Lifting system from Pfaff-silberblau for flood protection gate in the Greifswald flood barrier

The “Iron Gate”, on the Danube River in the southern Carpathian Mountains on the border from Romania to Serbia, is regarded as one of the most impressive gorges in Europe. Two river power stations built in 1972 – “Iron Gate” 1 and 2 – with a lockage had tamed what had been up until then the most dangerous section of the Danube River for navigation. For the maintenance of this lockage, Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products GmbH, Kissing/Germany, has now designed and installed a special lifting device. The linear lifting solution consists of four high-precision and proven heavy-duty screw jack elements SHE 100.1 made by Pfaff-silberblau. These lift and lower the heavy lock gate weighing some 200 t by 700 mm – with a deviation of less than 0.1 mm.

In the South African Karoo semi-desert, astronomers working on the MeerKAT project are using 64 radio telescopes from the German manufacturer Vertex Antennentechnik to explore space. The elevation movement of the antennas is effected using the innovative technology from Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products. 

Last year saw the start of a major construction project in Kazakhstan designed to establish the ferry terminal in Kuryk on the shores of the Caspian Sea as the hub for the transhipment-free transportation of goods to Europe. Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products, working closely with the local company in St. Petersburg/Russia, is now fitting this construction site out with two giant loading bridges each with 24 Pfaff-silberblau special screw jacks SHE 150.1 in addition to 48 special gear motors and, in doing so, is creating the technical basis that will allow entire freight trains to quickly drive in and out of the ferries before the end of the year.

For natural gas filter towers in the Saudi-Arabian desert, Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products GmbH, Kissing/Germany, has developed and installed a special lifting and traversing system for exchanging filter elements. This involves the use of 19 specially designed trolleys in three different sizes and eight gantry cranes made from ATEX-compliant lifting elements and electric wire rope winches from Pfaff-silberblau. This extremely heavy-duty special solution is capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius, sand and dust and even the explosive environment.

Thanks to their robust design, the successful SHE screw jack elements from Pfaff-silberblau are perfectly equipped for use in difficult environmental conditions. Designed specifically for use in the extremely aggressive conditions of the paper industry, the company Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products GmbH (Kissing/Germany) has now extended its versatile SHE range with the option “stainless”. The newly developed SSP series from Pfaff-silberblau with integrally cast swivel brackets is easy to clean and satisfies with ease the exacting requirements with regard to corrosion protection in the paper making and processing industry.

Hardly any other workplace has such harsh environmental conditions as a steel mill. In the face of scorching heat and the greatest dirt, the heavy work is mainly carried out by machines – and for this they must also be designed to be particularly robust. Pfaff-silberblau Hebezeugfabrik GmbH, Kissing, has developed a special push tube construction based on the SHE 150 for the adjustment of casting trolleys for the continuous foundry of a large German steel manufacturer. This encapsulated system solution from the Kissinger drive technology specialist has passed its "acid test" in the foundry and is now also suitable for other applications in heavy industry in which high loads have to be moved under unfavorable environmental conditions.

Lifting heavy loads under the harshest of conditions has always been one of the specialties for the jacking systems from Pfaff-silberblau Hebezeuge GmbH, with headquarters in the Southern German town of Kissing. With a clever special jacking system based on its versatile SHE worm-gear screw jacks, the company is now reducing downtimes for the steel industry’s galvanizing lines. The crucial feature: A special sensor monitors the temperature of the gearbox oil, and an active cooling circuit keeps it at the ideal level. Simultaneously, a contactless sensor constantly monitors the temperature at the screw and does not turn off the system unless there is a risk of overheating. In this way, system operators can ensure that their systems remain functional, but also help to minimize operational interruptions.

Reliable and safe performance is essential also in lifting applications for outdoor use as well as in aggressive and hygienically critical environmental conditions. Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products GmbH, Kissing (Germany), has extended its versatile SHE series of the Pfaff-silberblau brand with a “stainless” option.

With its innovative new design and featuring fully rust-proof components, the SHE-S series meets exacting of requirements in terms of corrosion protection and cleanability with its corrosion-resistant design. Also thanks to its cost-effective construction, the SHE-S “stainless” series by Pfaff-silberblau is attracting more and more customers, particularly from the food processing industry, pharmaceutical industry, paper industry, petrol industry as well as from steel hydraulics construction.

Columbus McKinnon Engineered Products is now supplying Pfaff-silberblau HEK10.1 lifting units as standard equipment to KUKA for integration into the KMP 1500 Mobile Platform. The lifting unit is a special development according to DIN EN 1494:2009-05 and EN 1570-1:2011+A1:2014 "Safety requirements for lifting tables" specifically for this automated guided vehicle, which moves around autonomously. With a lifting capacity of 10 kN per lifting unit, large loads can be moved around very flexibly on the small, manoeuvrable platform and moved vertically at speeds of 50 mm/s over a lifting path of 200 mm. Thanks to its two lifting units, the KMP 1500 transports loads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes safely through production and warehouses.