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January 2015
MODERN MINING
77
PRODUCT News
Martin develops moulding
cell for conveyor belt cleaners
In a move designed to deliver global product availability and consis-
tency with the fastest possible response to customer orders, Martin
Engineering has announced the design and manufacture of a custom
moulding cell for its polyurethane conveyor belt cleaners. By mixing,
forming and curing its own designs in the modular work station –
rather than subcontracting the production as most suppliers do – the
company is taking complete control of the entire process, allowing
one-day turnaround on most orders and even same-day shipping in
many cases.
“We’re one of the few manufacturers that designs and moulds its
own belt cleaner blades,” explains Global Engineering Manager Paul
Harrison. “We’ve been manufacturing them in the US for many years.
With this modular work cell, we now have the ability to replicate the
same manufacturing process in any of our business units, ensuring
that we provide consistently high-quality products and quick deliv-
ery times virtually anywhere in the world.”The work cell combines all
the elements necessary to generate mixed, coloured urethane with
the forming and curing process that is specific to Martin Engineering
products.
Harrison explains that by custom-engineering the process from
the ground up, the design group was able to solve many of the prob-
lems inherent to urethane moulding in other regions of the world.
“The work cell is voltage- and frequency-independent,” he says. “It
will function effectively whether the power source is in the US, South
Africa, China or the UK.”
In order to accommodate the varying skill levels around the world,
Harrison and his team designed-in monitoring for all essential steps
to relieve operators of the need for manual tracking. The pressures,
power availability and quality, temperatures, speeds and many other
parameters are all monitored continuously, and the system can even
be diagnosed and controlled remotely.
The prototype moulding centre has been disassembled and
shipped to the Martin Engineering South Africa facility in eMalahleni
(Witbank), where it has been operating successfully for three months.
“South Africa was one of the few business units that subcontracted
themoulding process,”he continued.“So it made sense for us to estab-
lish the first unit there in response to increasing customer demands.”
Operators of the new work cell have the ability to mould straight
cleaners, segmented designs and long blades that can be cut to
length. By stocking the appropriate profiles in longer lengths, con-
veyor owners can
replace worn blades
by simply cutting
to the required size,
which can help reduce
inventory of replace-
ment belt cleaners.
Martin Engineering South
Africa, tel (+27 13) 656-5135
The work cell combines all
the elements necessary to
generate mixed, coloured
urethane with the form-
ing and curing process.