Machine Building

Mixing silicones for facial and other prosthetics

The manufacture of a medical prosthetic device for a patient's face or similar area is a highly skilled job; each one is unique, and needs to be handled with great sensitivity, as both functional and cosmetic considerations are involved. It may require careful mixing and colour matching of a silicone moulding compound, with no air entrapment, to ensure appearance and consistency of structure. Jim Dimond, Consultant Clinical Maxillofacial Prosthetist at University Hospital Coventry, explained how the Thinky ARE-250 from Intertronics helped move from a lengthy, manual process requiring a skilled technician, to a short, reliable and automatic mixing process.

4th November 2016

Guided Operator Solutions enhance quality control process

The need to maximise quality, productivity and efficiency on production lines and in manual assembly cells is a challenge faced by much of manufacturing industry. It has been met at Mitsubishi Electric Air Conditioning Europe by employing Guided Operator Solutions from sister company Mitsubishi Electric, Factory Automation.

4th November 2016

Spanish winery raises a glass to Fanuc fleet

With the global taste for Spanish bubbly continuing to flourish, Freixenet - one of the country's leading producers and exporters of sparkling wine - this year toasts two decades of successful collaboration with FANUC and its yellow robots.

3rd November 2016

MVK Metal module enables rapid tool change for robots

Think about all the things that can be done in 1 second - the list is pretty short. Then cut that time in half. That is the amount of time it takes for a KUKA robot to change tools - made possible by the MVK Metal module from Murrelektronik.

2nd November 2016

Cube67 fieldbus system reduces setup time

Fluid Brasil, a subsidiary of the MANN+HUMMEL group, uses Murrelektronik's Cube67 fieldbus system in their drinking water filtration and wastewater treatment systems on disposal sites.

2nd November 2016

Lee restrictors keep the electricity on

During a recent refurbishment of the Allt na Lairige hydro-electric power station near Inverary in Scotland, the hydraulic control system was upgraded from the original low pressure system to a modern high pressure one. In-house designed multi-orifice restrictors were being used in the hydraulic actuators which operate the main water inlet valves, called spears, which are controlled by the governor to ensure that suitable control of the water jets to the turbines is ensured for all load conditions of the generator.

2nd November 2016

Amsterdam Airport Tulip shop sales grow with Grob screwjacks

Revenues have doubled at the House of Tulips flower shop at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, following its reconstruction as a "˜flying glasshouse' that rises up 3m or more to provide total access to the merchandise from all sides. The glasshouse lifts up in the morning at the start of business, then is lowered again at night to provide absolute security.

1st November 2016

Reliable high-speed torque limiters for performance test stands

Motor test stands and roller dynamometers in the automotive sector place maximum demands on drive systems. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the frequently expensive test pieces and the sensitive measurement units reliably from overload damages. With its EAS-HSC and EAS-HSE high-speed clutches, mayr power transmission has developed clutches specially tailored to the requirements of test stand technology. They convince users through high quality and provide reliable protection without influencing the measurement signals.

27th October 2016

Spring disentangling under clean room conditions

Respimat is a soft mist inhaler, manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim and used to treat patients with respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Essential to the packaging of this medication is a small spring whose actuation releases the metered dose.

26th October 2016

Movicon SCADA helps creamery generate power from cheese waste

A new anaerobic digestion plant built by Lake District Biogas at First Milk's Aspatria creamery site in Cumbria has been installed to generate bio-methane. It is producing over £3m per year in cost savings, while supplying up to 25 per cent of the creamery's energy requirements. Providing full control and visualisation of the system is a Movicon SCADA system provided by Products4Automation.

26th October 2016