BENCO POSITIONER AT STEEL COLD MILL  

Brixworth Engineering Co Ltd have supplied a special purpose Benco rotator positioner for use in the Cold Mill of a major international steelworks.

The product comprises a headstock unit fixed to parallel floor mounted rails. A tailstock is also supplied which can be moved and clamped at any position along the rails. This provides full adjustment to accommodate varying lengths of workpieces up to a maximum of 3.5 metres. The headstock height is fixed and centred to enable workpieces from 40 to 500mm diameter, with loadings up to 1000kg, to be attached. In the event that loads can be clamped at one end only, an adjustable steady unit is provided to supply the necessary load support at the unclamped end. This steady is also rail mounted and can be adjusted for lateral position as well as height of support, utilising a scissor lift mechanism with free rotating rollers fitted at the point of load contact. The maximum designed loading for the steady is 750kg.

A Fanuc spindle drive motor provides the rotational force through a Benco gear box with a speed range of 0.125 to 16rpm. This equates to a surface speed rotation on the workpiece of 0.2 to 2 metres/min, which is the design speed required to accommodate the welding and plasma spraying operations carried out.

A user spokesman acknowledged that when various equipment suppliers were approached at the quotation stage, the Brixworth Engineering Company was the only one that could design and manufacture this special purpose product within the budget allocated for the project. It was also confirmed that the Benco rotary positioner has performed well and achieved their specification requirements for the jobs in hand  

Although a wide range of standard Benco positioner products can be supplied covering extensive load size, weight and shape configurations, the company have also established a reputation for the production of innovative ‘one-off’ specials that provide excellent quality, reliability and performance at a commercially acceptable price. These characteristics are obviously valuable and worthwhile at any time, but particularly advantageous in the present economic climate where value for money is paramount on any commercial outlay.