NEWS | APRIL 2021


EUROTECH AND STOREMASTER DEVELOP LIFTING DEVICE FOR HEAVY-DUTY SHEET METAL


handling device for heavy-duty sheet metal storage facilities. Dieter Paul, owner, Storemaster,


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was looking for a lifting device, for his MasterTower warehouse, because the metal sheets needed to be stored quickly and securely, even high up by a single worker without a ladder.


urotech, vacuum, lifting and transport technology, has partnered with Storemaster, to develop a flat vacuum


He contacted Eurotech after seeing a lifting device from its eT-Hover range and it was customised in a flat format, 350 mm tall. It lifts small, medium-sized and large metal sheets with a size of up to 4x2 metres and a weight of up to 750 kg. It can also handle other vacuum- sealed panels made from wood, plastic, and stone using special suction plates. The operating functions of eT-Hover include; a thumb switch which initiates the upward and downward movement, a button which activates the suction and ventilation functions and an operating handle for the telescope arm, which can be bent in intervals of 22.5°, to an ergonomically operating position. This allows workers to reach the top drawer as well as the bottom drawer without bending over or hurting their back. “We are fit for the future. Thanks to


Eurotech, we rapidly realised the project we had envisaged. It saves us valuable time and a lot of money,” said Paul. The spiral cord running around the


lifting device serves two purposes: for its energy supply and control of the chain hoist. A chain guide inside the spiral cable prevents the chain and cable from becoming entangled. Eurotech equipped the device with a


vibrating function upon request from the customer; to separate oiled or adhesive double sheets and prevents accidents caused by the uncontrolled removal of double sheets. A vacuum pump with an integrated


non return valve, vacuum reservoir and two solenoid valves generates the vacuum. The device also has an aeration unit for fast detachment of the load. The lifting device is manufactured


to DIN EN 13155 standards. To prevent operating errors and hazards, it is equipped with a range of safety and warning systems: an integrated vacuum gauge with a red/green zone, a red and green signal light, an acoustic signal and a two-handed operating handle for the ventilation system. ●


CONDRA TO MANUFACTURE ITS FIRST SEAGOING CRANE


machine with power-to-motion conversion achieved through rack-and- pinion instead of pure friction. Delivery will take place soon after completion mid-year, ahead of shipboard installation and commissioning scheduled for November-December. The crane will be used for


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maintenance work on helicopters and other equipment within a deck- level workshop, where the 2 ton, 4 metre-span, double-girder electric overhead travelling machine will carry out its duties at sea as well as in port. Maintenance work will often be executed while the vessel is negotiating the Atlantic Ocean, notorious for its storms. The machine has to function while the ship is rolling or pitching through arcs of up to 30 degrees, or 15 degrees


ondra has recieved an order and begun production on its first seagoing crane, an overhead maintenance


either side of the vertical, an oscillation that would pose a challenge to conventionally designed long-travel and cross-travel movement, in which motor power is applied to steel wheels and the friction between wheel and girder produces motion.. To meet the design specification,


Condra replaced all wheels on the long- travel and cross-travel with rack-and- pinion arrangements for traction and stability as the ship moves about. Marc Kleiner, MD, Condra, said the design of the crane had proved interesting not only because of the need to use rack-and-pinion drives, but because of the tight installation parameters within the vessel’s workshop, where ventilation pipes impose limits on the available space, “The resulting design is an underslung


crane attached to the gantry beam rather than to the gantry columns. With the hoist sitting astride the underslung


www.hoistmagazine.com | April 2021 | 21


girders, we are able to give the customer the lifting height that he wants,” said Kleiner. “It will be a compact but very effective arrangement.” 440-volt three-phase motors will be


used to drive the pinions along their racks, maintaining a constant speed and countering the varying gravitational component while the vessel rolls and pitches. After delivery, Condra will carry out installation and commissioning in Durban towards the end of the year when the vessel returns to harbour. ●


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