Emergency-Stop Pushbuttons Offer Enhanced Safety

Wieland Electric has introduced the SNH Series of emergency-stop pushbuttons, which includes a range of eight operator elements that can be combined with 12 different contact blocks. In addition to the modular components, Wieland supplies a number of completely assembled emergency-stop pushbuttons for the most common applications. For increased safety, Wieland's SNH Series of emergency-stop pushbuttons incorporate a contact block drop-off feature that provides a signal output should failure occur if the contact block becomes dislodged due to vibration.

This has an additional NO contact in series (pre-installed) to the main contacts - the NO contact opening as soon as the contact block falls off, thus interrupting the safety circuit and putting the machine into a safe position. An illuminated stop button also provides enhanced safety for the machine user. SNH pushbuttons are unlocked by rotation or with the use of a key and are supplied with or without a protective collar.

The pushbuttons offer a high degree of protection with an IP69 rating and the switching capability of the contacts is AC250V/16A. Wieland's SNH Series has been designed for use in conjunction with the company's 400 Series relays, SMA safety sensors and Samospro, a compact modular safety controller for machine and automation control.

CGTech Releases Enhanced CNC Simulation Software

CGTech has released version 7.0 of the Vericut CNC machine simulation and optimisation software. Vericut 7.0 features enhancements that reduce the time required for manufacturing engineers to develop, analyse, inspect and document the CNC programming and machining process.

CGTech have focused on code optimisation and customer-driven enhancements, reducing the number of pop-up dialogues for day-to-day Vericut users and eliminating any confusion associated with 'apply', 'ok' and 'cancel' buttons. As a result, setting up a new project in Vericut has been simplified. Items formerly in pop-up dialogues have been moved to the Project Tree, where all projects are configured using a configuration panel, automatically displayed as the user selects each branch.

Actions are immediate, so 'apply' or 'okay' clicks are unnecessary. The Component Tree has also been merged into the Project Tree but can be optionally hidden. The Project menu has been simplified with menu actions moved to the Project Tree. Motion Simulation refers to how Vericut calculates the motion path from the NC data and animates it.

The motion in all view types is now coordinated and tool images are consistent, while collision tolerance and motion display are independent. When set to stop at a travel limit, the simulation continues the motion with axis clamped, while any cuts during a limit error are painted red. A five-axis NC block is now one motion and simulation times overall are shorter.

5.x and 6.x collision configurations are upward compatible and read into 7.0. This central location for all collision control eliminates any possibility of duplicate collision checks. The user can define a near-miss collision with cut stock, and all near-miss and actual collision errors are separated in the logger. Components turn red upon first display of the collision contact, instead of at the end of the colliding motion.

Vericut runs standalone, but can also be integrated with CAM systems such as Catia V5, Siemens NX, Pro/E, MasterCAM, EdgeCAM, Delcam Powermill and Open Mind Hypermill. Vericut can read Siemens NX Part Files directly when NX is on the same computer and NX parts can be referenced directly from within Vericut or via the NX-to-Vericut interface. The CATIA V5-To-Vericut Interface has been enhanced with several new features for managing tools.

The user can merge tools from a template with new tools from the Part Operation and optionally put all unique tools in one tool library. The user can also use CATIA-referenced STL models. Vericut holders are named using the holder names already defined in CATIA. Additional features include the option to specify work offset subsystems and set model tolerances for the stock, fixture and design models.

Vicote F810Blk Provides Enhanced Wear Resistance

United Biscuits has specified Vicote coatings from Victrex to reduce the downtime required for the recoating of a compression roller and doctor blade deployed in its cake manufacturing facility. The compression roller, which is 1,200mm long and 355mm in diameter, is used for pressing biscuit crumbs, an abrasive and sticky food compound. The doctor blade scrapes the excess compound off the roller.

Traditionally, both the roller and the blade were coated with a stainless-steel reinforced fluoropolymer-based coating. The Vicote F810Blk coating is based upon Victrex Peek polymer. Working with plant engineers at United Biscuits, the coater, Metalcraft Plastic Coatings, saw the potential for Vicote coatings to enhance the longevity of the roller and blade.

United Biscuits is now using the FDA-compliant Vicote F810Blk to coat the doctor blade and roller and is said to be benefiting from enhanced wear resistance combined with good release properties. A key benefit of Vicote F810Blk coating in this application was that it is aqueous-based and contains low levels of solvents, which is important for coaters looking to reduce VOC emissions.

Gary Hull, managing director of Metalcraft, said: 'The previous coating was problematic and in line with new product developments an improved surface was required. 'When Vicote F810Blk was applied, a re-coat was not required for six months.' The increased lifecycle and level of service has led to United Biscuits' engineers to consider Vicote coatings for other applications.

Accelerometer Has Enhanced Temperature Capability

Inertial Aerosystems has introduced a small diameter, shock-resistant accelerometer with enhanced temperature capability. It has been designed primarily for down-hole measurement while drilling (MWD) applications in the gas and oil industries and also wireline environments that require a small form factor such as the new generation of directional and horizontal drilling tools.

Designated the Mini-Q accelerometer, it is manufactured by US-based Honeywell and uses the low-noise, Q-Flex-etched quartz-proof flexure seismic system, modified for harsh environments. Operating temperature is now -40 to 185C, with intermittent capability of 200C. The shock operating/non-operating performance is -40 to 85C at 1,000g, 0.5ms and 85 to 185C at 400g, 0.5ms.

Input voltage is +/-12V DC to +/-18V DC with input current (quiescent) 8mA max, 6mA typical. The device can be scaled to any full-scale range to 30g, has an analogue output with an internal temperature sensor, and fits into a 25.4mm tool diameter.

Flir Mid-Range T-Series Cameras Enhanced

Flir Systems has announced that the latest models of its mid-range T-Series infrared cameras feature five areas of function development. The latest generation Flir T-Series has the ability to image stream, enabling the user, for example, to watch a process at start-up and acquire radiometric data at a reasonable speed.

This enhances the application scope of the camera and new software packages are available to support this functionality. These include Quickplot for simple trending, analysis and reporting work and ResearchIR for comprehensive data analysis. Periodic storage has been rolled out to the Flir T-Series. This allows snapshots to be taken at predetermined intervals, allowing the camera to act as a watchman for a variety of applications.

Thermal and/or visual images can be stored and for ease-of-use a counter is provided as standard. The company said this takes the Flir T-Series into the realms of product test and development. The ability to build a composite image is now available on selected T-Series models as the Panorama feature. Images complete with their radiometric data can be dragged, dropped and aligned in a grid to create a larger image.

This opens up opportunities for new applications that can be accommodated without the need to invest in a wide-angle lens. In additional to various stylus and sketching improvements, the latest T-Series generation can also be equipped with a choice of three new lenses, a 90deg field of view and two macro lenses for basic troubleshooting. These lenses are designed to be used across the entire Flir product programme.