How Your Cranes Can Benefit From Our Many Upgrades

Posted on November 14, 2017October 27, 2017 by Sales and Support

Historians believe that cranes have been around since the 6th century B.C.

There have been many innovations to these machines over the course of thousands of years, but no changes have been as profound as those seen in our lifetime.

Kor-Pak has adapted to a changing world by providing the best and latest technology to our machines. As business demands increase, so do the need for reliable tools.

Rather than investing in a new crane, consider making upgrades to your existing one to take your equipment to the next level. Here’s how your crane can benefit from our many high-quality upgrades.

Automation Upgrades

Technological advancements have brought big changes to our workforce. In fact, an estimated 45 percent of activities in the economy could be automated with already demonstrated technology. Welcome to the future.

Our crane technology also includes innovations that can lead to automated crane handling. We’ve been able to eliminate the need for manual control via a material handling system. This system provides for safer operations, greater reliability, and reduced costs.

A growing trend to operate overhead cranes from the ground instead of an operator’s cab. Through a basic upgrade, you can greatly reduce your cost of labor and let workers focus on other tasks.

Our remote wireless control system allows for efficient operation and eliminates many of the difficulties that workers encounter. This affordable and reliable upgrade can end up saving you big money in the long run.

Mechanical Upgrades

The average crane can last decades. While these machines may be fine structurally, it’s natural for their parts to suffer from wear and tear.

One of our best upgrades is to replace older parts with their new modern versions. Not only does this help extend the life of your crane, but it also increases your efficiency through greater technological advancements. Our updated versions of mechanical products include rope drums, gears, spreader beams, pinions, and more.

Your crane efficiency is key, but so is its safety. Our upgraded products have helped to maximize operator safety to make sure that there are no catastrophes no matter your job site.

Our new storm and parking brakes help to protect you from losing control of your crane due to difficult environmental factors. Furthermore, our newly improved rail clamps can make sure operators are safe in inclement weather.

Upgrading brake systems is one of the best things you can do for your crane. They can help improve the longevity of brake linings, overall performance, and also ensure that you have an updated system in case you need a spare.

Today’s technology is more advanced and optimized for today’s workers than ever before. By making basic mechanical upgrades, you’re giving yourself the safest, most efficient, and longest lasting crane possible.

The Best Cranes

Modern cranes are better than ever before.

But before you invest in a new one try making some basic upgrades. You can extend the life cycle of your current model and increase your safety and work performance in one fell swoop.

Are you considering making upgrades to your crane? We can help. Contact us today to learn more about our upgrades.

How to Select the Best Torque Limiters to Meet Your Needs

Posted on May 9, 2017May 2, 2017 by Sales and Support

No matter the industry, there are a few universal truths about heavy machinery:

It’s expensive.

It works hard.

Downtown costs money.

It’s incredibly important to take care of it.

When it comes to protecting and extending the life of your heavy machinery, there’s one piece of equipment that is vital — the torque limiter.

What do they do and how do you select the one that’s right for your needs? Keep reading for answers to these and more torque limiter questions.

What’s Torque and What Do Torque Limiters Do?

Let’s start by covering all the bases and making sure everyone knows what torque is.

Torque is generally associated with the power of a machine, be it a crane or a Corvette. How many of us first heard the term in a car commercial?

Without delving deep into the physics of it, the layman’s term definition of torque is “a twisting force that causes rotation.”

Torque is the force that determines how hard an engine works, whether it’s the sedan that carries our children to school or the crane that lifts fully-loaded shipping containers. The more torque an engine produces, the more work it can do.

The thing about torque is that not only is it powerful enough to propel objects to great distances and heights, it’s also powerful enough to damage the very machines that generate it.

That’s where torque limiters come in.

These devices, which are often referred to as clutches, control the amount of torque that the driveshaft of a car, truck, crane or another piece of machinery experiences at any given time.

In doing so, torque limiters prevent damage caused by mechanical overload.

How Do They Work?

Ok, so torque limiters protect our machines by doing just that — controlling the amount of torque they experience. But how?

Many ways.

Simple torque-limiting devices rely on a pin that connects two rotating objects.

When the spin they create becomes too great for the machine — that is when there is more torque than it can handle — the pin breaks. The machine stops. Damage is prevented.

Friction devices work sort of like the brakes in your car; a pair of friction linings grip the rotating drive component to decrease torque.

Ball and denet designs use the pressure of springs or pneumatic technology to cap torque. Magnetic and high-tech versions are also available.

Each of these versions range widely in terms of their applicability and, of course, cost.

For example, simple devices, the least expensive, are also the most unpredictable. Pins break at too low of levels, causing at best annoyance and at worst costly interruptions to your operation.

Magnetic versions, meanwhile, are best for low-torque applications.

It’s important to study up on the various torque-limiting devices available and choose the one that will not only keep your equipment up and running the short term, but operating well into the long term.

Kor-Pak offers a wide range of torque-limiting devices and services — and much more. Contact us today for information on how we can serve you.

Getting Proper Maintenance for Your Stromag Brakes

Posted on April 6, 2017April 6, 2017 by Sales and Support

Getting Proper Maintenance for Your Stromag Brakes

Stromag brakes are built to last. However, even the best brakes still need maintenance in order to function correctly.

Improvements have been made over the years to make the maintenance as easy as possible. However, owners still need to know how to troubleshoot and make sure their brakes are running well.

Are you interested in learning how to get maintenance for your brakes? We’ve rounded up some tips for you below — read on to find out.

Keep Track of How Your Stromag Brakes Are Used

There’s no predefined interval of time for how often you should schedule maintenance for Stromag brakes.

Each site has different operating conditions, whether that’s because of weather, frequency of use, or other factors.

That means that you’re the only one who knows how often you should get your brakes checked out.

Stay vigilant to notice any changes in how well the brakes work. If you think that something isn’t right, it may be time for maintenance.

Check the Air Gap

One part of the Stromag brakes that needs to be occasionally checked is the air gap.

An air gap is just what it sounds like — a gap of air between the plate and the brake coil. As the friction lining starts to wear down, the air gap increases.

This can throw off the adjustment of the brakes.

How often the air gap needs to be checked depends on how you’ve been using your brake. Take a look back at your manual for how many millimeters the air gap should be — it varies depending on the model.

If you see the friction lining starting to wear down, don’t operate your brakes again until you’ve reset the air gap.

Don’t Overheat Your Brakes

To prevent needing maintenance too often, be careful not to overheat your brakes.

No matter what brand you use, heat is the mortal enemy of brakes.

When your brakes are overheated, the safety of your equipment is at risk. Overheated brakes can’t do their job.

Overheating causes “fading,” which is when your brakes are really in trouble. If you notice that you have to depress the brake pedals harder than usual, or if it’s taking longer to brake, your brakes are faded.

Prevent this by not putting too much stress on the brakes.

Change The Brake Fluid

This is an easy one to forget about. Most people don’t really think about brake fluid during their day to day operations.

However, brake fluid is an important part of how your brakes operate.

If you don’t change the fluid, it’s more likely to boil under stress. (This goes along with making sure not to overheat your brakes.)

Old brake fluid can also attract moisture. Too much moisture introduces a risk of metal corrosion — which could spell disaster.

You should make sure to change the fluid every two years or so, or as often as recommended for your specific model.

Need More Help?

These are a few ways that you can handle the maintenance of your Stromag brakes on your own. If you’d prefer to have someone else handle it, however, we’ve got you covered.

Check out our brake repair and reline services, or get in touch to find out how else we can help!

How to Properly Manage Railroad Friction Materials

Posted on March 21, 2017March 10, 2017 by Chris Koralik

Manufacturers and suppliers have been hard at work over the past year making improvements to friction materials, methods, and management for rail parts.

Improvements have been made to greases and lubrication systems for railroads, and a number of solutions and equipment have become available for providing the best management of wear and tear on the rails.

If you’re interested in learning how to manage railroad friction properly, keep reading for all you need to know about the right friction materials to use!

How to Manage Railroad Friction Materials the Right Way: The 5 Products You Should Be Using

1. Elecsys RFM-100

In 2013, one of the leading providers of machine-to-machine technology solutions and electronics for industrial applications, Elecsys, introduced its RFM-100 remote monitoring system. This monitoring system is one of the friction materials used for top-of-rail (TOR) and gauge-face lubrications.

The RFM-100 works by continually monitoring the following:

Tank levels
Pump status
Material disbursement
Wheel/axle count
Power availability

Data from the system is accessed by those who are authorized and allows the operator to respond quickly to equipment failures. This, in turn, should increase maintenance efficiency.

2. Interflon Lubrication

Interflon offers a joint/splice bar lubrication product that contains MicPol.

MicPol is a treated form of Teflon. The durable film of MicPol lowers friction, protects against corrosion, dirt, and dust.

The product cleans, creeps, lubricates, and protects and allows for a reduction of product quantities used by up to 90 percent, according to Interflon.

This impressive product offers cost benefits, environmental benefits, and stops lubricants from deteriorating composite pads under the rail.

3. Loram Systems

Loram notes that the right friction management practices allow railroads to improve the stress state of their infrastructure.

Friction materials reduce stress on the railroad infrastructure by controlling track forces and friction.

Loram’s systems work using customizable controllers and the dual positive displacement pumps. This ensures that the correct amount of friction modifier is applied to each rail.

The system also has flexibility. This allows a customer to adapt the same system to ever-changing friction modification, based on specific site demands.

Railmark Bio-Based Rail Lubricants

Railmark Track Works Inc. offers its own branded line of bio-based rail lubricants.

Not only is this one of proper the friction materials you should be using, but it’s cheaper now too!

These new lubricants have a new manufacturing and distribution arrangement that is now able to offer customers a 25 to 33 percent discount on the company’s previous products.

The bio-based rail lubricant meets the EPA’s Environmental Preferable Purchasing criteria and is a USDA BioPreferred product.

SKF/Lincoln Lubrication Systems Solar Panel Kit

Because the majority of lubricators utilize solar panels for power, SKF Lincoln introduced a new solar panel kit designed for durability and security.

The SKF Lincoln solar panel kit was developed to protect the panels from weather damage and vandalism.

SKF Lincoln makes it easy to use too. The kit includes everything required for quick mounting on either the reservoir or at a remote location.

What do you know about friction materials? Tell us in the comments which awesome products we may have missed!

Why Crane Safety Should Be Your Top Focus

Posted on March 14, 2017March 10, 2017 by Chris Koralik

Technically speaking, the human brain might be the most complex machine to ever grace the earth.

From it have come all other machines that we use in our day-to-day lives, from small laptops to the several-stories-tall cranes that help create our homes, business spaces, and infrastructure.

Companies such as Stromag, Sumitomo, Marland, and SEW Eurodrive provide parts for making cranes and other heavy-duty machinery that we use for building.

But as is the case with most areas of innovation, dealing with heavy-duty machinery comes with particular risks.

Those risks can be life-threatening.

This holds especially true for gigantic cranes.

Why are cranes so dangerous?

For starters, cranes are big and bulky. Plus, they can hold tons suspended in the air.

Most of the time they’re fine. One of the times they’re not fine is when the wind blows hard.

As you can imagine, strong wind gusts can jostle a crane’s load, which, as said before, can weigh tons.

Imagine tons of metal and other material swinging about in the air above your head.

Then there’s the presence of snow to consider–snow that compacts and makes operating any machinery in it hazardous.

Another issue that frequently arises with cranes is tight corners in the city

Tight corners sharpen wind gusts, which can complicate the problem even further.

In fact, recent statistics show that as many as 90 crane-related deaths occur each year.

In addition to their size, their increasing complication has become a problem.

Like every machine, small or heavy, cranes started out relatively simple and with one task to accomplish.

Over time, the demand from the machine has grown. Thus, features were added, and the overall machine became more complicated to use.

Additionally, there’s no evidence that suggests older machines are more likely to malfunction or collapse, so both older and newer cranes need an equal amount of attention and maintenance.

There is also a general reluctance to bring down a crane even when the weather shows signs of erupting into a wind storm.

That’s because bringing down a crane means lost time and resources.

On top of that, the ground needs to be okayed for laying stuff–literal tons of stuff–down on.

What can be done to improve crane safety?

Some areas are already taking measures to better crane safety.

For example, at some state and city levels, it is a requirement to have a license and/or insurance to even operate a crane.

Another source for recognizing crane safety is workshops.

These workshops discuss the need for safety and the measures that can be taken to implement it.

Another measure you can take is inspecting your equipment.

It is best to inspect your crane routinely and/or if you’re experiencing any sort of trouble with it. Small problems more often than not lead to big problems when left unaddressed.

A thorough inspection will cover all components of the machine, including its switches, alarms, brakes, gears, clutches, electrical devices, and other heavy industry parts.

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be well on your way to ensuring the safety of others, of yourself, and of your equipment.

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Posted on November 9, 2015November 9, 2017 by Steve Haar

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Pastillas de frenos para turbinas eólicas

Posted on February 15, 2015May 5, 2015 by Chris Koralik

Pastillas de frenos para turbinas eólicas

Kor-Pak se especializa en frenos industriales y materiales de fricción, y las aplicaciones en turbinas eólicas no son la excepción. Kor-Pak ofrece productos de OEM y posventa a las siguientes marcas:

Svendborg;
Twiflex;
Brembo;
Sime;
FTL;
Pintsch-Bubenzer;
Sibre;
Twiflex;
Dellner;
y muchas más.

En Kor-Pak hemos suministrado con éxito pastillas de frenos de alta calidad para turbinas éolicas a OEM, usuarios

Kor-Pak suministra pastillas de frenos de guiñada

finales y distribuidores utilizando nuestros materiales de fricción de moldeado rígido, semimetálicos y sinterizados, y avanzamos con prosperidad en el diseño o la ingeniería inversa de pastillas de frenos a fin de brindar la máxima vida útil a precios competitivos.

Pastillas de frenos sinterizadas para turbinas eólicas

Las pastillas de fricción sinterizadas resultan ideales para las aplicaciones con altas temperaturas, ya que permiten una mayor disipación de calor. Kor-Pak brinda conjuntos completos de pastillas de frenos sinterizadas para todo tipo de aplicaciones de frenado de turbinas eólicas, y lo abastecerá con productos de alta calidad a precios competitivos.

Asociación estratégica para aplicaciones de turbinas eólicas

Kor-Pak hará todo lo necesario para satisfacer sus necesidades. Ya sea para disponer un programa de abastecimiento, realizar pruebas de varios materiales, a fin de garantizar características de desgaste óptimas, o colaborar en proyectos de investigación y desarrollo, Kor-Pak se esforzará por brindar innovación y un servicio destacado de atención al cliente.

Frenos de rueda Johnson Industries

Posted on August 5, 2014May 7, 2015 by Chris Koralik

Kor-Pak ofrece frenos de rueda Johnson Industries de accionamiento mediante resorte y liberación por medios hidráulicos o neumáticos para montaje en placas laterales de bojes.

MODELO	MONTAJE	FUERZA DE SUJECIÓN	PRESIÓN DE LIBERACIÓN	PERNOS DE MONTAJE (diám.)	PESO
		LB (kN)	PSI (BAR)	Grado 5, pulg. (mm)	lb (kg)
*Abrazaderas de rueda*
WC050 (neumático)	Brida	5000 (22)	53 (3.6)	0,625 (16)	130 (59)
WC075 (neumático)	Brida	7500 (33)	68 (4,7)	0,75 (20)	138 (63)
WC100 (neumático)	Brida	10 000 (44)	86 (5,9)	1 (24)	175 (80)
WC150 (neumático)	Brida	15 000 (66)	98 (6,75)	1,125 (27,5)	190 (86)
WCL250 (hidráulico)	Brida	25 000 (111)	1200 (82)	1,25 (30)	260 (118)
*Frenos de rueda*
WLB10B WLF10B (hidráulico)	Placa lateral Brida	10 000 (44)	1300 (90)	1 (25)	260 (118) 260 (118)

Frenos Johnson Industries

Posted on June 28, 2014July 29, 2020 by Chris Koralik

Acerca de Kor-Pak y Johnson Elevanja

Durante más de dos décadas, Kor-Pak Corporation ha sido proveedora y distribuidora de sistemas de frenado industriales Johnson y Elevanja. Johnson Industries Ltd. fue fundada en 1966 en Richmond, Columbia Británica. En 1993, la adquirió la empresa fabricante de frenosbritánica Elevanja. Las adquisiciones estratégicas, el ingenio, la ingeniería superior y el espíritu emprendedor de Johnson Industries le han permitido convertirse en una empresa fabricante de frenos de primer nivel con presencia mundial dominante. En 2015, Elevanja celebrará su centésimo aniversario y Johnson Industries ofrece, por amplio margen, la cartera de frenos más diversificada e innovadora del mercado. A principios de la década de 1990, Jim Koralik, fundador de Kor-Pak, introdujo los frenos eléctricos Johnson en la industria del acero de Estados Unidos; los frenos Johnson con impulsor, los de disco magnéticos y los de pinza de emergencia se volvieron populares en aplicaciones con puentes grúa (grúas EOT). Actualmente, Kor-Pak cuenta con los recursos de conocimiento y la información sobre productos que se necesitan para la representación de los frenos Johnson Industries en varios mercados, como los de la producción de acero, la minería, la explotación petrolera y forestal y la navegación. Brindamos servicios a nuestros clientes de todo el mundo, y les ofrecemos asistencia durante las 24 horas y los 7 días de la semana, para ayudarlos a lograr que sus equipos funcionen con la máxima eficiencia. Póngase en contacto con un representante de Kor-Pak para obtener más información sobre los frenos Johnson Industries y permítanos brindarle todo lo que necesita en materia de sistemas de frenado industriales.

Los sistemas de frenado Johnson pueden cumplir con altísimos requisitos de torsión para aplicaciones exigentes.

Frenos de disco y tambor Johnson Industries

Johnson diseña y manufactura varios productos en sus instalaciones, entre los que se incluyen frenos de disco de pinza hidráulicos, neumáticos, accionados por resorte y manuales, y sistemas de frenos para elevadores, mecanismos de transporte, sistemas de propulsión y otros equipos rotativos. Johnson también produce frenos de tambor y disco electromagnéticos y electrohidráuilcos con propulsor, utilizados en todo el mundo en grúas, elevadores y otros equipos de manipulación de materiales y transmisión de potencia.

Johnson designs and manufactures a range of products in house including hydraulic, pneumatic, spring-set or manually applied caliper disc brakes and brake systems for use on hoists, conveyers, propulsion systems and other rotating equipment. Johnson also produces electro-magnetic and electro-hydraulic thruster drum and disc brakes, which are in service around the world on cranes, hoists and other material handling and power transmission equipment.

Frenos de parada y contra tormentas Johnson Industries

Johnson también diseña y manufactura frenos de parada y contra tormentas. En los sistemas de frenos contra tormentas se incluyen abrazaderas para rieles manuales y automáticas, frenos para rieles y abrazaderas para ruedas. Estos sistemas de frenado de emergencia se utilizan en grúas, apiladoras recuperadoras, cargadoras y otros equipos de montaje sobre rieles.

Ingeniería y frenos personalizados de Johnson Industries

Kor-Pak puede brindarle sistemas de frenado industriales personalizados, diseñados específicamente para su aplicación exclusiva. Esto puede incluir asistencia en el proceso de selección de frenos, una visita al sitio y la gestión interactiva de proyectos, para diseñar e implementar el sistema óptimo y más eficaz del que pueda disponerse.