Column and Boom Manipulator

• The Columns of both the RC and TRC types are supported on precision crossroll bearings. The larger machines have pre-loaded cross-roll bearings, which eliminates the free play, and which is extremely important since any play in the cross-roll bearing is considerably increased at the end of the boom when it is in the fully raised and fully extended position.
• Column rotation can be motorized, but in any case all “AMIN” machines have a manual locking arrangement to lock the column in any of the 360°   Positions.
• The boom saddle, or carriage, is fitted with rollers which travel along the machine slide-ways. Each of the rollers is fitted with 2 pre-loaded Taper Roller bearings carried on eccentric shafts. The Rollers can be adjusted for wear and tear and also for precision and vibration-less travel.
• Boom elevation is through high torque AC geared motor incorporating an  electromagnetic brake, the final drive being through rack and pinion. Some of our competitors still employ chain elevation which we consider unsatisfactory since it is impossible to eliminate “bounce”. Bounce accumulates particularly where a Welder’s platform or Lay Trough is fitted and is aggravated by any movement of the welder. Some of our competitors use lead-screw elevation which is unsatisfactory since flux, dust etc. accumulate and the lead-screw then becomes locked in the lead-screw nut. Both chain and lead-screw method are used by this company and discarded some years ago.
• A further important point is that the actual boom elevation and boom traverse drive is mounted on the saddle itself.
• “AMIN” ensure that the boom / saddle / welding head, etc. are fully counterbalanced by a weight which moves up and down inside the column, which takes considerable strain away from the elevation gearing. The counter balance weight is connected to the saddle by a heavy duty wire rope which incorporates an anti-fall device.
• The boom traverse drive is achieved through AC Frequency Variable Drive & AC Motor, reduction gearing and rack and pinion drive.
• A most important feature of the “AMIN” machine is the design of the machine slide-ways along-with the very wide rollers, which are carried in the saddle, traverse.

We understand that the Rotators and Column & Boom Manipulators may be used for cladding operations and we should mention that in these cases very slow movements are essential. We can incorporate in the “AMIN” traverse drive 2  speed gear box which enables the boom to be retracted very slowly, e.g. –