ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MACHINERY

HYQUIP is a hydraulic systems specialist with experience in many industries serving and supplying over 2000 OEM manufacturers, tooling and end user customers.

From time to time end user customers of HYQUIP request help in sourcing a partner or supplier for the design, manufacture and installation of bespoke presses, machinery, test rigs, as well as tooling solutions, and jigs and fixtures.

HYQUIP will first assess the problem with a view to identifying a specialist manufacturer. If specialists already exist, HYQUIP will sign post customers to known companies. If they don’t exist and the application is considered unique with a high hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical content, HYQUIP is happy to take the project on and act as main contractor with total responsibility for the design, manufacture and installation of the project, bringing together designers, mechanical engineers, fabricators, electrical technicians, and tooling engineers to complement its own fluid power (hydraulic and pneumatic) project engineers.

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MACHINERY - CASE STUDIES

HYDRAULIC BENDER FOR RECTANGULAR HOLLOW SECTION

HYQUIP were commissioned to design and manufacture of a bespoke tube bending machine to form galvanised steel rectangular hollow section of varying sizes up to a maximum of 100mm x 50mm. The hollow section is bent around a machined former whilst being supported on either side by shoulder pins. To accommodate different sizes of rectangular hollow section, spacer plates are added to the machined former and different size shoulder pins are fitted. All tooling pieces were individually stamped with the size of the section to be formed and limit switches were installed to control extend and return stroke of the Rexroth Bosch hydraulic cylinder. Control of the extend stroke ensured an accurate and repeatable bend in the tube, whilst control of the return stroke keeps the stroke length to a minimum to ensure optimum cycle time in a production environment. The limit switch strikers were bolted to an aluminium extrusion fitted with a graduated scale. This ensured quick and accurate adjustments. An additional section of aluminium extrusion (not shown) also provided a length stop. The machine sequence was controlled by a Telemechanique Zelio PLC and the bender was operated by a foot switch. The HYQUIP hydraulic power unit and electrical control system was designed with the fabrication, bender mechanism and tooling in mind to ensure a compact footprint. On completion the machine was supplied with a full documentation package. This included mechanical, hydraulic and electrical drawings, parts lists, risk assessment, CE Marking and maintenance manual.

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MACHINERY - CASE STUDIES

155mm UFH TEST RIG

HYQUIP designed and manufactured a hydraulic and electrical control system used on a test rig for recording the recoil time of the 155mm UFH (Ultra-lightweight Field Howitzer), which was designed, developed and manufactured by BAe Systems. The 155mm UFH has a muzzle velocity greater than 800 m/s and a firing range up to 30 kilometres.

The control system manufactured by HYQUIP operates a Roemheld hydraulic clamp to hold the UFH in place and a Hyquip hydraulic pull-back cylinder to withdraw the barrel to a set distance. It incorporated an Acurite encoder to display the position of the pull-back cylinder to within 0.1mm. The heart of the control system is a Mitsubishi FX PLC used in conjunction with a Beijer E200 HMI, which records the recoil time of the UFH barrel. The HMI has the ability to be connected directly to a printer to record all the times if necessary. The HMI is also used to manually operate the hydraulic clamp and pull-back cylinder, as well as being used for diagnostics purposes. The speed and maximum pressure of the pull-back cylinder is set via the HMI to prevent any damaged being caused to the inside of the barrel through misuse.

The safety system incorporated a Pilz safety relay and a Fortress trapped key system. During testing the technicians are required to enter the guarded area to couple the pull-back cylinder to the UFH barrel. The operator must remove the key from the control panel to allow the gate to be opened. When the key is removed from the control panel, the emergency relay is activated which prevents the test rig from being operated.

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MACHINERY - CASE STUDIES

18 TON BESPOKE HYDRAULIC PRESS

This 18 Ton bespoke hydraulic press was designed to a specific customer specification for the manufacturer of heat exchanger baskets. HYQUIP worked in partnership with an electromechanical design house to ensure full compliance.

The press is used to hold a basket full of corrugated enamelled sheets under compression whilst the top plate is welded to the basket. The baskets are then incorporated into large diameter frames to produce rotary regenerative heat exchangers. These are primarily used in the power generation industry.

The operator interface is a Proface colour touch screen linked to a Mitsubishi PLC. The Proface screen includes an ethernet port to allow the acquisition of data to be transferred easily across the end users network. The PLC controls the operation of the press which uses Rexroth Bosch proportional hydraulics to control the speed and direction of movement and a Hydac pressure transmitter fitted to the cylinder to allow an accurate resultant clamping pressure of the compression cylinder to be calculated.

A linear transducer integrated within the Hyquip hydraulic cylinder allows the operator to set the stroke of the cylinder for each particular basket. Recipes can be created from the HMI allowing the stroke and clamping pressure to be set.

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MACHINERY - CASE STUDIES

BESPOKE HYDRO-PNEUMATIC PRESS

In partnership with an electromechanical design house HYQUIP helped to commission a bespoke hydro-pneumatic press used for the manufacture of cabinet doors by a specialist refrigeration manufacturing company.

The press was designed to accept a number of fixtures to produce a wide variety of doors. The fixture is clamped between the platens and then the door casing is injected with polyurethane foam. The press resists the reaction pressure of the polyurethane ensuring the door remains

perfectly flat. Six pneumatically operated pins are incorporated into the lower platen to allow the foamed doors to be raised for removal by fork truck.

The press is fully guarded around three sides and a light-guard fitted across the front entrance. A full risk assessment and FMEA was completed during the design and manufacture to ensure compliance with European regulations.

The lid is opened using two hydraulic cylinders both fitted with counter balance valves which hold the lid in position should a hose fail. In addition, when the lid is fully open it is held in position by a lock pin. The hydraulics cylinders are controlled using HYQUIP hydraulic power unit and control system.

The mechanical, electrical and hydraulic design was completed in conjunction with an electromechanical design house to the customer’s specification. Upon completion of various stages of the design, approval was given by the customer prior to manufacture commencing. This project was completed on time and to the customer’s satisfaction.