Mechanical Technology April 2015

⎪ Products and services ⎪

Drive solutions with motorised torque arms – MTAs

The vertical turbine slurry pump – VTSP Weir Minerals Floway Pumps’ patented VTSP addresses the market need for a longer lasting, abrasive-solids handling vertical turbine pump. Following several years of design innovation, re- search and testing, the VTSP has been demonstrated to last four times longer in solids handling services when compared and tested with the Floway ® verti- cal turbine pump bearing assembly. The patented VTSP bearing de- sign allows for continuous operation in services with a maximum solid content of 10% by weight and tem- porary excursions of up to 20%. This design results in a longer mean time between required maintenance and an overall reduction in the customer’s total operational costs. “We listened to our customers when they expressed the need for an abrasive-solids handling verti- cal turbine pump which would last longer than the available designs in the market today,” says Barry Cockerham, managing director of Weir Minerals Floway Pumps in Fresno, California. “We responded with the VTSP, which we believe will provide extended life while main- taining the highest product quality.” “Wear life is critical in many pump applications and the existing technology was not producing acceptable results”, adds Daniel Boldt, product engineering manager at Weir Minerals Floway Pumps. “Due to the demanding nature of abrasive services, design innovation was required to realise a significant improvement in wear life. After extensive design work and both in-house and field testing, the new VTSP product line demonstrates a notable advantage over traditional vertical turbine designs.” Weir Minerals Floway Pumps has supplied pumps and processing products for the Minerals industry for over 80 years. “We are dedicated to engineering, manufacturing and servicing high quality, long lasting products such as the VTSP,” Cockerham concludes. www.weirminerals.com

The Dodge brand has been synonymous with the best the industry has to offer for more than 125 years, according to Bear- ings International’s bearings manager, Ross Trevelyan. “This tried-and-tested product offers a host of important cost saving benefits and enjoys wide accep- tance within our local market,” he says. The Dodge MTA mechanical drive range provides a heavy-duty solution for any bulk materials handling application that requires a shaft-mounted reducer. They are predominantly used in the quarrying and aggregate sectors but are equally at home in the coal, iron-ore, wood and sugar industries. “The fact that the Dodge MTA units enable any brand of IEC B5 flange motor to be used with the reducers adds to the product’s popularity. We noted a steady increase in demand for the units over the past two years and in September 2014 the MTA range was extended from the initially available 2, 4 and 6 sizes, to also include sizes 3, 5, 7 and 8. This has enabled us to offer customers the complete MTA mechanical drive range from 1.5 kW to 75 kW, based on output speed and a service factor of 1.4,” Trevelyan reveals. The Dodge range includes the tradi- tional torque arm branded series (the belt driven Dodge Torque-Arm II shaft-mount- ed reducers) and the motorised MTA unit. The torque arm units, originally invented in 1946 and developed over time, are shaft mounted gear products and belt- driven, with MTA motorised versions also available. A key feature on both units is the exclusive, twin-tapered bushing. “This provides a sturdy, concentric grip

on the driven shaft on both sides of the reducer, which eliminates the excessive wobble and fretting corrosion normally associated with single-bushed shaft- mounted reducers,” explains Trevelyan. Dodge’s bushings are fully split to completely grip the driven shaft and ac- cording to Trevelyan, fitment and removal of the bushings are simple processes. Dodge’s bushings are manufactured from ductile iron for shock resistance. The units are equipped with taper roller bearings providing an average minimum bearing life span of 25 000 hours which is compliant with the American Gear Manufacturers Association standards. “Dodge MTAs offer solutions for all industries and we have invested in substantial stock to service the local market’s diverse applications,” concludes Trevelyan. www.bearings.co.za Dodge motorised torque arm units (MTAs) are used in industries where a shaft- mounted reducer is required particularly in the quarrying and aggregate sectors.

SKF has signed a one-year contract with Italian HSD SpA for the supply of super precision bearings Super precision bearings for the woodworking segment high expectations on quality, technol- ogy and future development,”

says Ezio Miglietta, SKF in- dustrial market, sales and marketing. HSD SpA is a leading global supplier of elec- tro-spindles for mill- ing, drilling and edge banding in wood, aluminium and plas- tic, where high speed capability, reduced friction, low noise and vibration levels are im- portant requirements. The SKF super precision bearings

for the electro-spindles used in the woodwork- ing segment. “This order is of significant importance because it gives us an op- portunity to increase our market share in the woodworking seg- ment in which we see a large potential.

enable all these requirements to be met. The contract includes four sizes of sealed super-precision hybrid bearings, which will be produced in SKF’s factory in Torino, Italy. www.skf.com

“Also, we are very glad to gain HSD’s confidence by showing that we can meet their

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