New cranes for a “Top Innovator”

Customer

Bergmann & Steffen GmbH was originally founded as an engineering firm by Klaus Bergmann and Günter Steffen. In the 50 years of its existence, it has developed into one of the leading companies for remote laser welding systems and technology. The Spenge-based manufacturer’s core business includes welding systems for the automotive industry. With great success. Bergmann & Steffen was presented with an award by Top100 in 2019 and named “Top Innovator”.

Requirement

An extension added in 2019 increased the surface area of Bergmann & Steffen’s production workshops by more than 1000 m². The extension is used for assembling components and supplying production machinery. Two reliable cranes that travel on one crane runway are needed to transport and handle components and workpieces. The crane operators must be able to use the cranes safely and flexibly. In particular, any possible collisions between the two cranes must be avoided.

Solution

The two Demag EPKE single-girder overhead travelling cranes and their trolleys travel at variable speeds and can therefore be positioned precisely. Employees use a Demag DRC-MJ radio control system to control the cranes ergonomically and precisely by means of a joystick.

Installation safety is ensured through monitoring provided by the smart Demag SafeControl system. An optical anti-collision system for both cranes provides the SafeControl system with data on the crane positions. If the distance between the two cranes falls below the defined minimum distance, the SafeControl system switches off the travel drives.

Long-travel limit switches prevent the cranes from colliding with the limit stops and thus avoid dangerous situations for man and machine caused by load sway.

Technology

The single-stage anti-collision system is an optical addition to the crane which detects the approach of one crane to another and supplies data to the SafeControl system.

A two-stage long-travel limit switch prevents the cranes from colliding with the limit stops. In the case of two-stage cut-off, the long-travel motion is switched to creep speed by the first limit switch. The second limit switch switches the drives off just before the limit stops are reached and thus prevents dangerous load sway.

The crane operator controls the relevant crane by joystick with a Demag DRC-MJ radio controller. The load range is shown in 20% increments on the integrated display.