Environmental and lifestyle changes within the drinks industry have brought fresh challenges and increased business to Preston-based beer pump and cooler specialist, K Coolers.

For instance, the company has had to manage two major changes within the drinks industry, the first being environmental, with the phasing out of certain refrigerants, while the second is the rise in popularity of ‘ice-cold’ beers and lagers. Both changes needed modifications to the stainless steel coils within the cooler, which in turn placed greater demands on K Coolers’ existing tube-bending capacity.
“The new R290 refrigerant required different tubes, so all of these required replacing as a smaller bore was needed for the new gas to be effective,” says Lee Worden, managing director. “Our standard 3.8 to 4.8 m long coils used for standard beers and lagers also needed to increase to 10 m in length to create ice-cold beer delivery; the knock on benefit being the elimination of under-counter chillers in pubs.”
To meet rising demand, the decision was taken to invest in a BLM 4-Runner tube-bending system fitted with motorised coil feed functionality.
“Without investing in the BLM 4-Runner we would struggle to maintain throughput,” says Worden. “The assistance we got, and continue to receive, from BLM both in the UK and in Italy, has been superb, which meant that we were bending tube within a couple of days of the machine being put on the floor. The BLM 4-Runner is being used to produce evaporator coils and other pipework for the refrigeration system on the new coolers, handling the increased demand with ease.”
For further information www.blmgroup.com

At the recent Blechexpo show in Stuttgart, LVD showcased Industry 4.0-ready products designed to help sheet metalworking companies advance their business, including the Dyna-Cell robotic bending cell, ToolCell automated tool-changing press brake, Electra 10 kW high-speed fibre laser cutting machine, and CADMAN software.

Visitors to the company’s stand discovered that Dyna-Cell features LVD’s high-speed Dyna-Press Pro electric press brake and a Kuka robot. Dyna-Press Pro is now available with LVD’s proprietary Easy-Form laser adaptive bending system to ensure bending accuracy. Furthermore, the robot is equipped with LVD’s patent-pending universal gripper, which is able to bend on three sides of a part without re-gripping. As one gripper fits all applications, production is continuous and uninterrupted.
Dyna-Cell automates the bending of small- to medium-sized parts in varying batch sizes, at speeds up to 25 mm/sec, and features an intelligent programming wizard for fast, easy programming. The compact Dyna-Cell follows the 10-10 rule: 10 minutes for CAM generation of the bending and robot program; and 10 minutes for set-up and first-part generation. The cell also allows for unmanned or manned operation, offering a flexible bending solution.
Elsewhere on the stand, the LVD ToolCell automated tool-changing press brake was seen maximising bending productivity through the integrated storage of tooling within the machine. The patented Easy-Form laser adaptive bending system provides in-process angle monitoring, which guarantees the desired angle from the first operation.
For further information www.lvdgroup.com