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CARGO HANDLING NEWS
PIV introduces Posiplan reducers
PIV Drives has introduced a new range
of “ultra-compact” shaft-mounted gear
reducers for industrial applications, including
port cranes, crushers, belt conveyors,
bucket conveyors, screw conveyors,
etc, designated the Posiplan series.
These gearboxes, which are protected
by a specific patent, feature a combination
of planetary and helical/bevel helical
gears to take advantage of the strengths
of each technology: compact size, reliability
and easy maintenance.
The new series of lighter, more compact
reducers surpasses traditional solutions
for planetary and bevel helical gear
reducers and ensure shorter production
times and lower production costs, says PIV.
The design is based upon precise analyses
using finite element techniques and
3D modelling, thus ensuring that performance,
in terms of duration and silence,
was optimised at the “virtual prototype”
stage.
Advanced engineering techniques,
long experience and the use of high quality
parts from PIV Drives and its Italian
co-operation partner Brevini Riduttori
“have led to the creation of a product that
ensures high performance over time, a fact
that has been confirmed by tests that
simulate real operating conditions,” says a
company statement.
The main characteristics of the new
Posiplan series are:
● 10 harmonically developed sizes, from
3000 to 27,000 Nm of nominal torque,
five in the planetary helical version and 5
in the bevel planetary helical version. The
range will be expanded to include eight
more sizes for output torques of up to
67,000 Nm.
● In the planetary helical version, up to
four reduction stages and transmission
ratios up to i = 2000; in the bevel planetary
helical version, up to four reduction
stages and transmission ratios up to i
= 1100.
● Special seals (labyrinth seals or double
seals with separate grease-filled chamber)
that protect against lubricant leakage and
contamination.
● Output hollow shafts: cylindrical with
feather keyhole, cylindrical hollow shaft
for shrink disc, and splined shaft.
● Input versions with adaptors for IEC,
NEMA and hydraulic motors, flexible and
fluid couplings, clutches and torque
limiters, and belt couplings.
● Accessories such as torque arms, shrink
discs, backstops and brakes, oil filtering
and cooling systems.
WorldCargo
news
ZPMC books Wilmington
The Port of Wilmington, NC, is to purchase
four post-Panamax (18-wide) container
cranes from ZPMC, under a contract
approved by the NC State Ports
Authority Board of Directors. The contract
is valued at US$33.2 mill and the
cranes are slated for delivery in early 2007.
The cranes will have an outreach of
164ft (50m), a rail span of 100ft and lift
heights above and below rail of 120ft
(36.6m) and 45ft respectively. According
to the port, some specifications and
names of electrical and other key components
suppliers are still being finalised
(mid-September) so no more detailed
information is yet available.
The contract represents the single
largest ever equipment expenditure by
the NCSPA. The port already has four
50ft gauge container cranes and the new
ones will double capacity. Earlier this
year nine reach stackers were ordered
from SMV Konecranes (see WorldCargo
News, May 2004, p4) and berth improvements
and RTG purchases are in
the pipeline. “Our goal is to bring two
additional container lines to Wilmington
within the next 12 to 18 months,” said
CEO Tom Eagar.
A US$9 mill appropriation from the
NC General Assembly has enabled the
NCSPA to jump-start its expansion plans.
Receivers
in at Paolo
de Nicola
Italy-based crane maker Paolo de Nicola
SpA has gone into receivership. The company
seems to have been caught up in the
problems of its parent group, FLT builder
Lugli Carelli Elevatori, which declared
bankruptcy in June and is now in liquidation,
with some 140 workers upaid since
December 2004.
The receiver for Paolo de Nicola has
applied for court protection and is offering
unsecured creditors 30¢ in the euro in
order to maintain production at the
Citadella (Padova) plant .
Management at Paolo de Nicola has
already changed and it has passed into the
control of a group called Audaces, made
up mainly of entrepreneurs in the Veneto
region. About 60 per cent of the work force
has been laid off and there is concern that
too many valuable technical and commercial
personnel have been lost.
For more than 60 years Paolo de Nicola
has been a major name in bridge and viaduct
construction projectes around the
globe, with important commissions in Taiwan,
Korea, China and the USA.
In 1999, on the death of its founder,
the company was bought by Stradivari
Holding in Cremona (Mastagni brothers).
At the end of 2002 this holding also acquired
the Fratelli Orlandi Livorno naval
shipyard.
However, FLT builder Lugli was looking
to build a new pole for container handling
competence in Italy to rival Fantuzzi
group and CVS Ferrari. It targeted Belotti
(which ended up mostly owned by CVS)
as well as Paolo de Nicola, which already
had experience with large RTGs for cement
and other industries. It had also built
special straddle carriers for container handling
for French customers and had moved
into construction of cranes for ports and
shipyards - eg Livorno naval shipyard, Port
of Livorno, La Spezia Arsenal, De Poli
(Chioggia), Morini (Ancona). Subsequently
two straddle carriers went to a Dragados
operation in France and two RMGs were
supplied for Renfe’s new intermodal terminal
in Bilbao. Turnover grew to €45 mill
in 2003.
Last year Paolo de Nicola was appointed
exclusive licensee for Italy of Portainer and
Transtainer cranes by Paceco Corp, with
other areas on a case-by-case basis.
It is understood that a Letter of Intent
was signed earlier this year to supply PAT
Thailand with two Paceco Portainers for
the Port of Bangkok. The status of this deal
or the position of Paolo de Nicola as a
Paceco licensee is unknown at this juncture.
Paceco Corp declined to comment.
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September 2005 5