Category Archive: News and Events Post
We are a proud sponsor of Suzy Hobbs Baker’s tour through nuclear facilities in Europe during February and March. Suzy is a nuclear energy advocate and serves as the executive director of PopAtomic Studios: an independent non-profit organization that uses the power of visual and liberal arts to enrich public discussion on atomic energy and how it affects our daily lives. Her tour was launched through the Nuclear Literacy Project, created in 2012 by PopAtomic Studios. The Nuclear Literacy Project aims to demystify nuclear technologies, as well as to learn how nuclear energy affects our daily lives.
You can follow Suzy’s journey by clicking the “Diary of a Nuclear Tourist” tab on the Nuclear Literacy’s Website. Her visits include Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria, the European Nuclear Society’s Conference for Nuclear Communicators in Switzerland, and more! With her tour and through her diary communication, Susie hopes to expand the dialogue on energy issues, exploring why nuclear technologies have flourished in some cultures, while being dismissed by others.
Everyone at American Crane is pretty excited about attending and showing at this year’s Waste Management Show. The WM2013 is the must-attend international conference for those in the radioactive materials handling industry. The WM Symposia, a non-profit organization dedicated to education and opportunity in waste management, hosts the conference, which runs from February 24-28, at the Phoenix Convention Center (PCC). It features a wide variety of speakers, seminars, and panels and is expected to attract over 2,200 people from 25 countries.
The theme of the WM2013 is “International Collaboration and Continuous Improvement.” The highlights will include:
- David G. Huizenga (Senior Advisor US DOE)
- Mark Corey (Assistant Deputy Minister Energy Sector Natural Resources Canada)
- Congressman Doc Hastings (WA 4th District)
- Plus 500 technical papers and over 100 technical sessions
Of course, it won’t be all work and podium lectures. There will be plenty of opportunities to mix and mingle with the movers and shakers of the radioactive material handling world, plus access to all of Phoenix’s fun activities.
Bottom line: if you are planning to attend WM2013, make sure to drop by Booth #503 and visit with the experts from American Crane. We would love to see you and show and tell you why we are a leading manufacturer of cranes, hoists, and other material handling equipment. If want to learn more about WM2013 you can visit their website or drop us a line for more information.
At American Crane & Equipment Corporation, our service department is second to none. We feature seasoned field and in-house technicians that include certified crane inspectors, certified welders, expert riggers, and proven fitters. Put them all together and the American Crane service team can do everything from emergency calls to preventative maintenance and inspections, repairs, rebuilds and parts supply. Scheduling regular crane and hoist maintenance reduces unplanned downtime, helping you avoid costly OSHA violations and ensuring the safety of workers. Of course, the strengths of our unparalleled service department do not end there. If you choose to work with American Crane, you can also look forward to benefits like:
- Emergency service 24/7/365 days per year – AmericanCrane.com/EmergencyService
- Certified Crane and Hoist Inspectors
- Never having to wait for a part due to our large inventory of over a million dollars in crane parts and components, including brands such as American Crane (ACECO), Munck, Columbus McKinnon (CMCO): CM, Coffing, Yale, Shaw Box, Budgit & Chester
- Repairs and modifications to all cranes and hoists available on site or at our state- of- the- art repair center (Columbus McKinnon certified)
- Free site visits to evaluate service needs and competitive price quotes
- Load testing capabilities from 250 pounds to 200 tons utilizing steel certified weights
- In-house engineering and manufacturing support
Simply put, no one can match American Crane’s cost-effective and extensive service department. If you are looking for a company that will meet or exceed all your crane and hoist service needs, then check out American Crane & Equipment Corporation today.
Our customers utilize cranes and hoists in many different environments. Some are relatively safe with few noticeable hazards, while others can be downright dangerous. If you have followed the news at all, you might have noticed that as the world’s manufacturing base has grown, so has the number of explosions from flammable liquids, vapors, gases, and especially combustible dust.
At American Crane, we have made it a point to direct a great deal of focus to this ever-growing problem. It is why we design and manufacture numerous cranes and hoists for hazardous areas. If the danger of a fire or explosion exists, our explosion-proof equipment is quite necessary. Because of our expertise in this critical area, our equipment is constructed and erected to offer the absolute highest level of protection. American Crane is so committed to safety that we carry cranes, hoists, and trolleys in four different areas of classification:
•Class I (Gas & Vapors), Division 1, Groups C and D
•Class I (Gas & Vapors), Division 2, Groups B, C and D
•Class II (Combustible Dusts), Division 1, Groups E, F and G
•Class II (Combustible Dusts), Division 2, Groups F and G
Products like our Spark Resistant Air Hoists and Explosion-Proof Enclosures are just a couple of the many different explosion proof items we offer.
At the end of the day, the safety of the clients we serve will always be job #1 for everyone at American Crane.
May Joy and Prosperity be abundant in 2013!
Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year from everyone at American Crane!
American Crane & Equipment Corp, headquartered in Douglassville, PA, has been servicing industry since 1972.
Our Products and Services include:
- Custom Cranes and Material Handling Equipment for most applications including Nuclear, Aerospace, Explosion Proof, and Single Failure
- Standard Pre-Engineered Industrial Cranes
- Full Line of Industrial Hoists
- Specialized Equipment including Bridge Maintenance Travelers
- Lift Beams and Grapples
- Field Service Support
We are constantly updating their website to better service our customers. Our on-line catalog includes a comprehensive list of Cranes, Hoists and replacement parts. We have equipment and parts for Al-Vac, Budgit, Chester, CM, Coffing, Gorbel, Little Mule, Munck, Shaw-Box and Yale.
We have added 2D and 3D Cad drawings available to download for our American Crane Standard Class D with Planetary Gearbox Open Deck Hoisting. We want to offer our customers the ability to download these drawings directly into their plans- Customers can download drawings no matter what their software, whether they use AutoCAD, Pro-E, Inventor, Solidworks, Cadopia, SolidEdge, TurboCAD or other platforms. Click here.
We have also added CM replacement parts for series 622 hand hoists. If you need a part for a CM (Columbus McKinnon) chain hoists you can open our exploded view and click on the part needed in the diagram. We hope this will make it easier for our customers to find the right part quickly, even if they don’t know the part number. Click here.
Please check back often as we are constantly updating and adding to our online catalog and website, www.americancrane.com. For more information please call toll free 877-877-6778 or email info@americancrane.com.
The water has receded and the gusts have calmed, but the cleanup is massive. Hurricane Sandy has left piles of debris, fallen trees, downed power lines, ruptured tanks, and other destruction along its path. The bright spot in all this devastation is the overwhelming support extended to the victims of this disaster; from an all-star cast of musicians sharing their collective talents for fund raising to local volunteers giving their time to help in the recovery effort.
American Crane and Equipment has the right equipment in stock and ready to ship to make these efforts safer and easier for the many people working to help victims. Our CM Dixie Forestry Tools, Lever Tools, Hand Chain Hoists, and Rigging Components are designed to overcome the challenges in conditions where objects are large and awkward and lifting must be precise.
To view all of our equipment, cranes and services visit our homepage at www.americancrane.com.
American Crane is thrilled to announce the installation of one of our innovative Underhung Crane Systems for Boeing in North Charleston, South Carolina. Calling on 40 years of experience, our entire team was able to design, manufacture, and install the 80-ton capacity custom Underhung Crane System. The system, whose runway alone boasts 3.6 million pounds of steel, includes a number of unique custom features that make it a landmark in our history of innovation:
- A complex yet easy-to-operate control system with infinite position possibilities that allows for the lifting of a wide variety of objects
- 14 bridges and 3 trolley carriers; with carrier ability to rotate +/- 180 degrees
- The operator chair is located in the carrier and comes with a large color touch screen that allows real-time information gathering.
- The system includes 1,216 bridge wheels and over 6 miles of flexible cables
To say that we are proud of Boeing’s new crane is a ridiculous understatement. It was truly a great combination of form and function, which we know, will give Boeing outstanding and consistent service for many years to come.
The Boeing South Carolina Facility Custom Crane System
American Crane & Equipment Corporation is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. American Crane is a custom crane supplier specializing in engineered products for aerospace, commercial nuclear, DOE nuclear, NRF, and automated systems, and is known for tackling unique “critical lift” applications. American Crane also performs repairs, inspections, retrofits, and on-site maintenance as well as the sale of spare parts and standard equipment.
This project included the design, manufacture and installation of an 80 ton capacity custom Underhung Crane System with multiple bridges. These bridges can be interlocked to allow the trolley (carrier) to be transferred from one bridge to another throughout the system. The 460 ft x 1000 ft building is designed without columns, which allows 100% accessibility from the crane system.
Crane System Description
American Crane manufactured and installed the overhead crane system used in the Boeing South Carolina 787 final assembly building. There are 14 interlocking underhung bridges on the building runways. Twelve of the bridges are suspended in the main hanger bay, which is 1000′ long and 460′ wide. The main bay houses four (4) 1000′ runways each containing three (3) bridges. There are two auxiliary runways, one above the West mezzanine and one above the East mezzanine, with an underhung interlocking bridge on each runway.
The heart of the crane system is the three (3) “carriers” the operators use to lift airplane components. The carriers can move anywhere in the hanger runway system by transferring from bridge to bridge. The operator can link up to three (3) adjacent bridges together to lift very wide loads (tandem carriers 300′ apart).There are also four (4) 75′ long fixed carrier runways above the Southwest mezzanine used for carrier maintenance. In addition, a moveable work platform is used for workers to perform inspections, maintenance, and repairs on the bridges and runways.
Each carrier is controlled by an operator’s chair which has 10 joysticks and numerous switches and pilot lights. The operator moves the bridge, from which the carrier is suspended, using one of the joysticks. The lower carrier structure rotates 370º. There are two hoist beams which move in and out and are suspended from the lower carrier structure. Each beam has two underhung hoists with each hoist movable along the beam. Including the bridge and the hoist, each of the four crane hooks is movable along six axes. The hoists can be used singularly or in any combination up to a maximum of four (4). Each bridge can hold two 40 ton capacity carriers.
Electrical Control System
Each bridge and carrier is controlled by an on-board PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). The entire crane system is monitored by a separate Supervisory PLC installed in the maintenance area. This Supervisory PLC controls collision avoidance, emergency stop functions, and system status. Each axis of the six crane axes has an absolute positioning system accurate to 1/4”. The positioning system for the bridge and the carrier is a magnetic linear transducer type while all others use absolute rotary encoders. The Supervisory PLC also controls the adjacent linked bridges when multiple bridges are moved simultaneously. All crane inputs (limit switches, relays) and operator inputs are routed to the on-board PLC and mimicked to the Supervisory PLC. The on-board PLC then directs the motor controller (contactors or VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) in the appropriate crane movement. All the bridge E-Stop pushbuttons are hard-wired to the Supervisory PLC control panel through runway energy chain systems. The on-board bridge PLCs communicate to the Supervisory PLC through fiber optic industrial Ethernet cables also in the runway energy chain systems. The on-board bridge PLC relays the on-board carrier PLC communications to the Supervisory PLC. The on-board carrier PLC communicates to the bridge PLC via wireless industrial Ethernet waveguide system installed on each bridge.
The Supervisory PLC control panel is connected to a desktop PC with a color touch-screen monitor. This is the HMI (Human Machine Interface) for the operators and maintenance personnel to access the entire crane system status. Each carrier has an industrial integrated PC with a color touch-screen adjacent to the operator’s chair. This is the HMI for the operator to access individual crane (bridge & carrier) status dynamically and perform some high-level crane functions.
The bridges and carriers are powered by three phase 480 vac conductor bars which are installed on both the bridge runways and bridge girders. The bridges can be moved without a carrier using a local control panel with minimal pushbutton controls.
Project Highlights
- Crane system has 14 bridges and three (3) trolleys (carriers).
- The main runway is 460 ft x 1,000 ft for a total building coverage of 460,000 sq ft.
- Project was complex with an aggressive installation schedule.
- Large capacity (80 ton) for Underhung Crane System.
- The system has three (3) trolleys (carriers) which have the ability to rotate +/-180 degrees. Each trolley (carrier) features two (2) single girder beams supporting two (2) 10 ton hoists on each, four (4) hoists total. Each hoist has its own trolley allowing for movement in all directions.
- Controls system has infinite position possibilities providing precision control. This allows for lifting objects of various shapes and difficult centers of gravity. The supervisory PLC/PC is located in the “maintenance barn” and communicates to the bridge PLC via Ethernet fiber optic network (7,800 ft of fiber optic cabling). The carrier PLC communicates to the bridge PLC via wireless Ethernet waveguide system (1,530 ft of waveguide).
- The operator chair is located in the carrier and is complete with a color touch screen which provides critical real-time information about the crane systems to the operators.
- System includes 1,216 bridge wheels, 216 bridge bumpers, 76 bridge end trucks, and 250,000+ pieces of hardware (such as bolts, nuts and screws).
- Runway contains 3.6 million lbs of steel (1,800 tons).
- The crane system can connect four (4) bridges together, creating a bridge crane with a span of 460 ft.
- Six 130 ft bridges: 141,000 lbs of steel each.
- Six 100 ft bridges: 116,000 lbs of steel each.
- Two 75 ft bridges: 103,000 lbs each.
- Entire project over 5 million lbs (2,500 tons) of steel.
- Installation was completed by assembling the bridge on the floor. A custom lifting device aided in lift actions and also served as a transport structure.
- The bridge and carrier absolute position is determined by non-contact linear transducers which use uniquely placed magnets in the bars along the runways to produce the position within ½ inch. There is 9,680 ft of transducer bars along the runways and bridges.
- The bridge uses energy chain (flexible cable track) for the hardwired E-stops and fiber cables to connect to the building wiring at the supervisory PLC. The chain lies in a metal trough for support along the building runway. There are two multi-conductor cables in each chain for each bridge, and every cable includes 12 copper wires.
- Total length of bridge entry chain is 6,150 ft.
- Total length of trough is 11,550 ft.
- Total length of multi-conductor cable is 12,300 ft.
- Total length of individual wires is 147,600 ft.
- The carrier uses energy chain to connect the moveable components together. There are 146 multi-conductor cables on each carrier.
- Total length of carrier energy chain is 700 ft (each carrier).
- Total length of multi-conductor cable is 7,300 ft (each carrier).
- Total length of individual wires is 55,300 ft (each carrier).
- Total length of flexible cables for the bridges and the three (3) carriers: 34,200 ft (over six miles).
- Wire in those cables: 313,500 ft (almost 60 miles).
To learn more about our custom capabilities visit our Custom Engineered Material Handling Equipment and Aerospace pages.
For more information contact: Karen Norheim, Vice President of Marketing & IT
1-877-877-6778 Ext. 227 or email at knorheim@americancrane.com
We are excited to announce the completion of our custom designed 80 Ton Underhung Crane System installed at the new Boeing facility located in South Carolina. This facility was built to assemble the world’s first composite aircraft; the 787 Dreamliner. Our integrated crane system, which lifts the parts of this state-of-the-art aircraft, has unique structural and functional advantages.
Find out more in the article link below…
https://viewer.zmags.com/publication/562fc1e9#/562fc1e9/29
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You can follow Suzy’s journey by clicking the “Diary of a Nuclear Tourist” tab on the Nuclear Literacy’s Website. Her visits include Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria, the European Nuclear Society’s Conference for Nuclear Communicators in Switzerland, and more! With her tour and through her diary communication, Susie hopes to expand the dialogue on energy issues, exploring why nuclear technologies have flourished in some cultures, while being dismissed by others.
