Mechanical Components

According to the TUC, the average rail commute in the UK takes an average of 2 hours and 11 minutes, each day. Also add to the equation that, in 2018, more than one third of trains failed to arrive at stations on time due to technical faults, and you’re left with one very miserable commuter. Chris Johnson, Managing Director of SMB Bearings, considers the future adoption of smart bearings and their impact on Industry 4.0 and the UK.

When it comes to selecting wear resistant tribo-polymers, the user is spoilt for choice at igus. To find the right iglidur plain bearing material for the appropriate application, igus has now developed a new compact analogue configurator for 39 standard iglidur materials. Using overlay cards, the user can determine the suitable material. Alternatively, the iglidur online expert system helps in the selection and calculation of the service life.

Stamping a low quality metal with a high quality machine tool probably wouldn’t result in success. But how many operators, unaware of the low grade material, would blame the machine tool? This event serves as a reminder that pinning the blame on the wrong thing, in any scenario, simply isn’t helpful. But as Chris Johnson, Managing Director of SMB Bearings explains, similar scapegoating also takes place with bearings.

In athletics, some disciplines are difficult to follow for spectators. For football, it is clear to see when the ball is in the goal. In long jump, however, it is it is not easy to judge whether the last jump has set a new record. Virtual lines help the TV audience but they are not visible to spectators in the stadium. The PrimeLine system, developed by Golden Fly Sports GmbH, solves this problem by projecting the ‘mark to jump’ onto the sand.

Precision motion control specialist company INMOCO has introduced a new solution for measuring angular position in extreme environments where potentiometers or capacitive devices may prove unreliable. The non-contact Celera Motion Zettlex IncOder can be described as an inductive angle encoder and works like a transformer. 

Ruland has announced that it has started supplying quick clamping shaft collars with clamping levers. These adjustable levers mate a Ruland metric and international series inch shaft collar to a specially designed clamping lever, creating a shaft collar that requires no tools to install, remove, or reposition.

As a worldwide manufacturer/distributor, Elesa have rather shorter lines of communication with their customers than might otherwise be the case, a situation which allows them to focus their manufacturing expertise on rapid response and highly detailed product designs. This has resulted in the Ergostyle brand, coupled with the elecolors program.

WDS Component Parts has made an addition to its already-wide range of quick release locating pins, a stainless steel pull knob pin with D-ring. Pins and dowels are amongst the most commonly used engineering parts, typically holding and positioning larger components relative to one another in manufacturing, assembly and other engineering operations. 

Ruland now supplies quick clamping shaft collars with clamping levers. These adjustable levers mate a Ruland metric and international series inch shaft collar to a specially designed clamping lever, creating a shaft collar that requires no tools to install, remove, or reposition.

The drive for ever-greater productivity means machine speeds tend to increase over time, but this can lead to increased vibration, wear and tear. WDS Components Parts offers a range of hydraulic shock absorbers that control deceleration of moving parts and conveyed items to prevent damage to machinery and products.