to provide the best service and support of any drive manufacturer in the UK.”

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.

New sites mark change in engineer’s buying habits

~ CP Automation and Euroserv launch new web sites outlining repair and field service offerings ~

Sister companies CP Automation and Euroserv have launched new Web sites, which outline the two company’s supply, repair and field service offerings. The two sites, www.cpaltd.net and www.euroservltd.net, detail the wide range of drives, motors, resistors and associated peripherals both companies offer, as well as their rapid fault identification and component failure analysis systems.

“We’re delighted to get both new sites online,” explained Tony Young, a director of the two companies. “The way we buy products in industry is changing as more and more items become commoditised. The inverter market for instance is now increasingly price driven, as the technology becomes cheaper and is duplicated across other elements of an industrial control system. As a result, features such as online buying are now becoming useful to engineers at the coal face. It seems anachronistic to say this in the age of social networking, Web 2.0 and engineering applications such as collaborative online design. However, our industry has always been relationship and expertise led and this has meant that until recently few engineers have wanted to buy from a Web site.”

The two companies specialise in the sale, repair and maintenance of industrial electronic boards, PLC's, AC drives, resistors, DC drives, encoders and inverters. The product range extends from simple, general purpose drives to mission critical systems requiring uncompromising control, enhanced intelligence, and high-speed communications capability. Both companies are entirely independent of any single manufacturer, instead boasting relationships with a host of suppliers including Control Techniques, Cressall Resistors, Emerson Industrial Automation and Gefran. As a result, CP Automation and Euroserv are able to offer the best, un-biased advice on any industrial automation application.

Ends: 294 words

Editor’s note: If you want to stay constantly up to date on the latest news from CP Automation, paste the following link into your RSS reader http://cpa-pr.blogspot.com/atom.xml. If you don’t have an RSS reader, I can recommend the following free package Sharp Reader.

For further information contact:
Tony Young, CP Automation
Unit 8, Ashley Industrial Estate, Exmoor Avenue,
Scunthorpe, DN15 8NJ
Telephone: +44 (0)1724 851 515
Fax: +44 (0)1724 851516
www: http://www.cpaltd.net/ and http://www.euroserveltd.net/
e-mail: tony.young@cpaltd.net

Press enquiries: Richard Stone
Stone Junction, 33 Kirkdale,
Sydenham, London, SE26 4BT
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
e-mail: richards@stonejunction.co.uk
www: http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/

About CP Automation: CP Automation is a specialist in the repair and replacement of automation equipment including electronic boards, PLCs and Ac and DC drives. It was established to provide an independent maintenance service, without exclusive ties to any manufacturer. However, it does have strong relationships with the principal inverter, encoder, resistors and motor manufacturers.

Ref: CPA019/04/09

Appointment calls for an end to ‘line robbing’

~ New CP Automation field sales specialist calls for firms to take a longer view on maintenance ~

Allyn Richardson, the latest addition to the CP Automation field sales team, has called on manufacturers to stop using parts from moth-balled production lines to patch up active ones during the recession. He believes that a longer term predictive maintenance or planned maintenance schedule will be more profitable over a sustained period.

Richardson, who has recently joined CP Automation sister company Euroserv from maintenance and cleaning equipment business Safety Clean, understands that, during lull periods, production lines need to be turned off. However, the former retained fire fighter argues that scavenging parts from these lines will only lead to greatly increased costs when a ramp up in production is required.

“The situation can be compared to an automobile enthusiast who owns two classic cars,” explained Richardson, who has also worked as a quality manager for Tyneside Safety Glass, which manufactures bullet proof windscreens amongst other products. “If you take parts from one car to ensure the other is roadworthy, the one you leave in the garage will develop further problems while it’s inactive.”

Richardson, who is married with two children, has nearly thirty years experience in industry and has seen two previous recessions come and go in that time. As well as his work for Safety Clean and Tyneside Safety Glass, he was also employed for nearly twenty years by extrusion business Hydro Aluminium. Here he introduced a saw blade management system that significantly reduced costs and resulted in Richardson being awarded a coveted group award for delivering customer satisfaction.

Since joining Euroserv Richardson has already won significant new business for the company, in particular an account with a large procurement agent for a group of engineering businesses. However, he plans to focus on developing relationships with end users in the long term, in order to provide better service and value for money. “Maintenance is a person to person business,” offered Richardson. “Working direct with the client, instead of via an intermediary, means you can contact the customer direct to ensure they are happy. That’s what it’s all about really.”

Ends: 362 words

Editor’s note: If you want to stay constantly up to date on the latest news from CP Automation, paste the following link into your RSS reader http://cpa-pr.blogspot.com/atom.xml. If you don’t have an RSS reader, I can recommend the following free package Sharp Reader.

For further information contact:
Tony Young, CP Automation
Unit 8, Ashley Industrial Estate, Exmoor Avenue,
Scunthorpe, DN15 8NJ
Telephone: +44 (0)1724 851 515
Fax: +44 (0)1724 851516
www: http://www.cpaltd.net/ and http://www.euroserveltd.net/
e-mail: tony.young@cpaltd.net

Press enquiries: Richard Stone
Stone Junction, 33 Kirkdale,
Sydenham, London, SE26 4BT
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
e-mail: richards@stonejunction.co.uk
www: http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/

About CP Automation: CP Automation is a specialist in the repair and replacement of automation equipment including electronic boards, PLCs and Ac and DC drives. It was established to provide an independent maintenance service, without exclusive ties to any manufacturer. However, it does have strong relationships with the principal inverter, encoder, resistors and motor manufacturers.

Ref: CPA33/04/09

CP Automation set to integrate new resistor ranges

~ Service and maintenance specialist increases its focus on the elevation, crane and OCH sectors ~

Service and maintenance specialist CP Automation has announced that it will be improving its product offering for the elevation, crane and OCH industries by adding Cressall Resistor’s HP and ES series braking resistors to its portfolio. The relationship with Cressall is now well established and compliments CP Automation’s range of independent supply relationships with manufacturers of inverters, PLCs and other electronic equipment and control systems.

First in CP Automation’s range is Cressall Resistors’ HP series of high performance dynamic braking resistors (DBRs). The new range is ideal for use on cranes, winches, conveyors and test loads as well as on lifts and elevators. These compact, ready boxed DBRs are enclosed to IP20 and make virtually no noise when subject to inverter braking currents. Their low inductance open-wound element construction allows high power-dissipation in a small space. It is these two factors that make the HP series ideal for use in lifts and elevators where noise and heat dissipation are both significant issues. When used with an inverter, the units are suitable for use with any make of drive.

The range is divided into HP1, HP2 and HP3 units, which have continuous power ratings of 1.5kW, 3.0kW and 4.5kW respectively. The continuous power ratings can be exceeded when power is applied for less than 100% of the time and the extent to which this can be done is calculated using a simple equation.

Also available is Cressall Resistors’ rang of low noise ES braking resistors, which has recently been expanded with the addition of 1.0 and 2.0kW sized models. These new ratings complement the existing array, which includes 0.6, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5kW versions with resistance values from 3.9Ω to 330Ω. The new 1.0 and 2.0 kW sizes are used where there is the need to cope with high levels of regenerated energy in a compact space. This includes motor control on elevators, VSD control and use on conveyors, cranes and winches as well as test loads. Like the HP series, these robust IP20 rated units produce negligible audible noise.

Both sets of resistors are manufactured using high grade nickel chrome wire, which means the resistance value changes only negligibly over the temperature range of the element. “This is a significant factor,” explained CP Automation’s director Tony Young, “because a design using lower grade stainless steel could increase in resistance by as much as 50% - resulting in impaired braking.”

Ends: 421 words

Editor’s note: If you want to stay constantly up to date on the latest news from CP Automation, paste the following link into your RSS reader http://cpa-pr.blogspot.com/atom.xml. If you don’t have an RSS reader, I can recommend the following free package Sharp Reader.

For further information contact:
Tony Young, CP Automation
Unit 8, Ashley Industrial Estate, Exmoor Avenue,
Scunthorpe, DN15 8NJ
Telephone: +44 (0)1724 851 515
Fax: +44 (0)1724 851516
www: http://www.cpaltd.net/ and http://www.euroserveltd.net/
e-mail: tony.young@cpaltd.net

Press enquiries: Richard Stone
Stone Junction, 33 Kirkdale,
Sydenham, London, SE26 4BT
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8699 7743
e-mail: richards@stonejunction.co.uk
www: http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/

About CP Automation: CP Automation is a specialist in the repair and replacement of automation equipment including electronic boards, PLCs and Ac and DC drives. It was established to provide an independent maintenance service, without exclusive ties to any manufacturer. However, it does have strong relationships with the principal inverter, encoder, resistors and motor manufacturers.

Ref: CPA016/10/08