Page 43 - trends in automation
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Time plays an important role in the production of precious met-
als. In order to obtain even more speed and precision, Autocon
Innovations in South Africa decided to install Festo technology
in a new machine for the production of small gold bars. The
automated system which Festo supplied increases the loading
capacity of the machine compared with existing solutions from
1,500 to 4,000 100-gram gold bars. The new machine also
makes it easier to monitor the quality of the gold, since this can
be read from the stamped logo and the serial number, and also
from the precise weight tolerances. These tolerances are within
a range of 5 mg, reducing the risk of theft to a minimum.
The products supplied by Festo for the automated system
ensure the production process is more reliable in the long-term.
For example, the toothed belt-drive ELGG has a proven service
life of 2,500 km per slide. The automated system offers a great
deal of flexibility, since the combination of the new electric
drive ELGG-TB and the toothed-belt axes EGC-120 allows an
additional five slides to be added. What is more, the toothed-
belt axes of the EG series provide a wide choice of motor
mounting options. The motor can be mounted on any of four
sides, and this position can be changed at any time.
More gold, more money:
Festo components increase the loading
capacity of the automated system for the production of 100-gram bars.
Photos: © Rand Refinery
South Africa
Time is gold
Automated production of gold bars
2.2013
trends in automation
Synergies/Festo worldwide
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