TFC Offers Smalley Laminar Ring Set

TFC Europe’s Smalley laminar ring has been specified as the primary scraper ring seal used in stem-packing and stem-plug arrangements. According to the company, once a natural-gas or oil well is drilled and it has been verified that commercially viable quantities of natural gas or oil are present for extraction, the well must be completed to allow for the flow of oil, petroleum or natural gas out of the formation and up to the surface.

This process includes strengthening the well hole with casing, evaluating the pressure and temperature of the formation and installing the proper equipment to ensure an efficient flow out of the well. This is where a choke valve controls the pressure and flow and it is imperative that the primary scraper ring performs its function of keeping the flow regulated and free from debris, according to TFC.

Choke valves are the first primary valve used to control flow and pressure when oil and gas exit the well. In this position, the valve is exposed to high velocities and direct impacts from material suspended in the oil from fine sand and grit and sizeable chunks of rock and other debris. The company claims this this is one of the most arduous applications for any valve.

Laminar rings are configured to create a metal labyrinth, the arrangement of which is dependent upon the severity of the environment. The labyrinth is created by using a set of three in-springing and two out-springing single-turn rings in an alternating configuration.

Manufactured in Haynes 25 Alloy L605 and with special interlocking end configurations, they provide a suitable scraper ring seal set to withstand the arduous conditions to which they are regularly subjected. The criticality of keeping the valve clear of debris is said to be crucial and failure to do so can affect performance, ultimately leading to a failure within the system, which, if a blockage occurs, can be catastrophic. TFC’s Smalley labyrinth scraper ring set provides a tested and reliable solution for the petro-chemical industries.

The flexibility of the manufacturing process allows virtually any size of ring to be designed into an application. With standard materials that include Inconel X750 and A286 alloy, short lead times and a customer-orientated stocking policy, the company believes that it is able to position itself to supply the petro-chemical industry with cost-effective solutions where reliability matters.

Valenzi Uses Mettler-Toledo Garvens Checkweighers

Valenzi, which processes mushrooms and forest fruits to produce preserves and frozen products in Luneburger Heath, Germany, ensures product quality with Mettler-Toledo Garvens checkweighers. Some of the raw ingredients that Valenzi uses grow in the wild. As soon as they arrive, staff members assess their quality and the ones that pass the tests are then forwarded for ISO-certified processing.

The mushrooms and forest fruits are washed, desalinated, hand sorted and checked for foreign bodies such as metal particles prior to filling. Mathias Koeppen, chief executive officer at Valenzi, said: ‘We produce in compliance with the IFS [International Food Standard] and place great emphasis on employing the latest technology and intelligent production machines.’ To perform the legally required weight checks, the company relies on the inline checkweighing technology of Mettler-Toledo Garvens.

After filling the Shiitake mushrooms into jars, the correct weight of the jars is then checked in the production line by an inline XS3 checkweigher. With its touch-screen display, the calibrated checkweigher is easy to use and its flexible modular structure allows it to be integrated into existing production lines. Valenzi uses the checkweigher to check up to four different products, ranging from 120g to 900g. The calibrated checkweigher inspects up to 140 jars per minute and guarantees accuracy of up to 1g.

Before the jars reach the XS3, they are aligned and fed securely to the checkweigher by two laterally adjustable side-grip belts. Jars that are too light or too heavy are gently rejected with the help of a product divider system that uses a Garvens line divider. Valenzi also uses Mettler-Toledo Garvens technology to inspect its tin line. Up to 100 tins of chantarelles are weighed per minute. The S3 dynamic checkweigher offers an adjustable belt speed and can, therefore, easily and automatically adapt to the requirements of any production process.

The S3 is also used in conjunction with side-grip belts to offer optimum feed of the cans onto the weighing belt. Additionally, the S3 can be extended at any time and can be upgraded, for example, with automatic feedback control.

GTG2 Grinder Available For Helical/Spur Gears

The Holroyd gear and thread grinder (GTG2) is now available for the super precision grinding of helical/spur gears in diameters up to 350mm. According to the company, the machine meets a market need for ever-increasing accuracy of small-volume, high-precision gears in aerospace and high-performance automotive applications such as Formula 1, industrial optics and custom-designed industrial products.

Tony Bannan, chief operating officer for the Precision Technologies Group, the parent company of Holroyd and Jones and Shipman Precision, said: ‘The new machine draws on the technology and expertise gained by Jones and Shipman in designing and manufacturing precision creep-feed, surface and cylindrical grinding machines and combines it with the specialist helical tooth and thread profile grinding expertise of Holroyd.’ Using the advanced capabilities of the machine, customers can economically grind small batches of helical/spur gears to high levels of DIN- and AGMA-quality standards, according to the company.

This sort of performance is suitable for providing master gears, precision prototyping, timing gears for use in aerospace applications and helical gears for use in high-performance automotive gearboxes and oil pumps. Originally developed in collaboration with the Gear Design Unit at Newcastle University, the machine, which is designed, produced and marketed in the UK, carries several lifetimes of gear profile and grinding knowledge in the onboard software, making complex forms and advanced profile results from relatively simple operator controls.

A good example of the onboard intelligence is solving one of the major problems in helical gear manufacture: that of predicting actual stresses. This is said to be important because the more pressure on the gear teeth, the more risk there is of pitting (macro or micro) and eventual gear failure. This problem is addressed with stress prediction software, which was developed by Holroyd engineers and enables the machine to optimise gear design, with profile and lead modifications to achieve the optimum contact conditions for low noise and high strength.

CNC Heads Installs XYZ Mini Mill 560 VMC

CNC Heads has invested in a Mini Mill 560 compact vertical machining centre (VMC) from XYZ Machine Tools, which has resulted in reductions in production times and a competitive pricing structure. Gas flowing and modifying a cylinder head can be a time-consuming and expensive task. The manufacturing process begins with the scanning of a fully developed and flow-tested cylinder head. This information is then used to generate a machine code for all cylinders, ensuring that they are all identical.

The code is then used to machine the valve throats, chambers and ports via the recently installed Mini Mill 560. Alastair Heywood of CNC Heads said: ‘Each cylinder head type is optimised once and the digital data used to replicate the design exactly, with the more popular types machined in batches. ‘CNC technology means that, once you have machined the first optimised head, the next one will be machined in a much shorter time and will be identical to the original modified head,’ he added.

The decision to install the XYZ Mini Mill 560 was prompted by a requirement to re-manufacture V12 cylinder heads for a historic race engine, which presented a problem when it came to machining the two end faces. Heywood said: ‘XYZ initially suggested inserting a riser block to provide the additional 150mm daylight between table and spindle needed to be able to machine these faces. ‘However, XYZ then chose to redesign the machine’s base casting, so the Mini Mill 560 installed in late 2008 does have an extended Z axis and came complete with bespoke, rather than modified, guarding,’ he added.

The concept behind the XYZ Mini Mill 560 is a compact VMC configuration capable of machining a range of components within a small machine footprint. A 560mm (X) x 400mm (Y) x 500mm (650mm optional) (Z) working envelope is contained within a 2,000mm (width) x 2,060mm (depth) footprint. The standard machine weighs 3,100kg, with its Meehanite-ribbed cast-iron construction ensuring that full use can be made of the 15hp (11kW)/8,000rev/min (12,000rev/min optional) BT 40 spindle.

Induction-hardened and ground-box ways are Turcite-B coated to ensure smooth operation at axis travel rates up to 20m/min and the XYZ Mini Mill 560 is equipped as standard with 12-station tool-changer holding tools up to 100mm in diameter.

Strongarm Improves Filling Speed And Accuracy

Exol Lubricants has selected Filling Solutions of Nottingham to solve a filling and manual handling issue. The Strongarm solution enables Exol to meter blended oil from more than 80 storage tanks more accurately and consistently into containers. It has also overcome the manual handling difficulties involved with using hand valves, pumps and metering equipment for each tank.

The two tailor-made automatic mobile machines are identical and consist of an inverter-controlled pump, a special ‘Filsol’ valve arrangement, an Endress and Hauser Proline Promass 40 Coriolis mass flow measuring system, together with all necessary hoses. Once delivered, all that was needed in order to put these machines into use was the connection of an electrical supply and air line. Both machines are mobile and have a small footprint when not in use of less than 1.5m2.

‘The Strongarm filler has freed up one operator to do other work, the equipment is very easy to use, the operator requires the minimum of training and the accuracy of the fill is so good that we have eliminated overfills, which saves us cost,’ said Alec Taylor, the transport and maintenance manager at Exol’s Birmingham factory. Although Exol’s smallest container is 25 litres, the Strongarm will fill oil products with a wide variety of viscosities and specific gravities into containers ranging in size from 10 litres up to one tonne.

The accuracy is within 20g and the repeatability is said to be excellent. There is no weighing platform – the containers can be filled anywhere within the range of the 2m plus filling arm. The stainless-steel construction incorporates fail-safe valves and the amount of air consumed is very low.

PoE Controller Delivers More Than 90% Efficiency

Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) controller for 13W or 26W-powered device (PD) applications, such as IP phones, wireless access points or security cameras. Fully compliant to the IEEE 802.3at draft 4.0 standard, the integrated TPS23754 supports DC/DC converter topologies that can achieve more than 90 per cent power conversion efficiency, which reduces heat and increases reliability of the system. The single-chip PoE solution uses a 100V manufacturing process to provide a robust solution in a 13W or 26W design.

Along with the TPS23754, TI is sampling the TPS23756 to support auxiliary input voltages as low as 12V, allowing a PoE designer to use popular, inexpensive 12V wall adapters. Additionally, the TPS23757 will support 13W and below applications requiring higher-efficiency DC/DC topologies. Key features include: auxiliary driver with programmable dead-time; PD controller that supports up to 825mA continuous current; power source selection priority; current and inrush limit; and a 100V monolithic SOI process. The device supports high-efficiency isolated flyback and forward DC/DC converter topologies, plus external, local power sources with or without PoE power present.

A PD front end protects against current inrush and short circuits and it can withstand voltage surges up to 100V at the IC. The TPS23754 is available now in a HTSSOP-20 package. Both the TPS23756 and TPS23757 will be available in the third quarter.

Ecocontact Quickly Makes Photovoltaic Modules

ACI-Ecotec has developed Ecocontact, which can automatically make a thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module in less than 40 seconds. Ecocontact can apply small pieces of adhesive tape for attaching bus bars – helping to save up to EUR100000(GBP89000) a year in adhesive materials. Because of the large capital-expenditure involved, production systems for thin-film photovoltaic modules must operate as efficiently as possible. And that is where Ecocontact comes in.

Ecocontact comprises standard components for applying conductive adhesives, longitudinal and lateral contacting and soldering bus bars, in accordance with the corresponding production technology. These components can be combined in a flexible way to manufacture all common thin-film module sizes. The substrates are transported and precisely positioned using a multi-lane conveyor belt. The patented Ecocontact system is already being used in more than ten factories for thin-film PV modules.

The conductive adhesive is applied via two dispensing heads at speeds of between 40 and 70mm per second, with ongoing monitoring of the needles. Any bumps or irregularities in the surface of the glass plate are automatically levelled out. Thanks to the controlled, high-precision application, only around one gram of adhesive is required for a substrate that is 1300 to 1400mm long. Because the CNC heads operate autonomously, the position, length and distance between the adhesive strips can be programmed flexibly.

This enables the application of more than two adhesive strips without modifications. Following application of the conductive adhesive, the substrate is automatically indexed and aligned for longitudinal contacting. The tin-plated bus bar is applied using reels holding up to 380mm of material, minimising downtime caused by changeovers. To maintain the required tension between the continuously spinning reel and cyclical application of the bus bar, the system has an integrated bobbin.

This detects if there is insufficient bus bar left on the reel and stops the machine automatically, minimising substrate waste. To prevent the bus bar from breaking loose until the adhesive has cured at more than 100C in the laminator, it is fixed with specially designed adhesive tape. In conventional contacting, this tape is applied along the entire length of the bus bar. However, ACI-Ecotec automatically cuts small pieces of tape from the roll, removes them from their backing and sticks them onto the bus bar at predefined points.

This can save up to EUR100,000 a year and increase system availability. Exactly the same technology is used for lateral contacting. Afterwards, at a different workstation, the bus bar contacts are soldered together and their ends turned upwards or downwards, in accordance with the customer’s specifications. The glass cover can optionally be applied automatically.

Like the adhesive-dispensing station, the standard components for longitudinal and lateral contacting are fitted with two autonomous CNC units for attaching the bus bar. ACI-Ecotec allows production to continue while maintenance work is being performed on one of the dispensing heads or application components. Each Ecocontact module is based on a stable steel structure with an integrated switchgear cabinet. As well as saving space, this design enables rapid implementation of the contacting system.

LMS Test.Xpress Simplifies ISO Certification

LMS has extended its Test.Xpress ISO-certification testing product so that it supports the widest range of ISO standards for noise and vibrations. LMS Test.Xpress is easy-to-use and complies with ISO-processes. It provides a completely automated procedure, from measurement to reporting.

The integrated noise and vibration analyser and the extensive built-in ISO standards offer straightforward and accurate certification and help engineers cut testing time in half. LMS Test.Xpress presents comprehensive solutions for all kinds of ISO testing related to operator safety, vibration comfort, environmental regulations and noise emissions. LMS Test.Xpress Human Body Vibration measures time signals according to ISO-required position and configuration.

The measurements are performed with the proper ISO 2631 time domain filters. LMS Test.Xpress Hand-Arm Vibration maps weighted RMS values to deduce compliance with ISO 5349, ISO 8662 and ISO 15744. With LMS Test.Xpress Whole Body Vibration, weighted RMS values are crosschecked with ISO 2631-prescribed norms or with limits specified in the European directive for vibration measurements (2002/44/EC).

LMS Test.Xpress further supports sound power measurement in free-field conditions, semi-anechoic and reverberant rooms according to ISO 3741, ISO 3744, ISO 3745 and ISO 3746 standards. The measurements can be used to qualify for compliance with the 2000/14/EC directive for outdoor equipment, the ISO 7779 standard for computer and business equipment and the ISO 6395 and ISO 6396 for earth-moving machinery under dynamic test conditions.

LMS Test.Xpress Sound Intensity determines sound power levels according to the ISO 9614 standard. The test supports discrete point (ISO 9614-1) and scanning (ISO 9614-2) measurement techniques. It is designed as a step-by-step guided procedure. Looking at the same data on a source-localisation map and adding a digital image of the test object provides immediate feedback on noise-source location.

The Unicom 8000 complete machining centre for combined turning and milling operations will be exhibited at Unisign’s Demo Days on Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 June in the Netherlands. Due to the combination of a large working envelope and the machine’s capabilities for milling and turning operations, plus a multitude of available configurations, the Unicom 8000 is expected to attract interest from a wide range of markets.

As an example, it will be used by Habets to produce planetary gear carriers for a windmill supplier. The Unicom 8000 is equipped with a pallet changer to produce components with a swing circle of up to 3000mm in diameter. Features of the machine include flexibility, speed, power, precision, reliability and serviceability.

The machine has the following characteristics: X = 3600mm, Y = 3300mm, Z = 1600mm; height below bridge of 2300mm and width between columns of 3000mm; rotating pallet changer; four pallets, two 2000mm diameter and two 2500mm diameter; powerful carousel turning station, 95kW, 250rev/min; main spindle, 42kW, 6,000rev/min; turning tool adaptor; vertical spindle, right angular spindle, extension spindle and special milling head with offset spindle; 139 tool pockets HSK 100 A; and full enclosure guarding with fume extraction.

At the Demo Days, visitors will be able to see the Unicom 6000 (swing circle up to 2000mm diameter) and the Uniport 7 with carousel turning station (swing circle up to 4000mm diameter). Unisign also offers a complete range of high-precision machining centres that can be seen in its production and assembly department.

LMT Tool Combines Hobbing And Deburring

LMT’s Fette division has developed a combination hobbing and deburring tool for gear cutting. The tool enables the functions of a roughing hob, the deburring of the top and bottom flanks of each tooth and the finishing of the gear into a single operation. Available through LMT (UK), Coventry, the multi-functional twist-free hob enables finished spur and helical gears to be completed in a single hobbing operation using a standard CNC hobbing machine with each of the cutters mounted on a single arbour.

The tool system, which was developed in conjunction with Liebherr Verzahntechnik, eliminates tooth flank ‘twisting’ or convexity error, one of the major drawbacks when hobbing helical gears that creates the need for correction and separate finishing operations. The system also improves production lead time by combining separate operations into one as well as any requirement for special finishing tooling. It contributes to smoother running of the gear as well as helping to reduce transmission noise.

A single arbour carries the assembly of cutters comprising the roughing hob, two chamfer/deburring cutters and the finishing hob – each separated by spacers. This arrangement provides flexibility when specifying the productive cutters and settings for effective metal removal, enabling choice of threads, gashes, tooth design, cutter material and surface coating. In addition, it enables the final finishing cutter to be selected to precisely meet the design profile and finishing requirement specification for the gear.

During the hobbing operation, the tooling system allows the hob head of the machine to be programmed to swivel to different angles for roughing, deburring/chamfering and finishing. This ensures the lead and helix angles are correct for the individual hobbing cutters while still maintaining the appropriate lead angle for deburring and chamfering the roots and side edges of each flank of the gear tooth. In developing the tool, LMT was also able to blend a gradient change into the pressure angle of the finish hob, which creates a ‘corrected’ tooth profile at the bottom of the gear tooth that is different to the top.

When the finish hob is engaged in the cut, a diagonal axis feed under CNC control compensates for and eliminates any tendency to create twist in the tooth. As a result, especially on helical gears, by eliminating twist from the hobbing process, additional operations such as shaving to correct the convexity error are no longer required.