Tube Manufacturer Raises Pickling Throughput With Semi-Automated Crane

G.W. Becker, Inc., (Hermitage, PA) a manufacturer of overhead cranes, recently commissioned a 15 ton semi-automated crane. The project included the turnkey design, manufacturing, installation and start-up. The severe-duty unit is utilized in a pickling application for a tube manufacturer.

The crane is equipped with a pair of hoists on a single trolley used to lower and raise pipe in and out of a series of dipping tanks. The pipe is manually connected to the hoist hooks to ready the item for pickling. The bridge is traversed manually over the dip tanks. A pair of magnetic proximity switches is used to slow down and stop the crane when properly aligned to initiate a dipping process.

Through the use of a ground-based HMI touch screen, the operator selects one of four predefined dipping recipes. If one of the recipes does not meet the dipping specifications, the operator has the option of entering a custom, step-by-step process. Once the recipe has been defined, it is communicated to an onboard PLC via wireless Ethernet and the trolley is dispatched to execute a specific dipping "recipe" advancing from tank to tank.

During the actual dipping process, the load is never disconnected from the crane and is lowered into the tank at an angle to allow air to escape the pipe. After full immersion is complete, the pipe is brought to a horizontal position (parallel hook centers). When raising a pipe out of a tank, one hoist is initiated prior to the second, providing a hook offset. This offset allows the remaining pickling fluid in the pipe to evacuate when the pipe is completely lifted out of the tank. Before indexing to the next step in the recipe, the crane will wait for a predefined set period of time allowing the dipping fluid in the pipe to drain back into the dipping tank. The hooks are then paralleled and the process continues. Positioning of the trolley hoists over the dip tanks is accomplished using encoder feedback mounted on an idler wheel.

Once the dipping process is completed, the crane will proceed to the unload station where the parts are removed from the dipping rack. The crane is then put in queue awaiting a call from the operator and the process is repeated. A radio control system with a remote transmitter is installed and used as a means of back up manual operation in addition to the HMI display screen.

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