Machine Building

How additive manufacturing can boost machine reliability

Companies that rely on machines are continually seeking new ways to improve reliability and reduce operational costs. Neil Burns, director of Croft Additive Manufacturing, looks at how the manufacture of small components, such as filters, can play a significant role in improving operational efficiency and why machine builders should be taking advantage.

19th July 2016

Principles and applications of the axial piston pump

Throughout the industrial workplace, hydraulic pumps provide a great deal of motive power, efficiently translating the rotary motion of a prime mover into hydraulic oil flow that can be easily routed and used for a vast range of tasks. One of the most common hydraulic pumps is the axial piston pump, which is used in many industrial applications as well as off-highway and mining. Jim Cairney, Engineering Manager at Oilgear in the UK, explains the principles and applications of the axial piston pump.

15th July 2016

Retrofit safety using innovative control valves

The food and beverage industry has embraced automation - partly due to the necessity of reducing production costs, but also to help meet food safety standards and personnel safety legislation. By taking a modular approach to automation, plant owners can gradually introduce new technologies and expand the number of automated processes, in order to maintain productivity and keep up with the latest safety legislation.

14th July 2016

Brexit implications for machine safety standards and regulations

Steve Allen CMSE, a Member of UK standards committee BSI MCE/3 (Safeguarding of machinery), a Certified Machinery Safety Expert and National Sales Manager of Procter Machine Safety, explains the implications of various Brexit scenarios for machinery safety standards and regulations in the UK.

8th July 2016

Dispelling the myths surrounding linear guidance systems

Many engineers are comfortable with rotary bearing technology but view linear as complicated and over-engineered with complex maintenance requirements. Bob Love, Business Development Manager at Schaeffler UK dispels the common myths about linear bearing technology.

8th July 2016

Maximising heat exchange efficiency reduces costs

A heat exchanger is simply a device for transferring heat from one fluid or gas to another. Yet choosing the best suited heat exchanger for a particular application is not that simple and requires the supplier to fully understand your process and products so that the system delivers optimum performance throughout its working life.

7th July 2016

OSHA and collaborative robots in the automotive industry

Prior to the Next-Generation Collaborative Robots & Automation Technologies 2016 conference (August 17-18, Detroit), the organisers have published an interview with Matt Epperson, a Compliance Safety and Health Officer at OSHA's Department of Labor, who will be speaking at the event.

6th July 2016

A comparison of blue and red laser triangulation sensors

Although red laser triangulation displacement sensors have been in use for more than 20 years, blue laser versions are also now available. Before selecting which colour to use, it is important to understand which type performs best on which target materials, says Chris Jones, Managing Director at Micro-Epsilon UK.

6th July 2016

Everyday ergonomics: metrology for the modern market

If you ever stay at the Grand Hyatt hotel in San Francisco, don't be alarmed to receive a note from the staff advising you that the 35-story skyscraper may creak and sway in the wind. Even Dubai's mountainous Burj Khalifa, weighing half a million tonnes, can flex back and forth by 2 metres at its 2717-foot peak. Everything in our world is flexible and even the largest of structures are susceptible to force. Here, John Cove, marketing manager at Starrett, explores the importance of force measurement testing and the role accuracy plays in product development.

6th July 2016

Lee Spring provides customer assist service to UK manufacturing

Across applications from engines to vehicle trim, kids toys to sophisticated medical devices and sensitive instrumentation to valves of many types, the Lee Spring capability to quickly create application-specific springs and spring components such as fourslide parts is putting a spring in the step of UK manufacturing industry.

6th July 2016