HOW Can an ABB Drive save $$…?

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GKN Wheels plant in Telford believes it will save some £25,000 per year following the installation of an ABB low voltage ac drive.

ABB drive saves £25 000 worth of downtime at GKNOne of the plant’s production lines, which makes wheels for agricultural and construction vehicles, such as Caterpillar and JCB, includes a walking beam with reciprocating parallel bars to pass rolled and welded wheel rims from an oil dip to a flare press.

Kevin Evans, production manager for the plant, explains that a problem has been that as the beam reaches top dead centre, the larger wheel rims can cause it to over-speed, with the momentum then carrying them too quickly towards the press, which can then jam.

“This type of stoppage can take an average of two hours to remedy, resulting in lost production time and associated costs,” he says. So to maintain schedules the plant had to run overtime following such incidents, leading to the £25,000 estimate.

With Estil, a systems integration company, and ABB already on site investigating potential energy saving applications, Evans asked them to come up with a better control system.

Phil Lampitt of Estil, which designed the control system, explains that the system uses a 1.5kW ABB standard drive. At the beginning of the walking beam’s cycle, the drive starts and the internal timer runs it for one second at full speed. Then the drive is switched to two thirds speed and gradually decelerated. Hence the beam, carrying the wheel rim, slows as it approaches the press. As the wheel rim reaches the press, the beam triggers a limit switch that stops the drive to complete the cycle.

“We worked closely with ABB to fine tune the application to get a steady positioning of the wheel rims,” says Lampitt.

“ABB also helped us size the drive – particularly critical in view of the need to cater for the heavier rims in the range,” he continues.

“As there is limited space, we had to mount the drive externally. This lead to challenges from the harsh environment of the production building and we needed to specify an IP54 rated drive casing to resist the ingress of oil.”

Evans confirms that since installation of the drive system, the plant has not experienced a single stoppage on this part of the process.

“This is a significant saving for us and we are also looking to standardise on ABB drives throughout the plant to save further costs on our energy use,” he says.
 

Product News From BANNER

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Banner Introduces Several Enhancements to WLS28 Work Light Strip

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS — When Banner Engineering Corp. first developed the WLS28 Work Light Strip, the goal was make a task light that provided even, bright, highly efficient white LED illumination to enclosures and other areas with poor lighting conditions. Having supremely achieved that goal, the WLS28 has since evolved and now offers a number of significant enhancements and purchase options, making it a dynamic part of Banner’s line of lighting and indicators.

Banner’s new WLS28 models are now available in the following:
* Six different colors (cool and warm white, red, green, blue, and yellow)
* Standard or push button on/off
* Sealed IP67/IP69K or unsealed IP50
* Cascadable or non-cascadable
* Clear or diffused plastic windows

“We’re excited about the growth we’ve seen in the task lighting area, and the WLS28 has been a big part of that since its initial release,” said Chuck Dolezalek, Director of Product Development for Lighting and Indicator products. “We’ve taken some big steps toward realizing the potential of the WLS28 with the new models we’ve added. New models have meant new applications for our customers and also new business markets for us.”

The core qualities that have made the WLS28 a versatile lighting solution remain the same — each light features a robust, yet small profile metal housing and is available in various lengths from 145mm (5.7 in.) to 1130mm (44.5 in.), while maintaining the same narrow width of 28mm (1.1 in.) for all models. Extremely bright LEDs emit an even pattern of light, casting no shadows. The WLS28 also boasts cost and time saving attributes in the form of energy efficiency and installation simplicity. By consuming less than 9 watts per foot, the WLS28 is remarkably frugal for a light that is designed to last more than 50,000 hours of continuous operation with minimal loss of intensity. Cascading the lights end-to-end potentially cuts costs even more by reducing the amount of wiring and installation time needed.

Zinc-plated 14-gage steel swivel mounting brackets that allow 45° pivoting in either direction are included, but the WLS28 has several mounting options and bracket styles. Another mounting option includes the use of high strength magnets, which eliminates the need to drill holes and allows the light to be repositioned. The WLS28 operates on 12 to 30V dc power and is available in cabled or quick disconnect models.

About Banner. Banner Engineering is a world leading manufacturer of photoelectric and ultrasonic sensors, indicator lights, vision sensors and vision lighting, electronic machine guarding systems, wireless networks, fiber optic assemblies and precision measurement systems.