JB Attachments' testing rigs utilise Enerpac's hydraulic cylinders
Jonel Hydraulics' Enerpac Product Manager George Pavletich with new testing rig
JB Attachments exports its JB Quick Couplers to Australia, the UK and USA. JB Attachments is using high-pressure 700 bar hydraulic technology, developed by Enerpac , to batch test its coupler castings production for optimum strength and reliability in service.
“This is an initiative to provide a lead in our industry to safeguard workers and customers,” said JB Attachments' Managing Director Tim Balemi.
“While our own products are market leaders in regards to safety, the industry knows how important it is to ensure that the industry’s huge range of buckets, spades, rippers, rock breakers, concrete breakers and other attachments do not detach in service. Fatalities such as one occurring recently in the UK not only are a personal tragedy, but also cause massive shutdowns and compensation issues.”
Enerpac’s Australian distributor, Jonel Hydraulics, worked with JB Attachments to devise a testing rig incorporating Enerpac’s two RSM 500 Low Height cylinders each with 45 tons of force and using a 10mm stroke to test coupler jaw castings to international standard AS1418.
The cylinders, mounted in a custom-fabricated test rig, are part of an Enerpac Low Height range designed to provide up to 150 tons of force and strokes of 62mm in confined spaces. Actuated by an Enerpac P141 lightweight (2.4kg) hand pump for operator convenience, the force imposed in the test rig is measured on a digital gauge to ensure precision and consistency on castings produced to 600 MPA A5 standard.
Jonel Hydraulics Enerpac Product Manager George Pavletich said that the compact size of the Low Height cylinders (which are only 66mm tall) make them to apply their force exactly where it is needed to ensure product quality for JB Attachments customers, including civil engineering organisations, mining companies and OEM distributors.
“These quick couplers are applied to internationally known machinery, so there is absolutely no compromise on testing for quality and safety,” George Pavletich said.
The couplers also include a safety feature, a jaw locking system, which ensures that the attachment is locked onto the coupler. The locking system does not require any form of stored energy.
JB Attachments’ test rig is currently employed on multi-couplers up to 30 tonne capacity. Batches from production runs of thousands of units a year are continuously tested to withstand loads in excess of twice the specified capacity (for example, a 12-14 tonne coupler front jaw has a safe working load of 27 tonnes and is tested to 54 tonnes).
“A second test rig will be introduced this year to extend the testing process onto larger sizes”, said Tim Balemi.
“Like all responsible manufacturers, we want to see cowboys out of the industry. We believe that by setting standards above and beyond what is required by law, we will achieve measurable quality and safety criteria that they just can’t meet.”
4-Aug-2008