Air Casters: The Most Powerful Technology You've Never Heard of.
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Transcript of Air Casters: The Most Powerful Technology You've Never Heard of.
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Air Casters:
The Most-Powerful Technology You’ve Never Heard of
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Overview
Air-bearing (also called “air-caster” or “air-film”) technology has been called the most powerful technology nobody’s heard of. It is used to produce everything from 150-ton locomotives to soy sauce. But what is it, and how can it be used in the manufacture of your products?
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How Air Bearings Work
An air bearing is a pneumatic device that forms a lubricating film of air between the load and floor surface, similar to that of a hovercraft or an air hockey table. A flexible, wear-resistant urethane diaphragm is inflated by compressed air, forming a seal with the floor and lifting the structure off its rest pads. Air is then squeezed between the floor and the diaphragm, creating a thin film of air and allowing the load to float.
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Air Bearing UsesPopular in many heavy manufacturing environments, including aerospace, automotive, construction, locomotive, steel, wind energy and more. Can be used to create floating assembly lines for the heaviest product.
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Air Bearing UsesAlso used for one-time moves of heavy, difficult objects. On a good floor, only about 1 pound of force is required to move 1,000 pounds – that’s 10 times better than wheels or rollers. Also great for buildings with low floor-load capacities.
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Air Bearing Technology Myths
• “It’s really loud…”
• “It creates a lot of dust…”
• “It requires tremendous air pressure…”
• “It won’t work on our floor…”
• “It’s difficult to control…”
All Incorrect!
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Air Bearing Requirements
• Floor – smooth, level, flat, & non-porous with low friction
• Most steel-troweled concrete floors are OK
• Easy, low-cost fixes available
• Air – most plant air systems are suitable
• Need sufficient airflow volume and pressure
• Air consumption is proportional to air bearing perimeter
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Air Bearing Benefits
• Eliminate overhead cranes and fork trucks
• Precise, omnidirectional movement
• Extremely high load capacity
• Reduce worker injury
• Spark-free operation
• Save floor space
• Low maintenance
• Reduce floor and wall damage
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Kentucky Trailer: Louisville, Ky.
Workers move 50-ft.-long, 20,000-lb. trailers by hand, in any direction. This allows the trailers to fit in spaces too tight for fork trucks to safely maneuver.
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GE Transportation: Erie, Penn.
75-ft.-long, 300,000-lb. diesel locomotives float on specially designed air platforms. The equipment helped boost output from 17 to 22 locomotives per month – a 29% gain.
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Air Bearing Turntables
Available in many different sizes and capacities, with or without drive motors. Often used for container handling in factory settings. May include integrated lift/tilt tables or other attachments.
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Hoisting and Rigging Applications
70,000-lb. backup roll used in steel production was floated outside a warehouse, then craned onto a flatbed truck.
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ABOUT AIRFLOATAs the pioneer of air bearing technology, Airfloathas been creating unique heavy-load movement solutions for over 40 years. Airfloat, a division of Illinois-based Align Production Systems, works with multiple industries to create material handling solutions for loads requiring frictionless, omnidirectional movement to product weighing up to one million pounds.
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Industries Served by Airfloat:• Aerospace
• Agriculture
• Appliance
• Automotive
• Chemical
• Construction
• Locomotive
• Mining
• Nuclear
• Prefabricated Home
• Printing
• Rigging
• Ship Building
• Steel
• Theater and Stadium Seating
Clients: Projects completed with 90% of Fortune 500