Driving down costs

One way to reduce energy bills is through fluid cooling devices, such as a new product from German company the Wittenstein group. The Wittenstein alphaCool Adapter Plate uses cooling technology to drastically reduce the heat generated by motor and gearbox connections, allowing the motor to achieve higher torque load and rpm, over a longer period of time. Miriam Metacalfe of Wittenstein says this allows the use of smaller motors, since it would achieve higher torques and speeds.

In the same vein, Wittenstein’s newest rotary servo actuator integrates a liquid cooling system. This allows the motor to work longer and live up to its name the TPM+ Endurance, which is designed for continuous duty applications: its compact motor is designed to have minimal down time. The actuator is available in sizes 010 and 050, with a maximum speed of 1,200 and 1,000 rotations/min respectively.

Of course, even constantly working machines are no good when being maintained, and this is where German-based WAGO Corporation’s new series comes into its own.

The system is compact and is said to shorten downtime and maintenance time for packaging machinery, which often places a heavy load on electrical connections. This reduces the valuable time lost in production power failures often caused by failed connections. It also cuts costs on preventative maintenance.

As always, the focus on drives and motors centres around the three tenets of cost, efficiency and performance. It is on these lines that the USA-based SEW Eurodrive developed its new DR motor series. There are several ways to customise the many drives, including coating and sealing options for wet environments or very high temperatures. What makes the series adaptable to the packaging industry is that the series also offers a variety of sensor and feedback options for speed, position and brake wear, which the company says is well suited for the ‘sophisticated electronic drive control systems found in packaging and logistics applications in many industries’. The series is also strongly geared towards energy efficiency and a reduced environmental impact.

In recognition of diverse demands for drive performances that range for short, high intensity runs, to long continuous runs at peak levels, German-based Baumuller has expanded its b maXX 4400 converter series to include the peak-load and rated-load devices of the 4600 and 4700 ranges. This development is said to allow for optimum performance over a continuous operation, or maximum performance over a short period of time. Like the Wittenstein device, the Baumuller series also possesses a water-cooling feature that reduces temperatures from the control cabinet, and a compact design that lowers the space requirement in the control cabinet and saves costs.

With new improvements to a popular line, ABB is hoping to help users do more with less. The company has re-jigged the IndustrialIT Extended Automation System 800xA series, releasing version 5.1 in July. The primary focus of the upgrades has been operator effectiveness and the ability to integrate diverse and complex systems as the demands of the packaging industry become more sophisticated.

This new system introduces advanced alarm management capabilities and can provide operations personnel with better control of responsibility between control rooms and other operating locations. The new release also helps operators co-ordinate better, and more safely, with a new ‘Point of Control’ feature that kicks in during critical periods such as shift change providing a safer, more secure operating environment. It allows simplified bulk data handling and the ‘Task Analysis Tool’ improves planning efficiency by allowing the operator to evaluate how his/her application will be executed based on the current task rates assigned before actually commencing any downloading.

All this cost saving aside, even post-recession companies still need maximum power from time to time. Swiss company maxon motors has released industrial versions of its RE 50 and RE 65, two DC motors, with output powers of 200 and 250 watts respectively. According to maxon, they achieve nominal torque of up to 0.9 Newton meters (Nm), nominal speeds of up to 5,500 rpm and an efficiency level of over 90%. To make the machines suitable for most environments, these powerful motors have been adapted to protect the drives against dirt and water, with the motor protected on the commutation side with a sealed aluminum housing.