Hawe’s Hydraulic Weight Balancing Saves Electricity
HAWE Hydraulics is developing unique solutions that are both energy efficient and durable.
Posted: December 2, 2013
HAWE Hydraulics (Charlotte, NC), a leading global manufacturer and supplier of sophisticated hydraulic components and controls for the mobile, industrial, and renewable energy markets, is developing unique solutions that are both energy efficient and durable. For large machining centers, balancing the weight of spindle heads and work piece tables pays off.
These solutions reduce energy consumption while lowering the total costs of ownership for these types of machines. When combined with counterbalance valves, even greater electrical power savings can be achieved.
Hydraulic weight balancing is an automatic process. Once the system is pressurized it no longer requires additional energy input. The hydraulic cylinder is connected to the accumulator which takes up the weight of the spindle head and/or work piece table.
The pressure is set so the cylinder balances the weight and only the friction force and inertia mass must be overcome to move the spindle head along its axis. This balancing of the spindle head and/or work piece table requires significantly less power to drive, thus lower power consumption.
HAWE Hydraulics provides a broad line of potential solutions to accomplish this; more commonly used is the compact MPN power pack. The MPN Power unit provides high operating pressures for filling/emptying the system and therefore, permits a larger tank volume.
This can all be accomplished while maintaining a compact footprint. The MPN power pack can be configured with a variety of valving combinations and is deliverable as a complete system to meet all your hydraulic weight balancing applications.