Background:
Hindon’s customer is a leading provider of crane services, including crane repairs, for the maritime industry and also commonly supports its customers with various crane retrofit and upgrade projects, as ship operators look to increase the productivity, reliability, and safety of their aging fleet.
One such project involved the customer supporting an end user with the automation of an old winch braking system. The existing winch design involved a pedal-operated system that required an operator to use a series of foot pedals to release and engage a band brake on the winch. The upgrade project involved removing these foot pedal controls and replacing them with a system that could be controlled remotely and automated.
The ideal retrofit solution required the replacement brake controls to fit in the place of the old foot pedals such that other modifications to the band brake configuration would not be required. Additionally, the system could not use pneumatics, due to reliability concerns when the ship was operating in cold climates. The project timeline was also a top concern, as the ability to complete the upgrade project while the customer’s ship was at the dock was critically important to the overall success of the project.
The customer brought in Hindon to provide the ideal replacement braking system. Hindon’s vast experience with retrofit applications across a variety of industries made Hindon ideally positioned to support the customer with this unique challenge.
The existing manually operated foot pedal system needed to be replaced with an automated system that could be controlled remotely.
Application Challenges:
- Mimicking and automating operation of the existing manual foot-pedal system
- Dimensional constraints related to matching foot-pedal design to avoid further system modifications
- The customer needed assistance defining technical requirements such as force and stroke
- Compressed project schedule and delivery requirement
Solution:
After assessing the existing brake arrangement, understanding the critical dimensions and operation of the manual foot-pedal system, and reviewing the technical specifications, Hindon recommended electrohydraulic thrusters for actuating and automating the old winch braking system.
The thrusters’ electric actuation was ideal for the customer’s operating environment as they would provide for uninterrupted operation in colder weather. The thrusters were equipped with lifting and lowering valves, which provide for adjustable time delays between when power is removed from the thruster and the brake engages and between when the thruster is powered on and the brake releases. These adjustable time delays allow for a smooth braking and brake release processes, which was ideal for use on this aging winch to avoid jarring the crane each time the brakes cycle. These product features combined with the ideal force and stroke specified for the application by Hindon ensured the lasting success of the new braking system.
From the initial RFQ until product delivery, the entire project was completed in just six weeks. By meeting this timeline and delivering while the ship was still docked, the customer successfully upgraded the end user’s winch brake with a solution that was simple, cost effective, and suitable for use before the ship was scheduled to set sail.