News

Oh Boy – alignment and accuracy the order of the day

At Mechandling, we make our material handling machines by hand and so designing a completely bespoke machine is always a pleasure.

Take the machine on the left. We aren’t allowed to show either end of the object we’re lifting but suffice to say it was a very delicate (and expensive) piece of kit that needed to be picked up, rotated and then docked into a port quite high up and at quite a long reach. The docking has to be very controlled, and very accurate. Any untoward movement could spell disaster.

The build was challenging – even the inherent play in the gearbox had to be compensated for – but the end result ticked all the customer’s boxes.

You’re welcome…

See the machine in action below

Manual ATEX Drum Lifter – A Compact Heavyweight

At Mechandling, we make our material handling machines by hand and so customising them to exactly meet a customer’s requirements is our bread and butter.

Take the machine on the left. We recently exported this ATEX rated Drum Lifter to a customer where space was at an absolute premium. They needed to pick a 250kg drum up off the floor, transport it into an enclosed process area, and then manoeuvre it up and into an isolator cabinet.

The end result was designed specifically around the available space and worked a treat.

Our pleasure.....

See the machine in action below (albeit on a chequer plate floor. Remember, the drum weighs 250kg. It runs easily on the smooth floor of the customer)

Bespoke Design in Action

This month we had the pleasure of making 2 of our Ultralite Reel Push Turners to some unusual specifications. At Mechandling, we make our material handling machines by hand and so customising them to exactly meet a customer’s requirements is our bread and butter.

 Take the machine on the left. Due to multiple obstructions on the floor, it wasn’t possible to have a symmetrical chassis. You will notice the right leg is demonstrably wider than the left (relative to the mast). This wasn’t because of an error in cutting out, it was designed this way.

And the machine to the right? The customer only needed to raise the reel up to 1150mm so why have a mast that’s taller than necessary? Our operator isn’t an NBA player, he’s a respectable 5’9” (176cm) tall, yet see how easy it is for him to see over the lifter.

See below to see the machines in action

Twin Slot Vessel Lifter

We are often engaged to help customers with designing and fabricating a solution that turns a difficult or tricky lifting task into a user friendly routine. We specialise in innovative solutions for bespoke lifters where standard versions are not quite right. A full design and build service is offered to ensure you get the right lifter every time. This is one such example. A 350kg vessel needed lifting via a custom “mating plate”, moving within a very confined space, and then placing on an elevated platform. Enter a custom version of our Twin Slot Vessel Lifter….

See below to view the machine in operation

Drum Tipper – Static

Static Drum tipper designed for a bespoke project

This static drum tipper was designed to receive drums from a conveyor and tip the contents into a booth.

Ordered as illustrated here with a manual gearbox to rotate the drum through 135°. The 35:1 ratio eliminated the risk of backlash if the operator accidently released the handle. Approx. 10 turns to invert the drum. Powered version also available if required.

Stainless Steel Powered Jib Floor Crane

Highly manoeuvrable crane with extending Jib Arm options. Comes in manual or powered variants. Fabricated in Stainless Steel or Powder Coated Mild Steel depending on your work environment. Makes lifting and moving difficult items easy.

Bespoke Extending Head Lifter

A fully designed, bespoke lifter for very narrow aisles (820mm) with a kick plate below the bottom shelf preventing a normal type chassis access.

With no access under the racking for a chassis to enter we designed a completely new machine with a side entry, sliding head unit to hold and lift 25kg drums.

The bottom shelf was 200mm high, the top one 1850mm, both sides of the aisle.

An innovative manual design, it has proven so useful that a second lifter has been ordered in a sister factory.

Stainless Steel Ultra Drum Tipper - Powered

Drum Handling has been a cornerstone at Mechandling Limited since we began over 30 years ago. During this time we have designed and fabricated many different versions to always match the customers’ lifting requirements. From manual to powered versions with bespoke head attachments (Girdle or Clamp) to suit the lifting job.  Designed to lift your drum and rotate or tip your Drum as you require.

The Ultra Drum Tipper can lift a drum using a girdle grip (for use with a single sized drum). It can then lift and rotate the drum to tip or access the contents of the drum.

Can be specified with an integral hopper or chute to funnel the contents if desired (Manual version available)

Also available with removable spacers (for use with a second diameter drum) or a Clamp grip (for use with multiple sized drums)

Self-Propelled Vessel Lifter/Inverter (Fully Clad)

This bespoke vessel lifter is based on a Toyota Self-Propelled chassis, fully clad in 304L Stainless for GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice).

Designed to safely pick up, transport, raise and rotate a 250kg IBC 2.5m in the air.

We have the ability to design and clad any machine to GMP for clean room environments to make cleaning easier and eliminate dust traps.

See the Self-Propelled Vessel Lifter in action below

Bespoke Sample Trolley

Fully designed bespoke sample trolley for outdoor use.

The trolley was fabricated with a 304 Stainless Steel frame supporting a 3mm thick acrylic body. Broadly weatherproof, and fitted with four large swivel castors - braked versions on the rear.

The chassis has channels to enable the trolley to be lifted and transported by a fork lift truck.

Wide opening, lockable doors enable access to the inside.

The bottom section features a bespoke rack to hold three of the sample bottles; the top section will have a shelf and the sample rig itself.

Door Scissor Trolley

As is often the case in manual handling, this lifter was created to replace / improve an existing process that carried an unacceptable level of risk.

A 30kg door in the roof of a confined crawl space had to be removed at 3 month intervals as part of the hygiene regime. Our client had identified the unassisted procedure in operation as an unacceptable level of risk. As there was no market solution available, they asked for our assistance in designing a bespoke solution to provide mechanical support for the door throughout its removal and replacement.

The result shown above was a manual scissor trolley with integrated safety locks made to GMP that would address their concern.

This trolley supported the entire weight of the door while allowing the engineer access to the bolts holding the door in place. They could then safely lower the door and wheel it, still on the trolley, out of the crawl space for inspection and cleaning. Replacing the door was a straightforward reversal of the process.

This animation shows the improved process

Column Lifter - New this year

Various head options are available – this one has pivoting arms - to lift machine parts into place when required but fold away for ease of storage when not required.

Bellows keep the column lifter enclosed.

Contact us to discuss how we can help you with your lifting requirements.

Rack Jack Lift Trolley

A perennial favourite:

Mechandling’s GMP Rack Jack Lifters are always in high demand.

This one is an ideal solution for presenting charge vessels with passive valve attached to production, although we have also done a version recently for safely supporting drive motors during removal and refitting.

See the Rack Jack Lift Trolley in action

The UltraLite Reel lifter with optional Push Action

Designed with the User in mind

• Safe Working Load  60 kilograms
• Built to Good Manufacturing Practice
• Highest Quality
• Simple to operate
• Light and easy to manoeuvre

In November we exported one of our Long Reach Reel Placers to the US.

The Long Reach Reel Placer does exactly as it sounds – it can pick up a reel from anywhere on a 1200mm pallet, including the farthest end, from any position on the pallet.  It can then move the reel to a production mandrel, trolley or other destination of the customer’s choosing. This one was supplied with pretty much all of our standard head attachments – a cam turner (to rotate the reel through 90 degrees), a single pin lifter for 3 inch cores, a dual pin lifter for 800mm reels, another for 400mm reels, and a 6 inch pin lifter. Plenty of toys for the new owners!

Made from Stainless Steel (Powder Coated Mild Steel is an option) this lifter will provide an ideal reel handling solution to this Pharmaceutical customer for many, many years to come.

Watch the video to see how this machine operates

In October we had an urgent call from a good customer of Mechandling. They had been chasing an export order with a new customer for some months and had finally landed it. Congratulations were due but there was no time - the end user had pushed for a very quick turnaround. A job that we would normally allow 6-8 weeks for was needed in 3! All hands to the pump (or TIG Welder to be precise)

On time and to budget we made a version of our Tri Tower Powered Lift Table (pictured). Utilising Linak supplied lifting towers we fabricated the framework for our customer to attach their Flexible Glove Bag and other items.

Made from 304 L Grade Stainless Steel, with a Safe Working Load in this instance of 300kg, this table is height adjustable through 600mm from a lowered height of 1200mm up to fully 1800mm (although can be tailored to different ranges in other applications). With heavy duty braked castors, the unit is maneuverable when required but stable when locked in position.

Our customer was delighted – not just with the speedy turnaround but also the quality of the table. Fingers crossed they secure more orders from their customer that we can also help with. Whilst we can’t always guarantee to turn jobs around in such a short time, rest assured that where we can, Mechandling deliver!

Here’s a quick example of a Ball Table that Mechandling recently supplied. Ball Tables are an excellent choice for turning heavy objects, such as drums, with ease. This one was designed to sit within an isolator cabinet but is removable for ease of cleaning.  In other Mechandling applications they have either been fixed into our roller conveyor systems, or built into cabinets where drums need to be maneuvered into position.

This one, made from 4mm 316 grade Stainless Steel to .5 RA finish on both sides, with a capacity of 200k.g. Containing 72 Stainless Steel roller balls (also in 316 grade) to allow ease of movement for the drum, in any direction.  The overall dimensions of this tray was 854mm x 614mm, however other sizes are available to suit.

Mechandling's brand new development for 2018, the Stainless Steel Clad Self Propelled Tele Mono Vessel Lifter / Inverter is designed for lifting Production Vessels on special purpose tabbed forks inserted within lifting tubes on the production vessel. This allows the vessel to be raised and inverted at the required height. This Self Propelled Telemono vessel inverter features mechandling's unique telescopic closed mast design allows for easy cleaning and compliance with GMP pharmaceutical requirements.

Introducing Mechandling's new Telemast Ultra Mobile Elevated Personell Platform. Providing the utmost reliability and flexibility the Telemast M.E.W.P is the perfect solution for working at height.

Mechandling are proud to announce that we now provide ATEX versions of our flagship Ultra range. Constructed from 316L grade stainless steel the ultra can now be used in zone 1/21 and 2/22 areas.

Mechandling introduce a new self propelled Lifter to join the powered Ultra range of lifting equipment.

The new model is based on a Toyota fork truck propulsion unit, which is housed within the new stainless steel exterior. It compliments the existing range of the popular Ultra models which are available in both powered and manual variations.

M.D. Stephen Young was presented with a bronze award from BAE Systems Air Combat division, who make the Typhoon Jet Fighter, for the two specialised Lifters Mechandling made for BAE in 2012.

The prestigious award was presented in recognition of the innovative design that created a solution to a problem previously thought to be unsolvable.

Mechandling can include the Offshore Oil industry amongst their list of clients. The Oil Heater Trolley can transport a 1.4 tonne Oil Heater mechanism through several decks on a offshore Oil Rig.

The trolley is mechanically self propelled can turn through sharp right angles using directionally controlled large swivel castors. It is also designed to be picked up by crane and moved to different deck levels.