From August 27th to September 15th, 2010 American Crane sponsored a Stuff the Bus campaign to help provide underprivileged children in Berks and Delaware Counties with school supplies for the 2010-2011 school years. Pencils, paper, erasers, glue, rulers, post-its, crayons, and hand sanitizers were among the supplies collected. The children of Berks and Delaware Counties thank you and so do we!
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| President Obama giving his speech. |
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| On right American Crane’s President Oddvar Norheim at the White House. |
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Douglassville, PA – American Crane and Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of overhead electric cranes and hoist, has launched store.americancrane.com, a new online catalogue featuring comprehensive online parts and standard equipment including Yale, Shaw-Box, Budgit, Little Mule, CM, Chester Hoist, Coffing Hoist, Harrington, Munck, and more.
Users can find manuals, drawings and other related material. American Crane is committed to providing a convenient way to search and purchase parts and components for material handling equipment while still supplying the engineering support and expertise to select the right product.
American Crane & Equipment Corporation is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. American Crane is a custom crane supplier specializing in engineered products for aerospace, commercial nuclear, DOE nuclear, automated systems, and is known for tackling unique “critical lift” applications. American Crane performs repairs, inspections, retrofits, and on-site maintenance as well as the sale of spare parts and standard equipment. From complex custom equipment to standard equipment, components and parts, American Crane can meet all your material handling needs.
Douglassville, PA – 12/29/08, American Crane and Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of overhead electric cranes and hoist, has expanded its current product line to include a standardized industrial hoist machinery meeting Class D and E requirements. All equipment is designed per CMAA Specification #70 Revised 2004. Certification is available upon request.
The Built Up Hoist is available in capacities up to 300 Tons and is designed for high speed and heavy duty service. The hoist features the following: quality components, Magnetek (Electromotive) AFD Controls, hardened steel wheels, helical travel drive gearing, forged steel hook, hardened steel sheaves, and double grooved drum for true vertical lift. Optional features include hardened drum grooves, power circuit paddle limit, redundant holding brake, redundant drum brake, overload limiter and full quality assurance documentation.
American Crane & Equipment Corporation is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. American Crane is a custom crane supplier specializing in engineered products for aerospace, commercial nuclear, DOE nuclear, automated systems, and is known for tackling unique “critical lift” applications. American Crane performs repairs, inspections, retrofits, and on-site maintenance as well as supplying spare parts for its own cranes and other manufacturers.
The Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA) has launched a product guide, which describes the overhead lifting equipment and services offered by its 34 member companies. Oddvar Norheim, president, explains.
The mission of the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA) is to deliver exceptional value to its end users, channel partners, members and industry associates while serving the overhead material handling industry. Its 34 member companies conduct business worldwide.
The product guide will be presented at ProMat 2009 on January 12 at 13.45 in Session 215, entitled ‘How to Buy an Overhead Crane with Confidence’. The guide will also be available through the CMAA website at www.mhia.org/cmaa.
As part of the same initiative, CMAA has also developed a buyer’s guide, designed to assist prospective purchasers in choosing equipment most suitable for their application. CMAA believes it can provide value to its end users by providing information to educate them on the proper selection of member companies’ equipment. For example, the buyer’s guide for Specification 70 includes the following sections:
Questions that verify compliance with CMAA Spec 70 and USA OSHA safety requirements on critical items. This section was prepared to point out differences which exist in cranes manufactured in different parts of the world. The CMAA and OSHA requirements are listed and the vendor supplying the equipment is to confirm if their equipment meets the CMAA and OSHA requirements as applicable.
Crane Inquiry Data Sheet. The data sheet provides the buyer with a convenient list of questions a crane vendor might ask a buyer to determine the correct equipment for his or her specific application.
Crane Service Classification. CMAA provides service classifications between A and F, with F being continuous severe duty. The service classification is also designed to allow the customer and vendor to discuss which classification is best suited to a particular customer’s needs.
Speed Selection Sheet. This data sheet provides insight into possible speeds for different types of cranes. The capacity of the crane is also included in this section so as to provide an optimal solution to each customer’s application.
Member companies’ experiences have shown that when the correct equipment is selected customers realise substantial life cycle savings. Conversely when only the initial cost is considered the life cycle cost, due to excessive maintenance costs, can be substantial.
History
CMAA traces its roots to the Electric Overhead Crane Institute, known as EOCI, which was founded in 1927 by leading crane manufacturers of that time to promote standardisation of cranes and uniform quality and performance. EOCI published standardised specifications in 1949 and again in 1961. CMAA 70, described above and first published in 1971, superseded EOCI 61. Since 1971, CMAA 70 has been republished several times with changes and updates proposed by CMAA’s Engineering Committee. CMAA 74 was first published in 1974 to focus on single girder cranes and like 70 has been revised several times since its original publication.
In support of its mission statement CMAA has also developed standards and guidelines for professional services performed on overhead cranes and associated hoisting equipment. CMAA 78 – Standards and Guidelines for Professional Services Performed on Overhead and Travelling Cranes and Associated Hoisting Equipment was prepared by the CMAA Crane Manufacturers Service Committee and first published in 2002.
The engineering committee has also prepared the CMAA Crane Operators Manual, which was re-released in 2003. This guide is designed to assist in the training of crane operators.
In 2006 CMAA released the Operational Guide for Lifting Devices. Like the Operators Manual this guide is designed to assist in training operators of the equipment.
CMAA’s members donate their time to continuously update its materials. The best engineers in the crane industry meet at least twice a year to ensure CMAA publications are the best available.
In January 2009, new updated revisions of the following specifications will be published: CMAA Specification #70, Rev. 2009 and CMAA Specification #74, Rev. 2009.
Pennsylvania, USA, critical lift specialists American Crane and Equipment has partnered with Yale Lift Tech. It will sell the companies products through the CraneMart group of dealers.
CraneMart is an integrated network of North America’s top hoist manufacturers, offering crane and hoist products, parts, services, and specialised support solutions all from a single source. This addition enhances American Cranes existing offerings by adding the product lines Budgit, Shaw-Box, Yale, and Chester.
American Crane & Equipment Corporation is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. American Crane is a custom crane supplier specialising in engineered products for aerospace, commercial nuclear, DOE nuclear, automated systems, and is known for tackling unique critical lift applications .
American Crane performs repairs, inspections, retrofits, and on-site maintenance and will use its experience and expertise in marketing Yale Shawbox equipment and parts. American Crane now has the capability to supply spare parts and perform service on the complete line of Yale equipment from its well established position in the industry
Douglassville, PA – 10/6/08, American Crane and Equipment Corporation, a manufacturer of overhead electric cranes and hoist, has partnered with Yale – Lift Tech as an authorized CraneMart(TM) Dealer. As an authorized CraneMart(TM) Dealer, American Crane & Equipment Corporation can supply, service and repair Yale – Lift Tech products.
CraneMart(TM) is an integrated network of North America’s top hoist manufacturers, offering crane & hoist products, parts, services, and specialized support solutions all from a single source. This addition enhances American Cranes existing offerings by adding the product lines Budgit, Shaw-Box, Yale, and Chester.
American Crane & Equipment Corporation is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. American Crane is a custom crane supplier specializing in engineered products for aerospace, commercial nuclear, DOE nuclear, automated systems, and is known for tackling unique “critical lift” applications . American Crane performs repairs, inspections, retrofits, and on-site maintenance and will use its experience and expertise in marketing Yale Shawbox equipment and parts. American Crane now has the capability to supply spare parts and perform service on the complete line of Yale equipment from its well established position in the industry.
I was fortunate enough to be at the new Tacoma Narrows bridge when it opened. I was amazed at how proud the people of Tacoma were of their new bridge. We at American Crane & Equipment Corp. (ACECO) are proud of our little piece of the project also.
We designed and manufactured the bridge travelers for the new bridge. They are the moving work platforms state Department of Transportation personnel will use to maintain the bridge.
I understand that the $1.6 million spent on the travelers is about 0.22 percent of the bridge cost, but we like to think they are an important piece of the puzzle.
I was disappointed that there was no mention in The News Tribune’s coverage of our equipment, especially since there was a “why wasn’t it made in America” theme to several articles. I assure Tacoma that workers can drive our travelers under the bridge for years to come with confidence and pride knowing that they were, indeed, Made in America. (Keller is an electrical engineer with ACECO.)
American Crane & Equipment Corporation has received a patent for a diagnostic system for cranes working in environments requiring enhanced safety.
Cranes play an integral part in the day to day operation of the nuclear industry. Human or technical error in this field can have disastrous consequences, so the constant development and improvement of safety techniques is of paramount importance to the future of the industry.
In 2003, Jeffrey Griesemer, vice president of engineering and general manager, American Crane & Equipment Corporation, tasked the electrical engineering department to design a system to augment the single failure-proof mechanical design of the cask and refuel cranes that were scheduled to be rebuilt at a number of commercial nuclear facilities in the USA.
Oddvar Norheim, Glenn Malek, and Jeff Griesemer were awarded a US patent for the resulting SafWatch system on November 13 2007, having submitted the original application in 2004.
In July 2003, a prototype was built and tested, with a first generation production unit assembled in late August. In early 2005 a second generation SafWatch was designed and built to address limitations of the first unit, which offered improved performance for an increased range of applications.
American Crane now holds three patents, two for its SafLift system, a process for transporting canisters of spent nuclear fuel, and another for SafWatch, the system outlined here to monitor crane operation.
SafWatch has been provided for both new and existing American Crane installations and for those of other crane manufacturers. However, SafWatch has not been provided to date as a “kit” for an end user installation.
American Crane’s single failure-proof cranes are a requirement and result of compliance with NUREG 0554 – “Single Failure-Proof Cranes for Nuclear Power Plants”, ASME NOG-1-2004 “Rules for Construction of Overhead and Gantry Cranes” and operating experience.
The SafWatch first generation and second generation units are in use at five commercial and two government facilities with multiple installations at each facility. Each SafWatch installation is designed, tested, and documented.
The features provided by SafWatch are redundant to safety features provided by the latest closed loop vector frequency drives. The SafWatch monitoring functions are from both the high speed and low speed components. This provides the ability to monitor and compare the direction and speed of the motor, drum, and corresponding hook. Additionally operator control inputs are monitored and compared to actual motion. This redundancy provides a layered approach or “Defense in Depth” to failures in the control and or mechanical systems.
The unit can detect hoist overspeed in excess of 115% of critical and non critical lift speeds. Brakes are automatically applied when an overspeed fault is detected.
US Patent & Trademark Office said:
“A hoist system for critical loads incorporates improved safety technology to monitor various possible fault conditions. For example, a command-not-operated function causes braking of the hoist when an encoder detects one of a group of conditions including a lack of load movement when a movement command is issued by the operating system, failure of encoder feedback, or failure of a control circuit.”
It added: “An uncommanded motion function also causes braking of the hoist when an encoder detects one of a group of conditions including load movement without a movement command issued by the operating system, or reverse directional movement of the load from a directional movement command input by the operating system.”
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Oddvar Norheim is president and CEO of American Crane & Equipment Corporation. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bergen Technical College, Bergen, Norway. He has been employed with American Crane for over 34 years and has provided leadership, development and oversight for company projects.
Jeffrey Griesemer is the vice president of engineering and general manager. He has an AS and BS in electrical engineering technology from Penn State University. He has been employed with American Crane for over 21 years and has worked on or been manager of a diverse number of crane projects from nuclear and fossil fuel power plants to aerospace and automated systems.
Glenn Malek works in American Crane’s engineering department as an electrical engineer with an AS in electrical engineering technology from Penn State University. He has been employed with American Crane for over 22 years and has worked on or managed a number of crane systems for commercial and government facilities.
