Rigging equipment in stock and ready to go.
manufacturing of those graphite electrodes—is where I got involved.” Schiller was eventually approached in Colombia,
Tennessee, and asked to visit the Union Carbide corporate offices and take a look at some of their lifting equipment— which made sense, because he was already making the equipment inside of their manufacturing facilities. “So they felt like I had some experience there,” he added. “I eventually figured it out, and all of the lifting equipment you’ll see on our website, that’s where it started—primarily lifting and being able to maneuver the electrodes. I found that the steel makers were needing equipment to actually screw them together and torque them—these electrodes land anywhere from about ten inches in diameter up to thirty-two inches, and can weigh twenty-five thousand pounds. A thirty-two-inch electrode needs to be torqued to ten thousand foot-pounds. Te equipment that we designed is a hydraulic piece that spins that electrode and joins them with a final torque. What ended up happening there was that a couple of the basic components that we’d developed for the overall industry came together. A steel maker might say, well you make lifting equipment—do you make something to screw them together? I heard that more than a few times, and ultimately said to myself, I’ve got to figure that out.” Schiller currently holds a dozen patents for specialized equipment. One of those innovations is the CIS line of No Touch® tools that make up the complete No Touch® Electrode Addition System—a built-to-order complete electrode assembly station with eccentric locking device and internal gripping teeth to prevent rotation of the column during critical stages of the jointing process.
“North Star BlueScope, a steel company outside of
Toledo, Ohio, had me in one day—we helped them start up in 1996,” he explained. “Tey do electric steel production (recycled), and I was there one afternoon with the superintendent in the operating pulpit watching the furnace run. We’re watching them make an electrode addition—using equipment not of my design. Essentially, a worker was using a pipe wrench to screw his electrodes together, he lost his footing and fell backwards, and ended up with a permanent back injury. Te super turned to me and said, I don’t ever want to physically touch an electrode again—you’re the electrode-handling guy, so figure this out. Tat term, ‘no touch,’ came from that accident. It’s touchless equipment—and the industry is really heading that way. Not just steel, but anything related to safety. As a result, we’ve got some things in development that continue to focus on touchless.”
MEETING NEEDS Te Marine division at CIS has also picked up on the idea of “no touch” solutions to keep barge personnel safe. In fact, that mindset led to development of a unique solution to a challenge well beyond lifting and rigging. As Tom recounts, “I heard of a need with ‘draft’—which is how they measure how deep the barge is. It was actually being done with a stick and a tape measure. Not a good place to be, especially in winter. So, another patent we’ve applied for—is a product called ‘draft eye,’ which utilizes LiDAR light-sensing radar from the bank, looking at the barge in real time. We’ve got additional products in marine as well—more rigging related.”
30
SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2020
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
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