The clean room process places special requirements on lifting equipment, and crane manufacturers and distributors are more than happy to meet these requirements. Sally Spencer reports

Manufacturing processes that require clean room facilities are increasing, and the demand for suitable lifting equipment is also on the rise, with manufacturers either launching new products or modifying existing ranges.

Shupper-Brickle Equipment Co. President and Head of Engineering Sales Andrew T Litecky said: "High-tech manufacturing drives the demand for clean room compatible elevators, especially electronic products that must be manufactured or assembled in a dust-free environment.

Paul Jordan, director of Hoist UK, added that suppliers are expanding their clean room product portfolio through continuous innovation.

"There are more and more options for customers to explore, giving them more solution choices and the opportunity to cooperate with providers like us, who can provide tailor-made services," he said.

Lift Turn Move added that some of its customers are expanding their production facilities and therefore need more cranes. "Other customers have problems with old cranes and want to buy the latest technology," said Managing Director John Jones. "Downtime is the biggest problem and cost they face."

He added that LTM's new GP series has a higher duty cycle, which means more usage per hour and less maintenance. "Our goal is to reduce the total cost of ownership by reducing downtime and simple annual maintenance procedures."

Mennens has been working in the clean room field since he started supplying semiconductor specialist ASML in 1998. Since then, the market has continued to evolve. Mennens launched its dedicated brand Cleanroom Cranes in 2011 and now offers a "total solution." It works closely with Verlinde and uses its equipment in its cranes and crane systems.

"The most important thing is that you will not bring in any contaminants in the first place, and then you can ensure that your products will not be contaminated," said Managing Director Danny van Deuzen. "This is not just about the crane, but the complete structure. If you adopt a steel structure and start welding, you may have pinholes [can capture pollutants]. We use non-exhaust wires and non-exhaust clean room kits. There are many products that can prevent any type of pollution.” According to Sky Hook, the drivers of change include greater attention to ergonomics and safety. "The lifting applications in these environments often come from maintenance and repair situations that have developed over time, or were neglected in the initial equipment design process," said Thomas Christensen, a design expert at the family business.

The other factors driving demand depend to a large extent on the industrial sector. For example, according to John Vander Linden, the global product manager of the electric chain hoist conductor industry node is becoming smaller and smaller, and wants to shift the wafer size from 300 mm to 450 mm, which increases pollution in the manufacturing process cost.

At the same time, in the food and pharmaceutical industries, “safety and quality are increasingly becoming the focus of public attention”, and manufacturers must take into account the need to eliminate pollution risks while still controlling costs and maintaining or increasing productivity.

Christensen said that although there are a few things in common, the specific needs vary from industry to industry.

"Although the food industry emphasizes corrosion resistance due to the need for constant washing, the semiconductor industry emphasizes strict particle generation restrictions and antistatic components," he said. "National defense and energy clean room environments tend to put more pressure on the heat generated by the brake components."

David Round Company Sales and Marketing Director Matt Downing agrees that demand depends on each customer's quality and safety standards for their facilities, as well as their surface finish requirements.

"Some require polished surface treatment," he said. "According to my experience in the past 20 years, the standards for pharmaceutical processing are much stricter than for food processing-but this situation is slowly starting to change."

Downing said that stainless steel, lubricant-free, corrosion-resistant, and paint-free solutions are the most important requirements, but added that in most clean room environments, even paint is generally considered unacceptable. "It must be all stainless steel, easy to clean and maintain, and minimize particle shedding."

At the same time, at Shupper-Brickle, Litecky stated that the highest requirement of its clean room customers is to seal lubricants in closed oil baths and stainless steel parts. He added that the Shupper-Brickle crane “starts with all moving parts in stainless steel or electroless nickel plating. This prevents corrosion and minimizes the particles released into the air. It is easy to wipe and keep clean.”

Christensen of Sky Hook agrees that stainless steel is the "preferred structural material", but insists that other finishes and coatings meet most cleanroom requirements, "as long as care is taken to ensure proper quality during application." "Requirements will always be focused on minimizing particles generated by moving and rotating components," he said.

Vander Linden added that not only do industry sectors have different requirements, but they can also vary greatly within an industry, depending on the processes they serve.

"For example, requirements in a dry, non-corrosive environment may be more focused on controlling contamination risks through the use of food-grade lubricants and gearbox drip pans," he said. "In wet areas, more attention needs to be paid to corrosion resistance, while in washing areas, the equipment must be sealed for high-pressure cleaning. Some areas may require a combination of these functions."

According to Vander Linden, stainless steel components-push wheels, hooks, pulleys, etc.-eliminate the risk of corrosion. If an electrical enclosure is provided, Columbus McKinnon ensures that it is NEMA 4X and stainless steel. Moreover, he added that for food industry applications, the company often replaces its chains and transmissions with food-grade lubricants.

Jordan at the British Hoist Company agrees that lubrication is "a major issue". "Ideally, use no lubricants as much as possible, but this is not always an option. However, we provide customers with Verlinde's BH series electric belt hoists, which is a suitable solution because we have the ability to provide The device is equipped with a lubrication-free Dyneema sling. Of course, all lubricants in gearboxes, etc. are biodegradable."

Lift Turn Move sells a large number of lifters to food preparation areas (such as large bags of food processing) and requires many operations per hour. Therefore, their highest requirements are high duty cycle, stainless steel, no lubricant, no peeling paint, and corrosion resistance. Jones's statement.

Jordan from Hoist UK added that pharmaceutical and sanitation customers need uniform, non-horizontal polished surfaces that can be easily cleaned with stainless steel.

“We have worked with many customers in different industries and spent a lot of time designing structural stainless steel components for gantry and crane bridges. These components are designed to have no horizontal surfaces and are polished to a BPE SF3 surface finish (0.76 microns),” he said. Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all lifting equipment solution for clean rooms or sanitary environments, and most of this work is tailored specifically to the requirements of individual customers. Therefore, having a wide range of products and systems is ideal, as is having a dedicated design and technical team to work with individual customers.

"The equipment is customized according to each customer's requirements and specifications," said Tang Ning of David Round. "Due to our engineering and design capabilities, we are able to meet any requirements for the construction of our cranes. We strive to provide the cleanest, most reliable, and most durable devices because they are designed for heavy use and work cycles."

He added that approximately 50% of David Round's business is customized solutions. "Some of them are stainless steel, some are custom non-stainless steel hoists, winches and floor crane designs designed for rugged applications and once again meet the requirements of each customer."

Among the company's many product developments, he took the stainless steel work positioning crane exhibited at Interphex 2017 as an example. The 500-pound capacity work positioner has a lifting height of 47.5 inches and features include sandblasting.

"We have built multiple versions of this device," Tangning said. "Some have electric lifts, some have manual lifts, some have custom-sized desktops, etc." Customized solutions account for "more than half" of Sky Hook's business, and its clean room suite includes use to reduce particle generation and maintain it during flushing. Replace some uncoated components with better materials. "Everything from shafts, rollers, bushings, grease types, coated cables and welded counterweights has received attention," Christensen said.

Sky Hook's latest product line includes a new LoadLock clutch brake design for smoother operation, an articulated arm to increase the Sky Hook's range of motion, and a pneumatic balancer option for customers who regularly lift relatively uniform loads.

"All these products are developed based on the feedback we received during the customer's search for lifting solutions and after they have already purchased," Christensen said. "It's always customized," said van Deuzen from Mennens/Cleanroom Cranes. "We try to stick to the standard product, but it is always customized in terms of support structure or lifting height."

He said that the lifting capacity, the speed, and the way the hoist is operated—whether it is independent, on the beam or on the free-standing crane—are all important considerations for the customer.

"We have a range of cranes ranging from 50 kg to 10 tons. Our basic policy is to always use belts for lifting. The belts are mainly made of Dyneema, so we don't bring any grease or lubricants into the clean room. Then It’s the question of what the customer intends to do with the crane—is it two cranes working together, or is it a separate system, a boom system? What is the lifting height? How many rooms do we have to build in the facility? "These are all It is a question that we considered together with the customer when we started the design. "

Columbus McKinnon said that with the exception of a series of stainless steel trolleys it catalogs, almost all cleanroom operations are custom-made. It has also taken the step of appointing a "global spokesperson for the account manager, who studies the industry in depth to identify the needs of potential customers so that we can continue to add features they value."

As an example of its "a la carte menu", Columbus McKinnon can provide 100% stainless steel gourds, or, for customers with less stringent applications and tight budgets, it can provide Niclad coating. "We offer trolleys made of stainless steel with capacities ranging from 1/4 ton to 2 ton," says Vander Linden. "These trolleys are also equipped with sealed stainless steel bearings that are'lubricated for life'.

We treat them as the ultimate clean room trolleys because they can be paired with most hook-mounted cranes of the same capacity, they are not corroded in most environments, are suitable for washing, and there is almost no risk of contaminating the area process. Where to use.

"In addition, we have a single-phase transmission unit-Shopstar VS-which can reach 63 fpm at some capacity. We provide this with another new product, the CM Rocket Pendant, which is very ergonomic Learned pendant, IP65 (NEMA 4/4X). This pendant is durable, lightweight, and easy to use with gloves commonly used in clean room environments."

Lift Turn Move said that it will customize all applications to the clean room area. It provides GIS GPR food grade cranes and trolleys with a lifting capacity of up to 120 kg.

The corrosion-resistant electric chain hoist is suitable for food, pharmaceutical or chemical industries, sewage treatment plants and outdoor use.

GIS launched its new generation GPR 500 food grade hoist in January this year. "This gourd is easy to maintain," said Jones of Lift Turn Move. "The modular design of the electric chain hoist means that wearing parts can be disassembled and replaced quickly and easily-and because of the polygonal connection, no special tools are required. This saves time and cost, which is appreciated by service technicians and customers alike. "

Paul Jordan stated that providing customized solutions has always been an important part of Hoist UK's business. Its internal design and manufacturing team and CNC machinery enable it to manufacture the products required for the project, whether it is an adjusted solution or a suitable solution 100 % custom made.

"We are an approved distributor of Verlinde lifting equipment. Some of the products we provide for clean room and sanitary applications are more standard, mass-produced products. Then at Verlinde, components are changed to better suit the clean room working environment, and then further Modify once we use them in our work," Jordan said. "Our Verlinde series equipment provides us with the best equipment platform to launch this customized plan for our customers without having to design the crane from scratch," he said. "Although we have developed a series of our own small clean room wire rope hoists, suitable for low load applications of 250 kg SWL and below."

Litecky said that about 25% of Shupper-Brickle's business is customized solutions, and recently the company has seen an increase in demand for ultra-dense clearance wire ropes and chain hoists. "The application usually includes monorail beams connected to the ceiling, so the hoist must not only meet clean room requirements, but also must be compact enough to operate in a limited space."

Lift Turn Move said that the demand for higher-load lifting equipment is leading the direction of research and development, while Mennens/Cleanroom Cranes said that after spending time in improving the design of small cranes in the past few years, they are now studying control and “how to keep them as effective as possible”. It may be clean and simple". Van Deuzen added that Cleanroom Cranes is now expanding its scope by providing tools.

Columbus McKinnon said that it is currently adding smart features to its hoists to provide customers with maintenance demand notifications and preventive maintenance alerts. "At CMCO, we are always looking to add additional value-added features," said Vander Linden. "Magnetek joined the Columbus McKinnon family and opened up a series of functions that benefit the industry-including clean rooms."

Progressive Media International Co., Ltd. Registered address: 40-42 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8EB, UK. Copyright 2021 Progressive Media International Limited. all rights reserved.