Industry solutions

Thanks to a new ROTOMAX® load turning device, the Fronberg guss company of Schwandorf in the Upper palatinate was able to considerably simplify its handling of heavy moulding boxes.

Heavy moulding boxes with a deadweight of up to 50 tons - it is hardly imaginable that such monsters can be rotated once around their own axis while hanging freely. Jürgen Rath, production ma-nager at Fronberg Guss, is also appropriately impressed. Special endless chains are used for the rotating process using the ROTOMAX® load turning device. These are equipped with a driving dog which engages with a trunnion on the moulding boxes, and thereby prevents the chains from slipping through.

However, the ROTOMAX® load turning device is not only used for turning moulding boxes, but also for lifting considerably heavier loads: The device can lift up to 80 tons in its function as a lifting beam. For this purpose, different chains are used.

The drive wheel distance of the ROTOMAX® load turning devices is adjustable between 2,500 and 7,200 mm, so that boxes of different sizes can be handled.The load‘s centre of gravity is automatically compensated by parallel travel of the drive units, so that the load is balanced at all times. A member of staff uses a remote control to navigate the impressive process at a safe  distance. „The equipment is a great boon to us, because  the working process and safety at work  have been considerably improved,“ concludes Jürgen Rath.

The foundry Meuselwitz Guss in Thuringia / Germany is using a novel beam developed by VETTER for the handling of casting weights.

In the production process of a foundry, casting moulds need to be weighted. These moulds with a height of up to 10 m stand in a pit for the casting operation. Covers are placed on the moulds for closing them. In order to ensure that they stay on the mould when casting, they are weighted with up to 300 tons. In the past, this process was time consuming and hazardous because handling of the individual weights (21 and 42 tons) is quite difficult.

The new beam facilitates this process and makes it safer: An overhead crane with special beam is positioned above the weights to be lifted. The beam is provided with hooks which hang from a slide and are marked with different colours (red for weights up to 21 tons, green for weights up to 42 tons). The pair of hooks which are currently not used are pulled in standby position by means of chains and secured. Now, the beam takes up the weight. In doing so, the two required hooks move together and are pulled into the recesses of the weight. Thanks to the adjustability of the hooks, diagonal pulling is avoided. In addition, a coloured lamp shows when the correct lifting position is reached. Then, the weight is safely lifted and positioned on the mould. Afterwards, the lifting beam is relieved and the hooks disengage from the recesses. This process is repeated until the required number of weights are positioned on the mould. Now, the preparations for successful casting are completed.

The operator estimates that the simplified fastening operation connected with this special beam will result in about 30 to 40 % of time being saved for each casting operation. Moreover, this lifting beam contributes significantly to work safety.