Big news in the fluid power industry as Bosch Rexroth Corp. has said that it has signed papers to sell its global pneumatics businessβRexroth ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟsβto Triton, a German-Scandinavian investor group. ApproximatelyΒ 2100 employees worldwide will be affected, mostly at manufacturing sites in Laatzen, Germany; Lexington, Kentucky; Wujin, China; Eger, Hungary; and Bonneville, France. . It has […]
Featured
Safety takes center stage at PackExpo
When people at a trade show find out youβre a journalist, they tend to ask, βWhatβs the theme of the show?β While thatβs a fair question, often times there isnβt an easy answer. There are so many industrial trade shows these daysβwith both regional and national locations, it seems as though there is one every […]
Compressed air fail: What a non-standard component!
An auditor recently received a call about low pressure from a client operating a printing plant. The main presses were having production issues and the plant pressure needed to be increased to compensate. Because the client had received a financial incentive for lowering his pressure, the power company was breathing down his neck to return […]
A short-sighted purchase policy on compressed air equipment?
An emergency call was placed to a compressed air auditor recently to help solve a problem with a new collating machine at a local printing. This plant had previously upgraded their compressed air system to state-of-the-art variable speed drive control and had been able to drop their plant pressure by 20 psi due to the […]
Pressure measurement: 8 things to know
1. Pressure is the force applied to an area. There are many different systems of pressure measurement. Absolute pressure and sealed gauge pressure are two of the most common. There are many differences between these two measurements of pressure that have significant effects on their use and measurement. Depending on why you are measuring pressure, […]
9 questions for choosing your next pressure transducer
1. Do your measurements need to be in volts or in milliamps? What type of output does your application require? 2. What pressure range is needed?Β How will you measure it, gauge, absolute or differential? 3. What is your sampling environment? Is the transducer rated only for low-risk environments such as clean, dry air? Or is […]
Fly like a dragonfly with motion control intelligence
Itβs always fun to see what new biologically inspired creation the people at Festo Corp. come up with, and the latest incarnation, the BionicOpter, is no letdown. This mechanical dragonfly was unveiled in April and it incorporates flight characteristics from airplanes, helicopters, and glidersβand you can even control it from your phone. After Festo engineers […]
Compressed air gone wrong: Super pressure control is wasted
A recent compressed air audit revealed superior compressed air pressure control at a local fiberglass products manufacturer that had installed a VSD compressor in their plant several years ago. The discharge pressure at the compressor was very nicely maintained at a precise 125 psi by the compressorβs ability use electronic control to speed up or […]
The Evolution of ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟ Safety
by Eric Cummings, Global Industry Manager-Safety, Ross Controls Designers of compressed air systems need to consider machine exhaust valves and stopping time to meet current standards. As automation machinery has advanced over the years, so have the methods of safeguarding personnel. Consequently, machine safety standards have evolved, and in fact, have been driven by the […]
Are female engineers still getting the short stick?
When I was in college, some twenty years ago, I went to an institute primarily focused on engineering (Georgia Tech). So it wasnβt surprising to hear guys constantly talk about βthe ratio.β That would be the ratio of guys to girls, and it was always in the neighborhood of 4:1βnot a happy statistic for a […]
