Find out more about the Power Quality Partnership, the participating
companies and the group's activities, by visiting the Copper Development
Association's stand (F29), where you can pick up a free guide on the
subject. Free seminars will also run during the first two days of the
show.
EMS (A1) will be showing two- and three-phase hybrid stepper motors and
brushless dc motors from Japan Servo's range of sub-40W products, plus a
new range of 12mm motors and gearheads, including a planetary gearhead
with a torque capability of 450nNm.
Parker Hannifin (C3) has expanded its range of DIN mounting stepper
drives with an entry-level drive module and a power module that allows
direct-on-line operation from standard single-phase ac mains supplies.
Also on show will be a new single Eurocard brushless servo module.
If maintaining drives is your business, Fluke (F29) has a range of tools
to assist you, plus a free 24-page booklet entitled, Troubleshooting
Adjustable-Speed Drives.
Energy efficiency is the theme of Nord Gear's stand (D2) this year. The
company's exhibit is supported by additional information explaining how
intelligent selection of both a high-efficiency gearbox and
high-efficiency motor can cut your energy costs.
Following the recent acquisition of MTE, Entrelec UK (E14) will be
showing a range of direct on-line starters, soft starts, dc injection
brakes and enclosed isolators along with its own switchgear products,
including contactors up to 270kW.
A range of AS-i sensors and gateways to other fieldbus systems, plus a
working demonstration of its Ident electronic tagging system for
manufacturing environments, are among the items to be found at
Pepperl+Fuchs stand (D14).
You have a chance to win one of the new motorised bicycles we featured in
January's edition of DPA (Page 11). Call at Heason Technologies' stand
(B20) for full details. In addition to the Kollmorgen slotless dc motor
that powers this machine, the company will also show rotary and linear
servomotors, drives gearheads, actuators and linear motion products.
Body and soul!
Vacon Drives UK (B4) will take advantage of the show to unveil its
all-new inverter range, the NX Series. Fully backwards compatible with
the existing CX range in terms of programming, applications and I/O, the
NX features separate power and control sections - the 'body and soul', as
Vacon describes it - for maximum systems building flexibility. There are
five slots for credit-card sized I/O module options, which expand the
control functionality and fieldbus networking capabilities of the new
drive. EMC compliant to all current standards, the NX has integral RFI
filters up to and including the110kW size unit.
In addition to its wide range of 16mm and 22.5mm switches, pushbuttons
and indicators, EAO (C5) will also be showing the new high-torque
H-Series Sanyo Denki stepper motor range for the first time in the UK.
The new models include a NEMA 11 (22mm square) two-phase stepper motor
and the higher torque NEMA 17 (42mm square) and NEMA 23 (56mm square)
motors. Completing the exhibit are Airpax magnetic circuit breakers and
thermostats, plus the Grayhill range of rotary switches and optical
encoders.
PI's 'Hexapods' have testing times ahead
Physik Instrumente (F21) will demonstrate the versatility of its novel
'Hexapod' M-850 six-axis robot (illustrated), which provides up to 100mm
of linear travel with a step resolution of one micron and up to 60
degrees of rotary motion with five micro-radians resolution. Applications
include micro-manufacturing, device testing and micro-surgery
Also on show will be the Hexapod F-206 automated alignment system, which
is a compact version of the M-850 for fibre alignment, photonics
packaging, optical device testing, MEMS positioning and micro-machining
applications.
Robo Cylinder options improve stability and environmental protection
There are several new options available with IAI's (B26) Robo Cylinder
series, including ball-bush and guided types for applications that impose
side loads or rotational loads on the rod, plus an IP54 protected
version. Robo Cylinder is an electromechanical alternative to air
cylinders and is offered in both 'slide' and 'rod' type models. The
product comes with its own controller for speed, acceleration,
deceleration and position, and offers both serial and parallel I/O
capability, as well as Profibus DP fieldbus connectivity.
IAI claims the power consumption of these cylinders is roughly a third
that of pneumatic equivalents, and while the system price is about the
same, the additional control features offer a performance approaching
that of a servo system.
Servo gearbox range offers right-angle transmission up to 600:1
Two new gearbox ranges and a new series of servo insert couplings will
appear on the Tandler stand (F34) this year. These include in-line
planetary gearboxes in four sizes, single-stage models up to 10:1,
two-stage up to 100:1 and right-angle combinations up to 600:1.
The new products are compatible with the majority of servomotor brands in
both metric and imperial sizes, thanks to a universal mounting that
enables direct gearbox to motor connection. The other newcomer is an
expanded range of spiral bevel gearboxes comprising seven models that
provide speed reduction down to 4:1 (smallest) and 6:1 (all other sizes).
The R+W Servomax range of servo insert couplings are three-part devices
featuring a polyurethane element 'sandwiched' between two high strength
aluminium hubs. They provide degrees of shock and vibration damping, and
can accommodate misalignment in three planes.
Multi-turn absolute encoder has 2in diameter hollow shaft
CTL Components (F19) will be unveiling what it believes is the first
multi-turn absolute encoder to feature a 2in diameter hollow shaft. The
IVO G2P1H programmable unit is compatible with industry standard
servomotor shafts and comes complete with parallel interface. Its 24-bit
resolution is equivalent to 4096 revolutions with 4096 angular steps per
revolution.
The output code can be selected from Gray, clamped Gray, binary or BCD
formats, and these parameters, together with rotation sense, are all
easily programmed on a PC using IVO's 'ProGeber' Windows based software.
New cast iron range banishes those customer gripes
Those negative aspects of power transmission systems, such as low
reliability, high environmental impact, low safety and poor performance,
have all been addressed in a strategically important new range of cast
iron gearboxes from Motovario (F32). Making its debut at this year's show
(the European launch will be at Hanover in April), the new range offers
increased speed and power capacities, and includes an innovative input
half-coupling, greater bearing capacities, lower noise and Euro footprint
dimensions for maximum mounting flexibility.
Intelligent drives and efficient motors
Supporting what it identifies as the fastest growing trends in motion
control - 'intelligent drives and high efficiency motors - Baldor (C14
and C17) will be showing its 'single-box' integrated drive and motion
controller, MintDrive, plus a wide choice of motors meeting the Eff 1 and
Eff 2 minimum efficiency standards.
MintDrive combines a brushless servo drive with a fully-featured motion
controller and supports complex motion profiles as well as simple
positioning applications. Integral CAN fieldbus connectivity also helps
to eliminate the PLC machine controller from the overall scheme.
Lenze (C4) plans to demonstrate its new SMD range of inverters. These
compact, low-cost products are intended for simple applications up to
2.2kW, using single-phase supplies. Features include 240Hz output and
150% overload torque for 60 seconds, and provision for storage and
transfer of