Drive technology company SEW-Eurodrive supplied 64 Movigear servomotors from its Cape Town branch to a major original-equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Drive technology company SEW-Eurodrive supplied 64 Movigear servomotors from its Cape Town branch to a major original-equipment manufacturer (OEM). The OEM, based in Paarl, supplied a weighing conveyor system to a Germany-based leader in the frozen fish and vegetable packing sector.

The Movigear solution was ideal for this application owing to its 200:1 speed range, together with the fact that these units are designed specifically for the strict hygiene requirements of the food and beverage industry.

In this regard, the units have no sharp edges or corners where bacteria can accumulate, in addition to featuring a special H200 protective coating. This was added to the surface of the unit to protect against all types of chemical cleaning agents.

“The gearbox and motor are a single-sealed unit, together with all the electronic controls,” explains SEW-Eurodrive maxolution sales engineer Paul Strzalkowski, who heads up the company’s mechatronic sales at the Cape Town branch.

He notes that this results in a significant saving in terms of the panel size required.

Another feature is on-board input/output control that interacts directly with the Movigear electronics, meaning no additional wiring to the master programmable logic controller (PLC). Therefore, all control is through the strategic business unit protocol directly from the master PLC, daisy-chained to the drives themselves.

In addition, the system had to contend with a temperature range from –25 ºC to 25 ºC. Special oil for food and beverage applications was also required to protect against harm caused in the unlikely event of a leak developing.

Commenting on the feedback received to date, Strzalkowski says the client is particularly happy from a commissioning point of view, owing to the considerable saving on wiring and installation time. Another pleasant surprise was the significant improvement in energy consumption – 50% lower than anticipated.

“The beauty of Movigear is that everything is prewired. Each unit is daisy-chained, which results in the reduction in cabling required. This was a flagship project for the flexibility and cost-saving benefits of the solution,” he concludes.