Belden to demonstrate wind farm
management solutions at Husum Wind Energy 2010

At Husum Wind Energy 2010, to be held from 21 until 25 September 2010, Belden will showcase its world-class networking, cabling and connectivity solutions for effective wind energy management in Hall 1 at Stand 1F03.

Belden continues to develop and offer innovative products and real life solutions for both onshore and offshore wind power applications that help to reduce downtime, whilst at the same time meeting reliability, safety and security needs for effective wind farm management. With a proven track record in reliability and high quality, Belden solutions are deployed in around 80% of European made wind turbines.

At Husum Wind Energy 2010, Belden will present a range of innovative products for wind energy management from the Belden®, Hirschmann™ and Lumberg Automation™ brands. In addition, Belden will highlight its fully integrated solutions for the fast, easy and safe installation and operation of photovoltaic parks in challenging environments.

The main emphasis will be on complete solutions for onshore and offshore wind parks including: 1) SPIDER Family of entry level switches.MACH 1000 Rack-mount ruggedized switch. 2) OCTOPUS Family of ruggedized IP67 PoE switches. 3) EAGLE High-speed VPN, firewall and routing solutions. 4) MICE modular switch family. 5) BAT Family of wireless access points and clients. 6) Belden FiberExpress® System and Industrial Ethernet cabling solutions. 7) Connectivity Solutions, such as actuators, field attachable connectors, valve connectors and sensor connecting cables.

Many of the products to be shown have been discussed in length within this current issue. Just click this link to page 12 and follow the article page links.

For further information on Belden and its products visit Belden at Husum Wind Energy, Hall 1 stand 1F03 or go to www.beldensolutions.com  Refer to page 201

Load measuring pins customised to suit any mechanical arrangement

A range of load measuring pins is now available from Applied Measurements Ltd, which can be designed and customised to suit almost any existing mechanical arrangement.

A load pin measures the force applied across it, typically via strain gauges that are installed within a small bore through the centre of the pin. Load pins are used in a wide variety of applications, including cranes, winches, hoists and other types of lifting equipment. Typically, the application includes some kind of pulley system or sheave with ropes or wires. The rotating pulley wheel is held in place on a shaft, which can be replaced by a load pin.

In these types of application, the load pins are designed and strain gauged to measure the load in a single direction or axis, since this is usually all that is required to provide the end user with the necessary information.

Other applications require load pins that are designed and strain gauged to monitor the load in two axes simultaneously, normally at right angles to each other. This requires a two-axis load pin.

In most cases, the output signal from the pin is directly from the strain gauges and is normally a low level millivolt output. Often, this low level signal needs amplifying at the pin in order to overcome lengthy cable runs to the instrumentation. Where this is required, Applied Measurements can fit small amplifiers within the head of the load pins to increase the output signal to 0-10Vdc, 0-5Vdc or milliamp, usually 4-20mA.

Peter Lewis, Managing Director at Applied Measurements comments: "We can offer custom load pins at almost the same cost and lead time as our standard load pins. Most of our customers now require us to fit the load pin into their existing mechanical arrangement, which normally requires some sort of customisation. This could be a special IP68 sealing gland for a marine or offshore application, or a two-axis load pin with full instrumentation package to ensure a complete load monitoring solution."

Applied Measurements' standard range of load pins is the DBEP series. This offers capacities from 2.5 tonnes up to 50 tonnes, although the nature of customer applications means that load capacities are often supplied from as low as 200kg up to 1,500 tonnes.

DBEP pins are sealed to IP67 as standard, providing protection from harsh industrial environments. An optional IP68 submersible version is also available. The robust pins are manufactured from precipitation-hardened stainless steel.

For further information, e-mail: info@appmeas.co.uk or view website: www.appmeas.co.uk   Refer to page 187

Self-lubricating polymer slew ring bearings

Plastic bearing expert igus has developed a range of innovative slewing bearings that use two self-lubricating, low friction polymer sliding elements in place of conventional ball bearings. As a cost-effective, low noise alternative, the igus PRT polymer slew ring bearing modules are also highly wear resistant, easy to install and completely maintenance-free, while at the same time are robust and have a very high load capacity.

All housing parts are made of aluminium and use stainless steel screws. The polymer sliding pads in the PRT slewing rings are made of the high performance iglidur J material, which contains a solid lubricant, so it does not require additional lubrication. This material also offers a low coefficient of friction, as well as being resistant to chemical aggressors, featuring low moisture absorption and good vibration dampening properties. In addition, the counter-running surfaces of the iglidur J sliding pads are hard-anodized.

These innovative slewing bearings  have a very high-load capacity.

As explained by Matthew Aldridge of igus UK, the iglidur PRT slewing bearing modules are "rugged, corrosion-resistant units that are particularly well-suited in applications where high loads, extreme overturning torques, alternating ambient media or low to medium surface speeds are prevalent".

Maintenance  and lubrication-free, the iglidur PRT modules are ideal for OEMs looking for a ready-to-install solution, such as in semiconductor and cleanroom applications, assembly lines, wind turbines, production facilities and robots. The iglidur PRT slewing ring bearing system is available in a wide range of sizes, with outside diameters of 20, 30, 60, 100 200 and 300 mm.

For further information, view website: www.igus.co.uk   Refer to next page

Consistent communication interfaces for Baldor

Baldor Electric Company has upgraded its range of smart drives with HMS. This range is now able to communicate with a PLC, it is much more open to communication standards and its communication interfaces are consistent throughout the entire range.

"We wanted to develop enhanced versions of our MotiFlex e100 three-phase drive ranges, able to communicate with any PLC and to comply more easily with industry Fieldbus systems. To do this, our strategy was to use a standardised solution rather than develop these interfaces in-house We decided to do this because time to market was critical and because it is not our core competence to do that. But, we found a higher added value than expected in the HMS solutions" explains David Greensmith, Product manager at Baldor´s UK motion control centre.

Baldor's e100 AC drives, suitable for use in standalone motion control systems or networked systems, are now compatible with the Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP and Powerlink industrial standards. Offering economic and space-saving solutions for many common single-axis automation requirements, the drives also feature an Ethernet interface compatible with the deterministic Ethernet-compatible motion control standard, Powerlink. The versatile drives may be used to control rotary and linear servo motors, linear motors, closed-loop vector motors, and in V/Hz control modes.

Baldor Electric Company has upgraded its range of smart drives with HMS.

"This system is one of the very first of its kind: it integrates CANopen, it offers Real time Ethernet and it is highly adaptable to communication standards. Now, our new range provides system builders with a universal drive platform that can be used in many different ways to suit different customers and applications, from standalone motion control systems to networked systems hosted by PLCs or other devices. This solution simplifies automation for food, labelling, packaging, electronics, printing wood/metalworking and more", adds David Greensmith.

The embedded Mint Lite capability is now being fitted without charge on all of Baldor's MicroFlex e100 and MotiFlex e100s. It supports a range of basic motion programming requirements including performing relative and absolute moves, S-ramp profiles, jog and homing movements, changing target positions on the fly, registration moves, and reacting to real-time trigger events. The programming facility allows standalone drives to provide solutions for many common automation and machinery tasks such as cutting or feeding to length, indexing axes, simple pick and place motion, and machine adjustments such as changing guides or backstops to reconfigure machinery for new batches. This capability is especially useful in Fieldbus interfacing, creating adaptability for the user to choose to use a standard drive control interface or optimise the process data and behaviour for the application.

Flexible, consistent and open communication modules. "The HMS Anybus advantage is that it provides a unified interface. The consistency of their range of product is unique. Thus, our engineering costs are reduced. We have the same kind of product for all different fieldbuses", explains David Greensmith.

"We have studied the offers of 2 or 3 vendors, but in the end, the HMS solution was more consistent and more standardized. The HMS solutions were also very compact. It was a key issue for the smallest sizes of our drive range. Anybus-CC, the solution we have implemented, is also very simple to install".

Anybus CompactCom (Anybus-CC) module is intended for OEM. It provides instant connectivity to all leading fieldbus, industrial Ethernet protocols, serial, USB and wireless networks without the need for any hardware and software changes to your automation device. Automation devices with an integrated Anybus-CC slot can use any Anybus-CC module. One module for a given network can simply be exchanged with another dedicated Anybus-CC module and be instantly connected to that network without the need for hardware and software changes in the automation device. Anybus-CC enables savings of up to 70% on development costs compared with in-house development. Standardized hardware and software interface independent of the network.

"Another key issue was to allow for much more flexible communication with PLCs. Thanks to HMS our drives could be controlled with a PLC, using industry standards. With HMS we can interface with all major fieldbuses. As well as their own local input/output (I/O) and Canopen expansion, our drives also have option-card slots, providing configurability for specific applications including using Anybus-CC." concludes David Greensmith.

For further information, view website: http://www.baldormotion.com/products/servodrives/overview.asp  contact  Michela Nalin, e-mail: min@hms.se or view website: www.anybus.com   Refer to page 188