Pelloby recently designed a bespoke travelling inverted wall jib crane for the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
The crane was installed at Rutherford’s ISIS complex – a world leading materials research centre which offers businesses and scientists the opportunity to study the properties of materials on the atomic scale by producing beams of neutrons and muons through a suite of beamline instruments that can examine the complexity of matter.
Three existing overhead cranes span the width of one of the two large experimental halls on the site ISIS site, which provide access to the various beam defining sample areas. However as the hall’s capabilities were expanded to accommodate additional equipment, some of the new beam instrumentation areas were located in zones which the original overhead cranes were unable to access.
A one-of-a-kind jib crane
ISIS asked Pelloby to design a system that gave the research teams at the complex access to the ‘blind spots’ that the existing cranes couldn’t reach, with the goal being able to add and remove beamline instrument components, shielding and other materials when required.
In production – the supporting gantry rail
Our designers set to work, liaising closely with the various ISIS engineers and technicians. The outcome was an inverted jib wall crane which was able travel along a 53 metre gantry rail support system which covered the length of the building. The system also provided continuous 360 degree access in a five metre radius thanks to a powered rotating jib arm. This innovative modified jib crane can support loads of up to five tonnes.
From design to delivery – the crane’s gantry supports leave Pelloby’s factory.
As the crane needed to access hard to reach spaces, its operators needed to be able to carefully navigate the system to avoid obstacles such as existing machinery and building stanchions. It is therefore operated via an easy-to-use hand held radio control system which governs the jib arm rotation the longitudinal travelling motion, and the movement of the electronically powered chain hoist and hoist carriage. The crane automatically stops moving when in close proximity to another object thanks to anti-clash sensors fitted to the jib arm.
Take a look at the system’s 360 degree slewing motion in this video:
A trusted crane supplier
This totally unique travelling jib crane is a great example of the capabilities of the Pelloby design team who, as well as providing standardised cranes of all sizes and load capacities, have the expertise to create fully bespoke lifting solutions tailored to the most precise of requirements.
Pelloby have supplied several jib and overhead cranes to ISIS for various applications, many of which date back as far as thirty years but are still in regular use today.
Call 01952 586626 or email sales@pelloby.com to speak to one of our experts today.