wiredinUSA July 2015

INDEX

An energy first for Hawaii

Governor David Ige has approved Hawaii’s HB623 bill, the first of its kind in the USA. The new energy law forces utilities to be sourcing 100 percent of electricity from renewables by 2045. Mr Ige said: “Making the transition to renewable, indigenous resources for power generation will allow us to keep more of that money at home, thereby improving our economy, environment and energy security.”

The governor has also signed a bill to create a community-based renewable energy program. The bill will allow residents and businesses, unable to install their own renewable energy generator on their building, to buy electricity from a renewable energy facility. The Hawaiian governor's website describes the archipelago as the “most oil dependent state” in the USA.

Quick-change options

American Kuhne used the NPE 2015 event to demonstrate how its single-minute exchange of die (SMED) can reduce downtime in tubing, profile, wire and cable and other small-die production lines. Thecompany isofferingthreenewfeatures, separately or as a package, including the quick collet screw pusher. This device is said to reduce the time needed to pull screws from five minutes to less than a minute. It uses a spring-mounted locking nut and a sliding collet to fasten the nut onto the threaded screw-pushing rod at the rear of the drive shaft. A new rotary hopper can be pivoted away from the feed throat for rapid dumping of excess material and easy access for

vacuumingout residualmaterial, or adding purging compound or new material. This is designed to cut clean-out time from about six minutes to just one minute. Finally, a dual-head arrangement cuts die-change time from 20 minutes to two minutes by having a pre-heated head with breaker plate ready for fast replacement of the one that was in use. Both heads are mounted on pivoting support structures on either side of the die area with separate electrical connections. The options are available with the company's new extruders or can be retrofitted onto equipment from American Kuhne or other suppliers.

wiredInUSA - July 2015

wiredInUSA - July 2015

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