DAC102021

A SOMERSET company has developed a coil-winding machine that allows rectangular wire to be formed on its edge, and used instead of multi-turn round-wire windings. Bridgwater-based Electrified Automation believes that this development will transform the way that electric motors are manufactured at scale. The company claims that its coil- winding machine is the first capable of forming copper wires as thin as 0.8mm, and achieving less than 2% swell on the corner edge radius. This will allow motor-makers to maximise the amount of copper and turns they can fit into each slot. “We recognise that coil-winding is often a barrier preventing our customers from moving into volume manufacture, so we have developed a number of solutions to automate the manufacturing process,” says Electrified Automation’s managing director, JimWinchester. “Combining this technology with our other offerings means we are now starting to transform the way in which our customers consider manufacturing electric motors.” The company, founded in 2020, is working on a variety of technologies that will help permanent magnet motor manufacturers to produce coils for their motors more cost-effectively. It claims to have come up with new approaches to stator forming, coil winding, copper welding, rotor assembly and software integration, and is working with customers around the world to help them to accelerate production by providing high-volume manufacturing processes and equipment. https://electrifiedautomation.com n TECHNOLOGY IGUS HAS DEVELOPED a maintenance-free plastic material for food industry plain bearings, designed to withstand friction and high temperatures, and to dissipate electrostatic charges, thus reducing the risk of explosions and shocks to operators. In laboratory tests, bearings made from the new iglidur AX500 tribopolymer material, rotating on stainless- steel shafts, exhibited up to three times less wear and tear than bearings based on the earlier A500 material. The maintenance-free material is aimed, in particular, at sorting and packing applications. It can be used in ovens or bottle-cleaning operations, for example, while its good chemical resistance means that aggressive cleaners will not damage the bearings. Contact with food is not a problem, because the polymer has embedded solid lubricants and needs no extra lubrication. Compared to lubricated stainless-steel bearings, the plain bearings are maintenance-free and lighter. The material is available in diameters of 6– 20mm as standard, and other sizes to order. www.igus.co.uk n Long-life plastic bearings avoid risks of explosions Electrified Automation’s flat-wire coils could change the way motors are manufactured UK coil-winding technology ‘could transform the way motors are made’