Unique Crane Solutions

Last year Facilities Engineering was asked to construct a specially designed crane system for the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, FL. This system was to be the centerpiece of one of their new exhibits, which is part of their new facility called “Kids in Charge”. This particular exhibit was created to expose children to the inner workings or factories and ports that are a common site throughout the Tampa Area.

Facilities Engineering was able to design a freestanding crane system through the utilization of Demag components, specifically KBK and DK Chain Hoists. KBK is an enclosed track system that can be configured in a variety of ways for any application where the desired capacities are one ton or less. KBK is often sold as a manual system due to its effortless yet controlled movements, however it can be powered both in single and dual speeds.

The particular system has two motorized bridges, each of which is controlled by an operator that is safely outside of the working area. Each bridge has a motorized trolley and electric chain hoist with a small circular electro-permanent magnet attached to the load hook. These magnets are used to pick up small sheet metal & foam blocks that are placed onto and removed from a central conveyor system.

What this system lacked in size it made up for with the complex control systems that includes numerous travel limit switches incorporated to prevent to premature destruction (if you think your operators are hard on equipment, watch a child work it and then re-evaluate your position).

This project is proof that there is no capacity too small or load too delicate to handle for the material-handling experts at Facilities Engineering.

For information on The Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, FL please visit their website at http://www.mosi.org.