TPi January 2010

26 / 68

developmentsproducts &
24 Tube Products International January 2010
voestalpine Tubulars is a manufacturer
of seamless hot rolled steel pipes with
an outside diameter up to 177.8mm
(7"). All products are available in API or
proprietary grades (VA Series), with API
or proprietary threads such as VAGT®, a
gas tight thread connection.
Seamless hot rolled steel pipes
In addition to seamless tubular products
used in the drilling and completion of
oil and gas wells (OCTG products),
the company produces mechanical
tubes, boiler and heat exchanger
tubes, automotive tubes and line pipe.
The company’s international sales
network, with offices in Houston, Dubai
and Moscow, provides proximity to
customers and allows for comprehensive
customer service.
voestalpine Tubulars is certified accord-
ing to ISO 9001, EN ISO 14001 (EMAS
location), OHSAS 18001, TÜV and API,
and is an approved vendor for most
international oil and gas companies.
voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co KG
– Austria
On/off
magnetic tube
and pipe lifter
The new Magnetic Tube Lifter from
Industrial Magnetics, Inc is designed
to assist in stacking, destacking,
loading and unloading for a variety of
steel tube and pipe applications. The
Magnetic Tube Lifter incorporates
severalpowerful,rareearthpermanent
magnets, which can move many
round, square or custom shaped
tubes at once, reducing cycle times
in tube handling applications.
The design of the magnetic circuit
prevents tubes from rolling or shifting
during transport. In addition, the
Magnetic Tube Lifter positively holds
the load during transfer and only
requires a short burst of shop air to
release. This failsafe design requires
no electricity or battery backup,
and prevents the load from being
dropped during a power outage
or system air loss, ensuring safer
working conditions.
The Tube Lifter is suitable for
destacking nested tubing, hydro-
forming, roll forming, packing,
cutting or tube and pipe fabrication
applications.
Industrial Magnetics, Inc – USA
Balliu Machine Tool Corporation
manufactures the SLF range of laser tube
cutting systems. The range consists of
machines that can handle tubes lengths
from 6 to 13m long and up to 160mm
in diameter.
Balliu offers three levels of integration
into the client’s production process. A
standard SLF has its own automatic
tube loading and unloading system and
operates independently. Weld seam
detection is one of the optional features.
In the second level of integration Balliu
engineers seamlessly integrate the SLF
Customised laser tube cutting
machines from Belgium
machine into the client’s production
line. The tube loading and unloading
systems are adapted with features
like part sorting and positioning, tube
measuring (QC), slug removal, part
cleaning, chemical treatment and drying
installation. The third level of integration
is a fully customised machine that
is specially designed to the client’s
requirements (tube length, shape,
diameter, thickness, etc).
Balliu’s international clientele is mainly
situated in the car, furniture, stable and
fencing industries. These companies
choose laser cutting as
an economical one-step
process, as an alternative
to drilling, sawing and
punching.
Benefits include fewer
production steps, lower
noise level, no de-burring,
engraving features and the
absence of any tooling.
According to Balliu, the greatest
advantage of laser tube cutting is
flexibility in design: designers have the
freedom to create products that look
better and are quicker and easier to
manufacture.
The company implements efficient
CAM-solutions for the most popular
CAD file formats, and uses quality
components such as Siemens
NC-controls, Precitec cutting heads
and Rofin DC-Lasers.
Balliu Machine Tool Corporation nv –
Belgium
Balliu manufactures SLF laser tube cutting systems ▼ ▼