MONORAIL CRANES
areas and loading zones, for example, for complete flexibility in moving a product. Dan Upton dubs this the “best of both worlds”. “And all of this is reasonably affordable nowadays. If you already have a reasonably modern motorised system that is pendant or radio-controlled, the drive motors will be variable frequency drive inverters; you can very easily and economically convert that to fully automatic. The complexity comes in the control panel or PLC, which with a few sensors is all you have to add, and you can make that as complicated or as simple as it needs to be for the operation you have in mind. All you really have to do is plug in the software.”
Keeping things efficient A lot depends on the application, explains Dan Upton. “If somebody wants something automated, there is generally a reason for it: either they have to lift the load over something – a walkway or another conveyor, perhaps – or it is something generally quite big that they are moving. And people think, ‘Oh, it is motorised, it is automated, it is going to be quicker.’ But, most of the time, there is a grey area where manual cranes will be as fast as the automated system.” This is true especially for lighter loads, says Dan Upton, as generally there is a 1% force-to-load ratio for these systems when pushing a trolley. Pushing
with a hundredth of the weight of the load means that anything up to 2t can be moved manually by the operator with ease. “Often, you are using electronic automated systems for safety as much as anything else. You don’t want to get too close to a large load, and you don’t want to accompany a load into a hazardous area. “More often than not, customers come
to us with automation projects wanting the full-singing, full-dancing solution and it ends up somewhere in between, with elements of fully powered and automated and elements of manual. It is all about working out what is most efficient.”
Monorails offer low headroom.
34 | September 2025 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55
