EoW January 2013

News Technology

A clean business: Development project for pellet inspection

The iiM software ProCable is a compact CAQ system – especially developed for the requirements of cable producers. With the CAQ system ProCable test plans can be developed, orders administrated and the received test results can be archived with corresponding additional information into the databases. ProCable generates a list of results from the measurements according to the applied test plans. Afterwards the test results are deposited, structured and accurate. ProCable adapts test results with the test plans. Possible exceeding of tolerance limits will be shown to the user at once who can then repeat the measurement or be forced to comment the exceptional circumstances. iiM AG – Germany Website : www.iimag.de CAQ-system l ProCable l especially for l producers

The cleanliness of PE material is gaining in importance at higher cable voltage classes. In particular, alternative wind energy generation in the off-shore area requires a cable network with the minimum number of joints. In order to achieve this goal, long production cycles should be run. Where production lines formerly ran from Monday to Saturday, now a continuous production run of 10 to 20 days is common. Long production cycles are achieved, for example, by leaving out the screens before the crosshead in order to ensure a constant material flow. However, the manufacture without screens also results in contaminations passing directly into the cable insulation rather than being caught. Hence there is the need for other measures to detect possible contamination in the pellet and to remove them. A special challenge is the contaminated pellet itself. Contaminations are most often not only on the pellet surface, but they are also melted down in the pellet. By means of optical testing systems these contaminations cannot be detected. That is the reason why Sikora is currently developing a completely new system that differs in two ways from existing but flawed solutions: The Sikora system is based on X-ray technology and detects

also contaminations in the pellet. The smallest detectable particle size is 50μm, at a throughput of up to 500kg/h. Higher throughputs are possible by installing several units in parallel. In addition, the pellet inspection is installed directly in the joint tube between the silo/octabin and the extruder. The system is consequently hermetically sealed and there is zero risk that dust particles get into the material flow. The Sikora solution for pellet inspection is perfectly suitable for both manufacturers of energy cables and pellet manufacturers within the plastics industry. Sikora AG – Germany Website : www.sikora.net ▲ ▲ Sikora’s development project “Pellet Inspection” ensures flawless pellets before starting production

While some spring manufacturers struggle with the complex shape of double torsion springs, William Hughes has invested in the latest CNC technology machines to fully automate the production process. For many applications, double torsion springs perform better than single and as a result, they are widely used in the automotive industry. Typical applications include door handles, seat adjustment mechanisms and console lids. When a manufacturer of seat and car interior parts needed a double torsion spring for the door handles of a popular small car, it approached William Hughes as one of its preferred suppliers. The application engineers at William Hughes used their knowledge and expertise to design the spring to meet the exacting specification of the car manufacturer, whilst ensuring that the spring would be easy to manufacture using its CNC machinery. The spring is used inside the car to return the handle to its normal position and is specially designed to make assembly into the car mechanism easy. Despite the complex shape of the central section of the double torsion spring, very little tooling was required. By making the spring in two fully automated stages, the difficult central section was easily formed to provide a spring that is compact, cost effective and which encompasses the right performance characteristics and durability. The final stage of the process is to finish and protect the springs using an organic and environmentally friendly anti-corrosion paint containing zinc flake. William Hughes Ltd – UK Website : www.wmhughes.co.uk

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January 2013