MD&M West is known for its unwavering usefulness to attendees and exhibitors alike, and this year’s event delivered as usual. Here’s what we saw at the Bosch Rexroth booth (within the colocated ATX West) during our visit at the show. A main focus at the Bosch Rexroth booth was connected automation technology — also called the Internet of […]
Integrated Motion Systems
MD&M West for Wednesday February 8th — What stands out on tradeshow floor
MD&M West is in full swing in Anaheim, and new products for use in medical devices (or medical-device manufacture) abound here. This is some of what we saw at our second day at the show. Online configurability increasingly common from manufacturers I started the morning at an informative session hosted by maxon precision motors and led […]
Difference between drum motors and gear motors for food conveying
Traditional conveyor setups in food-processing and packaging industries use external gear motors as the belt-drive mechanism. But drum motors are increasingly common as an alternative conveyor drive. Here we review the strengths and weaknesses and potential improvements for both drive options. By Davide Barbanti, Associate Professor • Dr. Giampaolo Betta, Contract Professor in Food Science […]
Conveyors help medical-product manufacturer package + store product
Now, a production line centered around conveyors from QC Conveyors is helping one medical-device manufacturer boost production of sterile product. CooperSurgical is a maker of diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices to women’s healthcare providers. Recently the manufacturer turned to QC Conveyors to setup a new production line that maintains the cleanliness required for packaging medical products, […]
Manufacturing in the U.S. expanding in Illinois: The case of GAM Enterprises
Last month, I had the pleasure of making a day trip to the Chicago area to see one example of reshoring firsthand. GAM Enterprises — manufacturer of precision gear reducers, servo couplings, linear-mounting kits, and other automation products — offers engineering expertise and flexible manufacturing to support engineers building motion designs. Now they’re using reshoring […]
Direct-drive rotary servo tables from IntelLiDrives feature IP-rated ingress protection
Rotary tables with a high IP rating resist ingress of water and external particles — and the IP65 rating of rotary servo tables from IntelLiDrives assures against ingress of dust and small water jets. IP66 rating assures, in addition to IP65, against ingress of powerful water jets. IP67 rating assures (in addition to IP66-level protection) resistance to water […]
Continental introduces new select ContiCleat conveyor belts for steep inclines
Continental has introduced Select ContiCleat, a versatile conveyor belt for steep inclines and the most grueling conveyor applications. “This is a very versatile belt, and can convey products whether you are dealing with steep inclines or simply need extra support to move material,” said Chris Marchant, product manager for conveyor belting. “We offer a wide […]
New multi-axis SiP alignment systems from PI for test and production
Nanopositioning equipment manufacturer PI now offers a new family of automated alignment engines for silicon photonics applications including 3 to 6 axis mechanisms, controllers with firmware based alignment algorithms, and the software tools to meet the high accuracy demands of different markets, such as packing, planar testing, or inspection. Nanoscale Accuracy, Multi Degrees-of-freedom Very stiff […]
VarioFlow plus expands application range for conveyors
Rexroth’s VarioFlow plus enables diverse applications —from general machine interlinking to food and packaging — to transportation tasks in difficult environments. With the upgraded modular system of the VarioFlow plus chain conveyor system, Rexroth now offers users a series of standardized solutions for specific conveyor functions, which simplifies the fast implementation of customer-specific designs. The application […]
PI’s award-winning fast multichannel photonics alignment engine
The FMPA Fast Multichannel Photonics Alignment Engine is an advanced alignment system based on a highly specialized digital motion controller with embedded advanced alignment and tracking functionality and a hybrid precision scanning and tracking mechanism combining the advantages of piezoelectric on servo-motorized drives. More after the jump. From motion control and nanopositioning solutions expert PI […]
