COVER STORY ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
System with 10 x three-bearing, size 34 1-Trak movers. Food grade grease is released though Hepco’s integrated bleed lubrication facility ensuring that lubrication is constantly supplied. This means that the system does not need to be stopped at regular intervals for re-lubrication, reducing downtime and increasing machine efficiency. When the remotely located lubrication canister comes to the end of its life, it is simply replaced while the track system is still moving. A further point to note is that ball rails will
eventually purge any lubrication from within the block, leading to catastrophic failure if not re-lubricated regularly. The cost implications of a catastrophic failure is severe in terms of significant downtime, lost production, and cost of replacement parts and labour. Conversely, should the V guide maintenance be neglected, the system is capable of running dry, albeit at a limited duty, but will not critically fail in the same way that recirculating technology would.
SYSTEM LIFE Packaging applications are highly demanding, and an expected machine life of over 10 years is typical. In a relatively clean environment, it can be expected that linear systems within a typical packaging line will need replacing at least once during this period. When replacing a ball rail system, both the block and rail must be discarded even if the rail shows no sign of wear. This is because the block and rail are closely matched together, and cannot tolerate standard replacement component parts once the system has been worn in. Throwing away the entire system when only part of it is worn is not only expensive, but very wasteful and environmentally unfriendly. When a Hepco V guide system shows signs of
wear, the eccentric adjustment facility of the V bearings can be used to quickly and simply remove any play that has occurred. When the V bearings reach the end of their calculated life, they can be replaced individually, and not as an entire set, so perfectly good components do not have to be discarded unnecessarily.
REPLACING COMPONENTS If a component needs replacing, time is of the essence to minimize the downtime and the loss of production. An average Hepco GV3 carriage for example, can be changed in less than 10 minutes, compared to each ball rail system taking approximately 30 minutes. This time saving has an impact on not only the hourly maintenance costs, but also on the downtime costs, making the Hepco system far more attractive from a maintenance perspective.
Hepco’s GFX guidance for Beckhoff XTS provides a high speed, high volume, low maintenance packaging solution for the Kliklok ITC system
WASHDOWN In food production, cleanliness is paramount and frequent washdowns are a necessity. Some washdown processes use only water, but most use chemicals and detergents which present an additional challenge to the machinery components. Due to the frequent, high-pressure washing and sterilisation, stainless steel is the preferred material as it is able to withstand harsh and caustic washdown environments without corroding or oxidizing. One of the key benefits of Hepco’s V guide systems for those involved in food and beverage processing is that stainless steel is a standard choice. Hepco’s SL2 stainless steel linear guide is not priced as a 'special’ and not subject to long lead times. Furthermore, HepcoMotion provides a range of stainless steel and corrosion-resistant
elements that can be mixed and matched so that the optimum combination of hygiene, wear and performance can be achieved.
NOISE A final point to raise is that a V guide system running at high speed is comparatively quieter than a ball rail due to the minimal point contact and circular motion of the balls in the bearing. The re-circulating nature of the ball arrangement in a ball rail causes notable mechanical noise at high speeds. Packaging applications generally operate at high speeds where health & safety, and noise pollution are very serious considerations, so the noise level of the machine components are often an important factor. V guide technology has many design and
Hepco’s GFX guidance for
Beckhoff XTS is a highly versatile
product that is rapidly being adopted in the
packaging industry where users are looking to benefit from vastly improved production rates with the ability to make on the fly product changes
application benefits over traditional ball rail products that are particularly suited to the high speed, high volume and low maintenance food industry applications. With over 42 major product lines with thousands of individual components – including the SL2 stainless steel linear guide, PRT2 ring guide and track for circular motion, DTS driven track system and a wide range of belt driven and ball screw actuators, Hepco’s range of products can meet practically any food industry requirement. Hepco’s newest addition, the GFX Guidance System for Beckhoff XTS Transport System is rapidly being adopted in the packaging industry for applications where users are looking to benefit from vastly improved production rates with the ability to make on the fly product changes. V guides have proven to be highly effective
in hostile food industry environments and, when the longer term maintenance costs and reliability are considered, V guides offer a solution not often seen in other systems.
HepcoMotion T: 01884 257000
www.HepcoMotion.co.uk
DESIGN SOLUTIONS | APRIL 2019 17
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