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“There were four main shows rolled into one main event at the NEC on 6th and 7th April 2011. A cog in the wheel was mainly intertested in the mtec and Midlands design and manufacturing sections and our sister site bloghazard.com (for labface.com) covered the Medtec side of the event as well.
The atmosphere and general feedback from exhibitors and visitors was very positive and although the exhibition showed diminishing numbers from around 3.00 pm onwards on both days, there seemed to a be a high quality aspect, in terms of visitors and potential customers. The NEC hosted a well attended event which offered a good mix of cross-over products and applications within the science, engineering and manufacturing industries.”
Andrew Long, event reporter, A Cog In The Wheel.
Video transcription continues…
Around 200 exhibitors lined up their wares at this years event and around 40% of them were listed as either a mtec or midlands design and manufacturing exhibitor. After a quick look around I visited a few manufacturers and suppliers to see what they had to offer.
First up was Stemmer imaging who were showing a range of smart camera products and vision systems with associated application software. These products are designed to simplify automated inspection processes for a variety of manufacturing tasks and procedures.
I then went onto the Lee Spring stand to see a selection taken from their vast range of springs, wire forms and other associated products used in engineering and manufacturing industries. They can offer a bespoke solution or a choice of over 17,000 stock products.
A member of the Parker Hannifin team then showed me a self retaining device that has full product traceability built in. Parker can offer full custom engineering solutions for elastomers and a wide range of sealing products which includes nitriles and silicones of various types. This device also had a sealed bead system in place with very close
tolerances – this minimizes the contamination from the media flowing through it.
Next up was the MDM300 advanced dewpoint hygrometer from Michell instruments, a portable dew point meter device with very fast response times and its own data logging facility. Also on show was the Optical which is a bench-top, fully self-contained humidity/ temperature calibrator which incorporates a dual chamber that can house up to five or more humidity sensors, depending on their physical dimensions.
I then went to see Igus who were showing their twisterband TB30 – an innovative compact energy chain system that can guide energy, data and other media through 3,000° at high rotating speeds. Some of the main applications for these chain systems are for robotics, medical devices, machine construction and areas where demanding rotary movements are required in more confined spaces.
My next stop was at the Huba Control stand where I spotted their 200, 210, and 230 type flow sensor products. All models are highly accurate, are not sensitive to pollution and offer consistently low pressure loss qualities. Also on display were a range of pressure transmitters and switches for a variety of applications including refridgeration, the water industry and in vehicle manufacturing.
I then went to see the schaeffler group who were showing off their shaft guidance systems – available in many designs and allowing unlimited stroke length, low wear and maintenance and very low friction. Their ball guidance systems were also on display which features four rows of balls and an intergral lubricant reservoir situated next to the raceways, thus allowing maintenance free operation
Sticking with the linear theme, I also went to see Hepco Motion who were showing their PDU2 belt driven units. The product incorporates the Herculane® wheel technology and offers great performance, speed and low friction characteristics.
Of course, this is just a small selection of products and services on show at this year’s event. If you would like to find out more, please click on a live link where available. Alternatively, take a look at engineeringface for more products, applications and networking functionality.
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