Due to stringent hygiene regulations, the food industry imposes particular requirements for machines and facilities producing and packaging food and beverages. Material, construction as well as design must be conceived in a way that the food cannot be contaminated by wear particles or lubricants from the equipment. Another prerequisite is that the facilities can be cleaned easily and thoroughly with highly corrosive cleaning agents. The reasons why stainless steel is mainly used here are commonly known: certain grades are corrosion- and temperature-resistant, sterile and insensitive to cleaning agents. Stainless steel is very durable because the material maintains these characteristics permanently. It is evident that the new ALTMANN hoist is almost entirely made of stainless steel. However, the main feature why it is particularly suited for the food industry is the maintenance-free load belt. Unlike chain or rope, it is absolutely lubricant-free, thus non-greasy and there is no wear.
The unobtrusive drive technology developed by ALTMANN comes with a technical sophistication that prevents contaminations caused by wear. It includes a low-wear material combination in the deflection and guide pulleys. In addition, potential wear is prevented by the integration of electric belt hoist and drive in enclosed housings. The decentralized control can be either encased together with the hoist or be installed in a separate room. As all the travel axes are equipped with a frequency inverter, the belt hoist can be accelerated continuously. It is operated either by remote control, automatic control or a wired manual control unit.
The completely sealed assembly with its smooth surfaces can be cleaned particularly time-saving, so that the new electric belt hoist is suited for 3-shift operation in production plants where perishable food products such as milk are processed. The draining devices in the ducts where the energy chains are installed help facilitating wet cleaning in such factories. As the water does not accumulate due to these holes, no biofilm can develop which would be a breeding ground for Legionella or other germs. Currently the new electric belt hoist made of stainless steel is used in a cheese factory where it moves loads of 1 ton. It is however designed for a carrying capacity of up to 2 tons. For this operator the hook block has been directly reeved in the beam to reduce the actual C dimension of 200 mm by almost half. The electric belt hoist made of stainless steel will complement the standard range by ALTMANN.
The existing product families by ALTMANN will be further standardized and offered as so-called crane kits, consisting of hoist, end carriage and control. As crane runways and bridges can be produced and installed on-site by partners, transport costs are considerably reduced.