Ingersoll-Rand has launched a modular range of handling equipment for its range of ergonomic handling systems. The mechanism that hangs on the crane hook and engages the load is usually custom-made to best fit the intended use.
‘Labour is the biggest component of cost in putting together ergonomic handling equipment,’ said Walter Jankowski, global marketing manager.
Standardising production also improves delivery times and simplifies the manufacturing process, Jankowski says.
Most of Ingersoll-Rand’s competitors do not manufacture the mechanism that engages the load to specialists. Stanley Cobotics, Gorbel and Spanco only build the crane frame and hoist. Crane frame and hoist are already in serial manufacture – the crane gantry is modular and the hoists are standard products.
The first two standardised products to roll of the production line have been a vacuum handler and a signature bundle handler. Both pneumatic handling devices are designed to work with a wire-rope air balancer attached to a light rail system. Workers grasp a bicycle-type handlebar and press buttons to operate the device and engage, release, lift and lower the load. Several different types of handlebar are sold.
The vacuum lifter comes in two sizes, measured by the dimensions of the yellow X-shaped base suction cup base plate: 5in x7in (130mm x180mm) and 10in x14in (250mm x 360mm). Maximum load is 120 lbs (54kg) at 100 PSI (6.9 bar); minimum operating pressure is 70 PSI (4.8 bar). Once the device is engaged, a safety interlock prevents the load from being accidentally released.
The bundle handler can lift packs of paper at commercial printers up to 250 lb (113kg) and comes in three versions, each with a different load width range (overall from 24in-50in (610mm-1270mm). The handler operates at the same pressure range as the vacuum lifter. Between 10 and 20 of these handlers had been sold since the product was shown in January at Promat, Jankowski said.
The company has also developed a standardised capacity electronic crate lifter which it calls a ‘warehouse handling device.’ This device is intended to be hung from an electric balancer such as I-R’s Intelift, it uses an electronic sensor to control the hoist. The device consists of a pair of vertical gripper arms hanging from a horizontal bar. Users hook the gripper arms on a crate and begin to move the load, which when in float mode compensates for the extra power needed and instructs the hoist to act accordingly. The device is expected to be available in February.
