Mechanical Components

By employing a programme of material substitution and longer life lubrication technology, NSK has achieved cost savings of €337.600 for a manufacturer of micro wind turbines. Moreover, the manufacturer is also benefiting from extended product life, improved reliability and reduced maintenance, as a result of replacing mixed brand bearing products with NSK’s premium brand bearings and long-life grease.

As the exclusive UK distributor for Italian small motor specialists Micro-Motors s.r.l., Mclennan Servo Supplies has launched two new planetary brushed DC gearmotors for medium and high torque miniature power transmission applications. The E192 and P205 series both feature low-backlash precision grade planetary gearboxes with dual bearing output shaft support for maximum life and load carrying capacity. The E192 returns 300 Ncm maximum torque and the larger P205 is specified at 900 Ncm.

NSK’s SPACEA range of bearings for special environments has solved a problem of premature failures of stainless steel bearings used in the manufacture of carbon graphite and composite materials for aerospace applications. Operating in a solution of Ammonium Bicarbonate, the stainless steel bearings were lasting around six weeks; however, the Spacea replacements have been operating for 8-months with no problems, providing savings for the manufacturer of €11.763 per annum.

X-frame Systems Ltd, a new company born out of the Cirris group of test companies has set new standards for machine and system building with its revolutionary modular X-frame system. X-frame personnel have several decades of specialist machine building experience and this is apparent when the design and philosophy of X-frame is seen.

The range of KHK gears from R. A. Rodriguez is now extensive. The latest edition of the company’s master catalogue contains 500 pages of stock gear types and variants, several of which are new to the range. The guide also includes 200 pages of theoretical and practical information to assist the designer in choosing the right product for the job.

In the absence of a viable automated alternative, the Danish engineering company Linatex had, for more than a decade, continued to use manual labour to feed parts into a CNC turning centre. The company avoided robots because they were not only too expensive for its needs but also inflexible as the systems required dedicated and specialist support to convert them to other tasks.

HepcoMotion designs and manufactures linear motion systems to suit every type of automation environment and this ability is complemented by a similar diversity in its DualVee Motion Technology™ range from BishopWisecarver. With the introduction of low temperature DualVee wheels, now available in the UK from HepcoMotion, the application scope for this established product programme has been significantly enhanced. DualVee systems can now be specified for automation systems in aerospace, refrigeration and other sub-zero climates.

A new rotary position sensor suited to price sensitive industrial and automotive applications for harsh and extended temperature range environments has been launched by Variohm EuroSensor.

The Hexaflex-Blue is a new range of shaft couplings available from Techdrives for marine applications. Designed for small to medium propulsion drives, also auxiliary drives and bow thrusters, Hexaflex-Blue combines high misalignment capacity with vibration damping to achieve a smoother transmission and longer life of the drive components. Eight sizes are available with rated torques from 55 to 1760Nm and coupling dimensions can be customised to fit between the gearbox and driven shaft. The maintenance free design is already proven on leisure and military applications.

The SP4M single point load cells are now available as the successors to the successful SP4 series for maximum capacities from 1 kg up to 200 kg. The major innovation: The load cells now also offer C6 quality and therefore maximum measurement accuracy. However, a lot has been done with regard to the C3 quality models too: A broad choice of options ensures maximum flexibility.