See Our
Site Map
Aussi Disponible
en français
Return to Berlet's Home Page
A checklist of suitable tasks
History of radio remote technology
Radio vs
pendant/cab control
Time multiple shared & other control options
Our dealer list
Inquiry forms
How to request a formal quote
Come see our product range
E-mail
|
This mainly plant-related area is
where Berlet Electronics is best known for its technological excellence leading to many
exciting applications where productivity, safety and economy all have been improved.
 Whether we are talking about radio remote control for a single hoist servicing a
machine tool, or controlling the functions of multiple giant overhead bridge cranes in a
foundry or paper plant, Berlet offers the technology to get the job done right. Our
installations are fast and trouble free and our equipment is built to perform safely for
years and years — even in the most hostile environments.
Following are some brief case
studies of our applications for you to visit:
Pinpoint Precision For Heavy Equipment Manufacturer
Time Multiple Shared Technology At Aircraft Plant
Anti-Collision Systems Protect Plant Machinery
Key To Efficiency In Blanking, Stamping
Operations
‘Controlled Range Plus’ At
Automotive Plant
Successful Experiment By A Paper Manufacturer
A Natural Choice For Steel Service Centers
Structural
Steel Company Boosts Efficiency
Mining
Equipment Manufacturer Uses Radio Remote
Rebar
Coating Facility Reports Major Benefits
Anti-Collision Devices Work For Stacker Cranes
Outboard
Motor Plant Finds Success In Hoisting Process
Labor
Efficiency Improves For Paper Manufacturer
PINPOINT PRECISION
THROUGH STEPLESS CONTROL ACHIEVED BY HEAVY EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER
The benefits of radio remote control
are evident not just in terms of speed and accuracy but also in terms of load-handling
accuracy. One major manufacturer of heavy contruction equipment recently took advantage of
this feature by adapting two of its cranes to stepless control, then upgrading the radio
remote to the 10-K series.
 The controls on the two
80-foot-span cranes make it possible to swiftly and safely maneuver large engine
assemblies into and out of tightly confined noise-supressing test cells.
Operators find the transmitter to be comfortable, familiar and compatible with
their earlier radio remote systems. Thanks to the dynamic braking afforded by the stepless
motor controls, they also report fewer maintenance problems.
Enclosed in a lightweight aluminum case with concealed antenna, the transmitter
may be powered by either disposable battery packs or rechargeable cells.
At a major aircraft manufacturer’s plant, over
100 cranes operate on radio control without cross-interference, thanks to Time Multiple
Shared (TMS) technology. The result is increased throughput and flexibility in production,
painting, curing and transfer of parts to the kitting building.
 Three or four collocated remote radio
control systems ‘time share’ a single radio frequency channel. This means that
in a single facility, the company can operate more than 100 control receivers with fewer
than 50 transmitters on only 11 radio frequencies.
The heart of the system is software based on both "random" and
"demand" time division multiplexing techniques. Security of the system rests in
the use of unique crane bridge and hoist code plugs for initiating transmitter control.
First-come, first-serve protocol prevents two or more transmitters with identical code
plugs from controlling the master receiver.
ANTI-COLLISION
SYSTEMS WILL PREVENT MISHAPS WITH OTHER PLANT MACHINERY
When a machine tool manufacturer learned that a
collision in another company’s plant between an overhead crane and a piece of
equipment had caused $300,000 of damage, it determined to take precautionary action.
Thanks to the installation of an anti-collision system, the plant avoided the threat
effectively and economically.
The obstruction in the plant was a machining mill column. In its upward
position it extends directly into the travel path of two 77 foot-span overhead cranes. By
equipping the machining mill with a low-frequency transmitter, it can signal its presence
to the cranes. For their part, the cranes slow down and stop before impact but can move
off in the reverse direction at full speed.
More conventionally, Laser Anti-Collision devices by Berlet are used for
preventing cranes from colliding with each other. Cranes themselves can be operated with
any one of the Berlet ‘K’ series radio control devices independent of the
anti-collision system.
Radio control as opposed to conventional cab or
pendant control is essential to the efficient and highly productive operations of blanking
and stamping areas in plants, especially automotive plants. Today’s plants all run on
a just-in-time system so cranes must become an integral part of the process.
In stamping, for example, quality control and subsequent positioning may
be performed by an operator as he/she handles the coil in the course of running the crane
by radio. That’s where the flexibility of Berlet radio control helps the operator
perform several functions sequentially and even simultaneously.
At one Chrysler automotive plant, series 10-K remote radio-control systems
direct cranes in the performance of material handling, tooling changes and maintenance
procedures that relate to die sets and bolsters.
A typical die change takes less than 10 minutes, thanks to the cranes.
Radio control gives the operator the flexibility to quickly place the die sets and to
service the bolster (which holds the dies) on either side of the transfer press. It would
have been virtually impossible to service both sides with pendant control.
The die maintenance crane is also used on a continual basis, under radio
remote control. It handles dies in the wash area, opening and turning them 90 degrees
while they are steam cleaned. The heaviest dies weigh around 15 tons.
 An automotive stamping
plant demands constant worker attention to safety procedures. It runs round the clock and
requires continuous movement of large heavy metal dies into and out of high-speed presses
where fenders, door panels, hoods, bumpers and many other parts are formed and stamped.
At one Ford plant overhead cranes are used exclusively to perform these
tasks, all under radio remote control. Many of them have double hoists with lift
capacities to 50 tons. To maintain an excellent safety record, the plant has also
installed ‘Controlled Range Plus.’ This circle of safety automatically prevents
the operator from controlling the crane beyond a pre-determined safe distance from the
load.
A problem, however, was that powerful harmonics from an electronic
discharge machine (EDM) had the potential to cause interference. The threat was solved by
the use of the ‘Controlled Range Plus’ auto bypass option. It recognizes the
harmonics and automatically permits normal crane operation regardless.
EXPERIMENT WITH
RADIO REMOTE CONTROL MAKES THIS PAPER MAKER
A TRUE BELIEVER
One paper maker retrofitted two overhead bridge
cranes with Series 8-K radio remote controls as an experiment. A few years later it
installed the technology on eight new cranes in a major expansion project involving two
plants.
The eight cranes consist of three 50-ton process cranes on runways up to
480 feet long and 92 feet wide, and five maintenance cranes for maneuvering equipment
during shutdowns.
Radio control allows the operator to get the best line of sight possible
for both kinds of operations. It is particularly important at a rewind station (where big
rolls are rewound into smaller rolls) because loads are then transported to several
different pieces of equipment located at different levels, including a mezzanine.
The papermaker says that now it is familiar with radio-control operation,
it will install the technology on all new cranes.
When you see operators clambering over piles of
steel trying to manipulate both loads and a heavy crane pendant, you know there must be an
easier way! The easier way is with Berlet radio remote control, especially a system such
as the 10-K with its lightweight transmitter that may even be carried around on a belt or
in its own belly pack.
At one large industrial service center where they move tons and tons of
plate, bar, coil, pipes and more, the 10-K system makes light of overhead handling by many
of the more than 70 overhead cranes.
The transmitter weighs under two pounds and the crane-mounted receiver
itself is just 18" by 18" by 7". Despite its small size, the transmitter is
extremely rugged and easily withstands constant use and being dropped a couple of times a
day.
The 10-K system can be set up in as little as 3 hours. It can be quickly
programmed in the field for most hoist control speeds simply by flipping a dip switch in
the transmitter. The steel service center also makes use of the Time Multiple Sharing
system to control up to four cranes on a single frequency.
STRUCTURAL STEEL
COMPANY MAKES BIG BOOST IN HANDLING EFFICIENCY
A structural steel company reports a 40% increase in
shop productivity by switching from wired pendant control of a 5-ton underhung crane to
radio remote control. The radio replaces a bulky pendant and cord with a lightweight,
hand-held transmitter.
The plant uses a ‘dog’ (beam clamp) to pick up beams up to 60
feet long, a job which used to take two persons to balance the beams on pendant. Now, one
person can do the job more efficiently.
Other times, on pendant, when the crane was operated by a single operator,
there were times when he had to walk all the way round the 60-foot beam to facilitate
placement of the load. Also, the operator used to be confined to a position near the load:
now that person has the freedom to operate the crane from the best and safest position.
MINING EQUIPMENT
MANUFACTURER USES RADIO REMOTE THROUGHOUT
A major manufacturer of mineral processing equipment
for international mining sites now uses radio remote control for every crane in its
200,000-square foot facility, from raw materials handling to truck loading for shipment to
the customer.
The manufacturer has progressed from the Berlet Series 8-K to the Series
10-K with Time Multiple Sharing (TMS). This technology permits control of up to 4 cranes
on a single frequency, and allows many different ones to operate in close quarters without
cross-interference.
Manufacturing begins with punching, cutting, drilling and welding. During
each step radio remote control is used for the precise movement of parts. There are no
crane operators as such: everyone is a crane operator. Whenever workers need a crane
movement, they get the hand-held control and do it themselves — it’s that
simple!
The technology has made a big impact in the machine shop too. Large pieces
of plate and bar steel must be positioned onto lathes and machining centers. Radio control
accomplishes this more efficiently and safely because operators don’t have to worry
about where the pendant wire is located when loading a machine. They also have more
control over the part.
Plant management is very satisfied with the reliability and durability of
the technology, including the hand-held controllers, which have stood up to heavy-duty use
even better than expected. Laser anti-collision technology is also under consideration for
the plant.
REBAR COATING
FACILITY REPORTS MAJOR BENEFITS
A major rebar coating facility reports the following advantages of the
Series 10-K radio remote technology for the cranes at its facility:
Pendant control requires two persons for many lifts. Radio lets one
person do the same lifts, and do them better.
On pendant, a lot of time was wasted walking back and forth to get to
the spot where the pendant could be operated. Sometimes the operator had to climb over
stuff to hang onto the pendant. Now, the operator has the freedom to be where best to
handle the load.
On pendant, an operator was sometimes forced into awkward moves in tight
areas, even right under the load. Radio lets the operator take the safest path on the
floor.
Just having a pendant hanging down is a hazard in itself, both to
personnel and the pendant.
Crane operators are working all the time: the radio makes their job
easier. At peak periods when there are temporary workers, they can learn radio operation
much faster than pendant control.
Some automated storage systems call for more than
one stacker crane to operate in an aisle, which demands foolproof anti-collision methods.
Berlet makes this possible through the application of 14-K Laser Anti-Collision
technology. One food manufacturer uses the technology to ensure manned stacker cranes
don’t collide in 420 foot-long aisles where they travel at speeds to 525 fpm.
The transmitter on each crane sends a signal to any other in the same
aisle. Three separate output relays are wired to override the onboard directional and
speed controls, one for each predetermined set distance.
At the furthest distance (100 feet) the Anti-Collision technology sounds a
warning alarm. At the middle distance, the technology automatically slows the crane down.
At the nearest distance (10 feet), it brings the crane to a halt, using the crane’s
installed electric brakes.
The technology can be installed on any number of cranes without
cross-interference and includes built-in monitoring and an alarm in case of internal
failure. It requires minimal maintenance.
OUTBOARD MOTOR PLANT
FINDS SUCCESS IN HOISTING PROCESS
A plant that finishes outboard motor engine castings
and fits them with componentry now uses the 10-K series for overhead hoists in the
process. One of the functions at the plant is to treat the castings via an 11-stage
conversion and coating process, where an Allen Bradley PLC (programmable logic controller)
controls a 700 foot-long closed-loop monorail.
 The monorail is
equipped with 10 Electro Lift Hoists mounted on a track 12 feet above the plant floor.
They were originally fitted with pendant controls to facilitate overriding of the PLC for
loading, unloading or bypassing one of the conversion stages. It was an awkward operation
that included the need to hook the pendant down with an 8-foot metal rod.
Now, all 10 of the hoists are controlled by a single Series 10-K
transmitter. By using the 10-K’s thumb-wheel switches, an operator can dial up any
individual hoist. Once a hoist is selected, the operator removes it from PLC control via a
manual toggle switch, then lowers or raises it with the ‘down’ or ‘up’
toggle switch. The hoist is then returned to PLC control. Up to 1000 hoists could be
controlled this way using Berlet technology.
LABOR EFFICIENCY
GETS BIG BOOST AT PAPER MANUFACTURER’S PLANT
When the rolls on a paper-making machine needed to
be lifted several times a day for repairs, this manufacturer relied on a 35-ton overhead
cab-controlled crane, with one operator aloft and two on the ground giving directions.
Conditions at the plant are not pleasant 40 feet up because steam from the
paper drying process raises the temperature there up to 43C (110F). The company decided to
switch to a radio remote control system to utilize manpower better and improve working
conditions.
A number of safety features are incorporated in the system. A warning
alarm on the crane can be activated if necessary to warn workers of crane motion. Crane
power can be turned on only after six conditions are met by the radio’s microcomputer
that safe reliable communications have been established.
The radio remote system reduces crewing requirements from three to two
persons per crane, and uncomfortable crane cab conditions leading to lost work time are a
thing of the past. Installation of the entire system took less than two days.
OVERHEAD CRANES & HOISTS
RAIL YARD & TRACK
LOAD HAUL DUMP EQUIPMENT
TELEREMOTE ASSISTED MINING
ROTARY COAL DUMPERS
SHIP LOADING & UNLOADING
INTERMODAL FREIGHT TERMINALS
TRUCK-MOUNTED CRANES
Top of this page
|