Electromechanical Group

Due to the processes involved, many industries such as oil and gas, chemical and petrol-chemical, energy or pharmaceutical industries may encounter flammable substances (gas, vapour, mist, liquid, dust, small fibres) and could involve an explosive atmosphere. Where dynamic performance or compact dimensions are required, servo motor technology provides the best solution. Parker has developed specific ATEX Permanent Magnet AC (PMAC) motors where compact dimensions and dynamic response with torque, speed or positioning control are required. These 10-pole servomotors are up to five times more compact than comparable asynchronous motors. 

Parker’s EX series is also ideal for applications that include: filling machines in the packaging sector, oil and gas valve actuators, automotive paint shop robots and feed mills in the food sector.

An explosive atmosphere is a mixture of air and flammable substances such as gas, vapour or dust under atmospheric conditions that can explode, where for an explosion to occur, three circumstances must be fulfilled: the presence of fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition. Ignition sources, such as flames, electric arcs and sparks, ultrasound, chemicals or electromagnetic radiation have the potential to cause an explosion in certain circumstances.

Parker EX servomotors, characterized by excellent motion quality, great acceleration/deceleration capabilities and high torque output over a wide speed range, are specifically designed to follow the European ATEX regulation for explosive atmospheres, based on the following European directives:

1- 1999/92/EC: Under the end-user responsibility, 1- 1999/92/EC regulates worker safety and explosive zone classification. EX servomotors are designed and certified to be safe under normal operating conditions both in a place where an explosive atmosphere is likely to occur only occasionally (between 10 to 1000h/y) as well as in a place where it can occur for a very short period (>10/y) (see left-hand side of the chart below).

2- 2014/34/EU: Under the supplier's responsibility, 2- 2014/34/EU regulates the device's design compliance for operation in explosive environments. EX servomotors are designed to guarantee safety with a high level of protection, giving single fault tolerance. (see right-hand side of the chart below).

EX servomotors are ATEX compliant for operation in surface industries (Equipment Group II) and in accordance with given levels of flammability for substances present in the atmosphere, such as propane (IIA), ethylene (IIB), Hydrogen & Acetylene (IIC) regarding gas reference and combustible flying (IIA), non-conductive dust (IIB) and conductive dust (IIC) regarding dust reference.  While the temperature classification is T4 (135°C). 

In 2016, Parker extended the EX servo motor compliance to the IECEx standard as well as to the regional Kosha certification for the Korean market. More recently,  EX servo motors have been CCC certified to guarantee compliance with Chinese legislation, where CCC certification is mandatory for explosion proof products (Ex products).  Apart from the specific nameplate, CCC motors have the same construction as IECEx motors. They are intended for use in the same areas (gas or dust) and have the same degree of safety.

As an option, Parker offers a version of the EX series that is certified UL for the North American market in accordance with the UL674 standard. Importantly, Parker’s extensive portfolio of ATEX-rated motors, gearheads and actuators ensures the right combination of application-compatible products can be selected every time. Various winding variants and numerous options are available to offer maximum flexibility.

The precision helical gearing design of the GXA gearbox series associated with the powerful Parker ATEX servomotors range offers smooth and quiet operation for the most demanding high-performance applications. Finally, our well-known ETH electro cylinder range for explosive atmospheres are certified for use in explosive gas atmospheres (device group II, category 2G)

Want to know more about our motor series and international standards? View the slideshare presentation.

This article contributed by Gérard Bernardon, motor application engineer, Electromechanical and Drives Division Europe, Parker Hannifin Corporation.

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For some patients with impaired physical function, rehabilitation equipment can help them to carry out appropriate exercise training, prevent muscle atrophy, improve muscle strength and upper and lower limb motor function. Parker Hannifin can provide safe, stable, and reliable precision motion control for rehabilitation equipment, help people carry out reasonable and effective rehabilitation training, and improve the quality of life.

Recently, Parker's Compax3 Servo Controller has found a new purpose in healthcare and life sciences markets where precise and safe movement is paramount. The drive's flexibility, accuracy, and comprehensive list of safety features have led to its adoption in positioning tables, exercise equipment, and therapy devices. At present, Parker's technology has played an important role in the upper and lower limb intelligent feedback training system launched by a Chinese medical equipment manufacturer.

Guangzhou Yikang Medica Equipment Co, Ltd was developing a multi-joint and exercise system. This new medical device is suitable for the training and rehabilitation of upper and lower limb dysfunction caused by nervous system damage. It is more focused on early rehabilitation training, with passive and active training modes to help patients quickly return to a high quality of life.

The customer worked with Alan Tan, territory sales manager to review the variations in flexibility from patient to patient due to injury and age. They really required a smooth movement to avoid further risk to the patient or injury. The team also desired a way to accurately control the force and position during operation. The safety of the patient, therefore, was paramount. 

The new rehabilitation device is equipped with Parker's

• Compax3 servo drive,

• General Purpose Brushless Servo Motors SMB motor

• Precision Inline Planetary Gearheads - PV Series (PV reducer).

The servo drive is equivalent to the human body's "nerve center", which converts the received signal into a "language" that the motor can understand and execute, so as to precisely control the position, orientation, and state of moving parts. 

The Compax3 Servo drive is far from a new product. Developed by the Electromechanical and Drives Division Europe, Parker's global servo drive platform is widely used in industrial manufacturing to control motorized processes in automated assembly, including robotics and the machining of parts. Parker's customers are well-acquainted with the benefits of the drives used in packaging, the production of sheet goods, and the operation of printing presses, as well as automated testing equipment for both automotive and consumer goods.

For rehabilitation equipment, safety, stability, and reliability are of the utmost importance. Compax3 has excellent electromagnetic characteristics, low electromagnetic radiation; with leakage current protection, and outstanding protection characteristics that can provide a safety guarantee for the equipment. At the same time, it has a built-in programming function that can help users easily achieve complex and diverse personalized control requirements.

In rehabilitation treatment, the intensity and training mode required by different patients and the rehabilitation process are different. Compax3 has fast response speed and powerful functions. Users can not only switch quickly between active and passive training but also make real-time dynamic adjustments during training.

Different flexibility settings can also be set according to needs to achieve gentle movement of muscles and joints. At the same time, in the process of position control and force control switching, there is no overshoot problem. With the smooth-running SMB motor, the equipment runs safely, reliably, and stably, with low noise, and brings users a comfortable and stable recovery experience.

It is not difficult to imagine that in the process of building a higher quality of life for people, such equipment has become an indispensable part. As a pioneer in the field of motion and control, Parker Hannifin has always insisted on "taking purpose as the leading", using core technologies to help industry customers solve the challenges they face, jointly guarding people's health and safety, and achieving a better tomorrow!

Article contributed by Alan Lan, territory sales manager, Electromechanical & Industrial Drives, Parker China, APAC, and the Electromechanical Team.

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How Collaboration With Manufacturers Will Help You Perform Better

Automotive metal stampers' subtle shift from mechanical to hydraulic to servo press may be largely imperceptible, but it is there.

The global servo press market, valued at about $596 million, is expected to grow to more than $710 million by 2026, according to 360 Market Updates.

Stampers are attracted to the servo press's speed and versatility. They boast full working energy at any speed while managing difficult manufacturing processes and various materials. Servo press technology allows for varied speed during the stroke, providing better part ejection, material feed and tool close capabilities than either a traditional or hydraulic press.

But the hydraulic press isn’t going anywhere. In fact, the hydraulic press market is expected to grow by $1.89 billion by 2024, according to Global Hydraulic Press Machine Market 2020-2024. They remain a budget-conscious stamper’s top pick, and possibly the only solution for jobs that require high force demand early in the stroke.

So how real is the stamping shift? And which technology is best suited for metal forming in the automotive industry?

Download our white paper and explore how trends in industrial manufacturing equipment are driving innovation in the automotive industry. 

Automotive metal stamping is a $40 billion industry today, employing more than 115,000 metal stampers at more than 700 metal stamping companies and automotive stamping plants in the United States. Sheet metal sub-assemblies have become a critical peripheral of the automotive industry, stamping parts and sheet metal components for multiple plants and varied products.

Within a typical plant, stamping presses are turning out several automotive components daily, from body panels and chassis to brake and lighting parts. Those presses likely include both hydraulic and servo presses, depending on the requirements of the job.

And because of the range of metal that can be successfully formed by traditional stamping presses, allowing manufacturers to create high-quality metal parts at affordable prices, those machines will likely live on the plant floor for a long time to come.

The ability to successfully press different alloys, from stainless steel to aluminum, is vital for auto manufacturers. Consumers are demanding fuel-efficient vehicles that look like gas-guzzling muscle machines and sleek, fuel-burning sports cars. Other drivers want electric vehicles that can move like traditional cars and trucks. Those demands require manufacturers to find solutions that:

• Scale down overall vehicle weight.
• Go over and above expected safety standards.
• Reduce the vehicle’s price point.

To meet those demands, and give customers the experience they want, auto manufacturing companies are turning to new technology to make it happen.

Most stampers will tell you choosing between a servo press and a hydraulic press isn’t a matter of knowing which is the better machine. It’s the ability to select the right tool for the job.

Servo presses tend to produce greater cycle speeds than their hydraulic cousins, often reaching speeds typically reserved for the traditional mechanical press. But in some stampers’ viewpoint, the hydraulic press’s ability to provide full tonnage and energy through the stroke gives them advantage.

Choosing the right press really comes down to what you’re asking the press to do. To make the right decision, consider these attributes:

• Process control – How important is it that you know everything that’s happening with the machine during operation? Are you working with new material and need to better understand how it’s reacting to the machine? Servo motors provide a wealth of information about the process, which can help quality control.
• Flexibility – If you want to improve production rates and reduce overall manufacturing costs, you’ll want a press that can match tonnage requirements. This is typically found with a mechanical press.
• Speed – When speed is a top concern, many stampers will turn to the servo press. Though servo press slide motions are below 0.5 m/s, but within a stroke, servo motors can achieve high acceleration and restrike within a tenth of a second. Hydraulic presses require idle time each cycle. Still, speed may be less of a concern when it comes to maintaining machine longevity. Both systems can adjust speed during the stroke, prolonging die life.
• Cost – The price to purchase a servo mechanical press is well known. They’re expensive. Despite the higher price point, servo presses often win the cost-effectiveness battle by generating lower operating costs.
• Longevity – Hydraulic presses tend to live longer but have more points of failure to contend with. Servo presses are less expensive on maintenance, though they require specialized and expensive components.

The bottom line? Both servo presses and hydraulic presses balance each other – and the needs of the automotive stamping plant – when employed for the right job.

Whether they are traditional, hydraulic or servo, keeping presses up and running will always prove a challenge for stampers. To help ensure the longevity of each machine, Parker provides solutions, assistance, and a wide array of components for all press motion and control needs used in the metal stamping portion of the automotive industry.

To learn more, download our white paper "Trends in Industrial Manufacturing Equipment Drive Innovation". 

This article was contributed by Joe Chopek, director - global business development,
In-Plant Automotive, Parker Hannifin.

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Today’s challenge for engineers is to continually improve the performance of electric vehicles. This is done through a process of incremental refinements that add up over time. One critical component being looked at consistently is the electric motor and the means by which power is transferred from the battery pack to the traction motor through a gear reduction to the wheels. These components are expected to offer high torque and power density along with other capabilities such as high reliability and low noise.

Using a frameless kit motor can have huge appeal for engineers working on e-mobility drivetrain programs who are often seeking greater design flexibility in ways that allow them to reduce the vehicle size and weight.

Designated as the Global Vehicle Kit (GVK) motor range, the ‘kit’ form of Parker's Global Vehicle Motors (GVM) including only the active magnetic parts of the GVM motor. With the scalable nature of the GVM product family, we can provide solutions from 3kw continuous to 225kw continuous at voltages up to 800VDC

Assembled into the vehicle sub-component by integrating only the active magnetics, and patented cooling, it can simplify mechanical, electrical and cooling interfaces. This reduces space claim, number of parts and failure modes.

Frameless kit motors guarantee the same performance as standard GVM motors and can be the ideal solution for high-volume vehicle sub-components that require high performance in small spaces.

The frameless approach offers many advantages over traditional technologies, thanks to a more seamless mechanical and electrical adaptation to the application requirements. This can lead to a highly efficient and dynamic design. It can, for instance, offer some real benefits in terms of compact sizing, allowing integration in the same space with the gearbox. There are also weight and complexity reduction advantages that are achieved by eliminating the motor frame as well.

“Kit” or frameless motors are the ideal solution to meet light weighting objectives, especially for high-volume applications. Examples include integration into drive train assemblies like transmissions, axles, for truck, bus, construction and mining vehicles. Kit motors are also great solutions for smaller autonomous vehicles used in warehouses and last-mile delivery vehicles

Light weighting is an important design process used by automotive engineers that is especially important to employ in all on-highway and off-highway hybrid and electric vehicles to increase range, performance, productivity and reliability, while reducing space and weight.

Once the OEM chooses the specific solution the more integrated nature of the design means it is easier to mount the motor, and more compact than using equivalent fully housed motors. The reduction in the number of components used means they can deliver lower overall design costs.

GVK is a flexible design solution, leveraging our proven high-power density, high efficiency magnetic and cooling designs, flexible manufacturing processes, that will reduce design risk and time to market.

Crucially, Parker works closely with customers to ensure that the right PMAC motor is selected for a specific application’s needs. This collaborative approach involves taking an informed view from the outset on how the main elements – the stator and rotor – can be seamlessly integrated into the broader vehicle platform.

This solution offers inherent advantages for the end-user, just like the GVM, that include reduced fuel consumption, reduced emissions, quieter operation and a downsizing of the power system.

Overall, direct drive motion construction gives equipment designers the advantages of lower costs, increased reliability and better performing vehicle that is closely aligned to the specific needs of the greener vehicles of tomorrow.

Do you have a project in mind? Reach to our team to discuss your project feasibility and learn more about what is inside the motor.

Article contributed by Giulia Seri, product manager - electric motors, Electric Motion & Pneumatic Division, Parker Hannifin Corporation.

and by Eric Hendrickson, business development manager - vehicle electrification, Hydraulic Pump and Power Systems Division NA, Parker Hannifin Corporation

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With the increased emphasis to reduce emissions, air pollution, resource waste and traffic noise, government legislation is pushing towards the use of electric power to drive ancillaries in work trucks.

This is particularly relevant in construction, materials handling and refuse collection applications operating in urban areas. Adopting electric power take-off (ePTO) as an alternative to the traditional PTO from an internal combustion engine (ICE), brings multiple benefits to the application, the operator, and the environment.

Historically, the PTO output shaft has been part of the internal combustion engine or transmission, which requires the engine to be idling during use. An idling engine can produce up to twice as as much exhaust emissions as an engine while driving.

ePTO makes the vehicle environmentally friendly and is the first step towards hybrid and all-electric powertrains. Decoupling the auxiliary functions from the ICE allows independence with the speed of the diesel engine, ensuring work is carried out in the best yield zone with higher efficiency and less fuel consumption.

The reasons for this development are clear. The strengthening of environmental rules for fine-particle and noise emissions and the constraints imposed by prime contractors for urban work sites increase the sense of urgency.

Added benefits of the diesel engine can be a smaller footprint and fuel consumption savings. For example while driving (traction + PTO) and in town, the diesel engine can be switched off and the ePTO can be used. As a result, the reduced noise at the work site improves communication and therefore safety. 

The ePTO system consists of an inverter and an electric motor powered by a DC power source, for example, a battery. Running auxiliary loads from the battery removes the need to idle the engine during PTO, which reduces fuel consumption, and eliminates air and noise pollution. Similar to a standard PTO, it can be connected to a mechanical transmission system (cardan shaft or gearbox) or to a hydraulic pump. This, however, creates new demands on the hydraulic pump and motors with opportunities for further improvements in efficiency and noise.

There are several solutions to power the ePTO. The first is using a rechargeable battery, which has the capacity to complete a day’s work and can be recharged overnight, benefitting from lower energy price, or using ‘green’ energy.

Alternatively, the battery can be charged using a generator, which is driven by the ICE. This solution is most suited to stop-start applications, such as a refuse truck. Because the battery can be regularly recharged, its size and weight are reduced, but it is still expensive.

While all-electric is not easy to implement on large mobile machines, the electrification of auxiliary loads is profitable, while reducing or eliminating idle time.

As stated previously, power demand from the ePTO can differ depending on the application.

Find out how ePTO is working in three common use cases by downloading the complete article here

Article contributed by Bruno Jouffrey, market development manager - Mobile, Electric Motion and Pneumatic Division, Parker Hannifin Corporation.

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Electrification Lightens the Load in Heavy Lifting Tasks

Since its industry introduction in the 1960s, automation has made an accelerated climb to be a significant trend in material handling applications. Now, automated material handling systems handle a wide range of repetitive and precision tasks in manufacturing and supply chains, along with the eCommerce, logistics, and retail industries. 

These systems offer a range of benefits, including increased productivity, cost control, worker safety, reduced product damage, and more. And as companies expand, they can invest in additional machinery to keep up with demand without worrying about labor shortages.

Download our white paper Off-Road Trends: Driving Cleaner, More Efficient and Connected Machinery, to learn more about trends in the Material Handling industry.

Among the significant equipment trends in material handling are the following:

• Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS): This refers to a variety of technologies that can handle, store, and retrieve material with precision, accuracy, and speed. These systems are used in applications ranging from assembly and production (retrieving and delivering parts for assembly) to retail (bringing parts to the point of sale). 

• Automated guided vehicles (AGVs): These computer-controlled and wheel-based machines travel along the floor of a facility without a human driver. They handle a variety of applications, including material transport, pulling trailers or forklift work. These are typically battery powered and controlled through a combination of programmed software, vision systems, and sensor monitoring. 

• Material handling robots: Robots are used in a wide range of applications and come in a variety of designs. Reach distance, payload capacity and the number of axes of travel is defining characteristics of different models. Robots use what’s known as the end of arm tooling (EOAT) to hold and manipulate either a tool or a piece of material. 

• EOAT: EOAT is itself a major area of a current technological focus, as end-users demand even greater productivity and flexibility from their robotic systems. According to an article in Control Engineering, three of the most consequential current trends include the development of safer grippers that prevent harm to human workers, EOAT connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), and the development of soft grippers that promise to expand the use of robotics in food handling applications. 

• Improved battery technology: Whereas lead-acid batteries have traditionally been used in material handling automation solutions, newer technologies, such as lithium-ion, are making inroads. Compared to the older technology, lithium-ion offers faster charging times, less maintenance, stable voltage with higher travel and lifting speeds. The higher cost of lithium-ion is currently a barrier to adoption for many potential users. But it seems reasonable to expect those costs to come down as the technology is adopted widely for other uses, such as electric passenger vehicles.

Fact is, automated and robotic systems are getting even more and more powerful, enhanced by additional technologies such as the IoT and machine learning. In this “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” handling systems will handle not only the labor, but decision making, troubleshooting and process improvements, all without human involvement. 

This is not to say that there will no longer be roles for humans in these industries. On the contrary, the worker of tomorrow will need new skill sets as he or she walks in (or logs in) to the factory or warehouse. Increasingly, these workplaces are looking for people such as technicians, software and mechanical engineers and skilled operators who can oversee this new and rapidly evolving automated machinery. 

Industrial material handling is being transformed by automated machinery. Tasks — sometimes dangerous or difficult tasks — once handled by humans, are now the province of mobile or stationary machinery running off programming. Increasingly, this machinery is using sensors and other technologies to work with even greater precision and autonomy.

To learn more about trends in the Material Handling industry, read our Off-Road Trends White Paper.

This article was contributed by Parker's Electromechanical and Drives Team.

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