NEWS | MAY 2021
KRISTIAN ELECTRIC INSTALLS OVERHEAD LIFTING FOR ALUMINUM-BATCH OVEN
K
ristian Electric has installed an overhead lifting system to handle bundles of aluminum for a Calgary manufacturing
facility, which wanted to expand production with an aluminum-aging batch oven. As this was an expansion of an existing
production facility, the team at Kristian was asked to find a crane that would fit amongst its existing machinery and once the structural installation was complete, it outfitted the crane system with two Demag DC-Pro electric chain hoists. Workstation cranes can be installed beneath and around obstacles; featuring a pre-engineered modular design, which can be expanded and relocated to any work area. Because of these adaptable features, Kristian selected a Gorbel freestanding workstation crane to fulfil the customer’s specific needs. Columns are the ‘legs’ of the
workstation bridge crane; anchored to the floor for support. Traditionally these legs are uniformly spaced to evenly displace the load-bearing weight, but Kristian had to find an alternative solution to accommodate the facility’s existing equipment.
“All three column spacings were
different to fit around the equipment. One end was 25’ centre, the middle was 37’ centre, and the other end was 35’ centre,” said Wayne Raber, project coordinator, Kristian Electric. The staggered placement allowed the
crane system to safely stand among the pre-existing fixtures without conceding any floor coverage. Additional to the floor space
constraints, the customer required an overhead lifting system that could be retrofitted to its customized lifting frame. The aluminum-bundle lifting frame was designed with two lifting points which could be manipulated evenly or incongruently. This variance was achieved with the inclusion of not one – but three – bridge beams. The outer two beams, rated at 2,000lbs
each, would sustain both hoists, the custom lifting frame, and the load. The centre beam, rated at a mere 100lbs, was specifically included to bear the tractor drives motorizing both the trolley and bridges. Not only did this modification line up perfectly with the customer’s lifting frame; it also allowed the crane to utilize the full distance of the runways.
www.hoistmagazine.com | May 2021 | 15 “On most systems there is only one
bridge,” added Raber. “The tractor drive is on one side or the other of each end truck. Incorporating a third centre bridge for the tractor drive allowed us to provide as much bridge travel as possible.
“The hoists, trolley drive, and bridge
drive were set up with a radio remote control system. The operator could select Hoist A, Hoist B, or both, so [the custom lifting frame] could be levelled if they were not synchronized.” ●
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