WCA January 2009

news

Marta modular system MARTA system is a fully automated two-axis welding machine, manufactured by the Italian company GEM, in sizes up to 4,800 x 1,500mm. The rigid machined frame ensures high accuracy, absence of vibrations during working and resistance to external stresses. The modular design meets individual requirements and improves manufacturing flexibility for frequent product changes. The welding gun is of the C type, with two opposed cylinders in the standard version, fitted with electrode bars in order to weld several crosses at the same time. The machine can be fitted with a rotary welding head to follow irregular shapes, and a lower NC axis for changing the electrode height so that it is possible to weld components with different working levels. The C gun can have more cylinders, working individually or two by two. The electrodes can be mounted at 90° or side by side, in order to speed up the production. A medium frequency inverter (1,000 Hz) is available on request for high welding quality. The steel linear slides are of the re-circulating ball type while a Siemens brushless motor coupled with pinion and precision rack provides the system drive.

The MARTA system from GEM m m

The machine is fitted with two working stations, side by side. This system increases the productivity of each operator as the machine welds while the operator unloads/reloads. The constant current welding control will store up to 63 different welding programs. The CNC is connected to an ergonomic terminal, which is used to manually operate the machine, especially for the teach-in programming. A fixed guard protects the working area, while the loading/ unloading station is fitted with a double photoelectric cell barrier.

GEM Srl – Italy

Fax : +39 011 9241002

Email : info@gemwelding.com

Website : www.gemwelding.com

Camera cables with BendBright-XS Draka Communications’ BendBrightXS technology is now an integral feature of its SMPTE 311M hybrid camera cables with integrated optical fibres. It is believed that this enhancement will make transmission cables for video signals considerably more robust and more appropriate for HDTV broadcasting environments. BendBright-XS is a technology for optimising optical fibres in which a special field-confining trench ensures that the optical beam remains in the centre of the cable even when the latter is subject to extreme stress – for instance by bending and pressure. As BendBright-XS effectively eliminates faults originating in fibre optic cables, loss of transmission during live broadcasts can be virtually excluded. Introduced in 2002 as “BendBright”, the XS-variant is the latest upgrade to the technology, offering, it is claimed, a hundred times bending improvement over standard single mode fibre cables. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has defined SMPTE 311M as an official transmission standard. The standard specifies that such camera cables are capable of transmitting high-resolution HDTV signals in addition to the usual standard television images. They are also suitable for high-speed recording, such as that used for the extreme slow-motion sequences taken at sports events. Draka Holding NV – The Netherlands Fax : +31 2056 89899 Email : info@draka.com Website : www.draka.com

31

Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2009