Test lab employs ABUS EOT crane to transport test objects

Research and development are on the increase in Sweden thanks to RISE, a network of research institutes
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (www.ri.se) or rather their predecessor organisation, the Sverige Tekniska Forskningsinstitut, were one of the first customers of JJ-Gruppen. JJ-Gruppen have their headquarters at Kungsbacka near Gothenburg and they are one of the regional subagencies of the Swedish daughter company of ABUS, the ABUS Kransystem. Several research institutes operate under the umbrella of RISE employing a total of 2,200 staff in varied disciplines such as environmental technology, biological sciences, and safety and transport. The engineers and technicians have, inter alia, well over 100 test stations at their disposal to carry out their work. The central administration of RISE is to be found at Gothenburg in the west of Sweden and thus in one of the strongest economic regions of Sweden. This region is home to some world famous corporations but also to numerous small and medium sized companies which contribute significantly to the economic growth of Sweden. However, these SMEs find their access to research and development in many cases somewhat limited or even restricted due to their size. RISE have tasked themselves to support and advise these companies and to provide access to expert knowledge, thus paving the way for innovative breakthrough.

RISE use state-of-the-art ABUS crane and hoist technology
The research institutes RISE have been regular ABUS customers of the company JJ-Gruppen (www.jjgruppen.se) since the eighties starting with service and maintenance contracts at the time. Through the years several old cranes of different brands have been replaced by new ABUS cranes. The latest crane was supplied in December 2017: a single girder EOT crane of the ELV type with a safe working load of 5 tonnes and a span of 11,100 mm. Now this crane with a main girder consisting of a sturdy rolled section girder is one of the most commonly used cranes for industrial applications. And yet this crane is a special one: it is the first EOT crane in Sweden fitted with the new crane control ABUControl and with a modular wire rope hoist GM1000m.

ABUControl and ABURemote – the perfect interplay
The crane operators at RISE test flow meters for the oil industry and have to use a crossbeam to attach longer tubes to the crane during testing periods. These operators particularly appreciate the anti-sway system of the new crane which makes for travelling comfort and safety at the same time. This anti-sway system allows even less experienced crane operators to safely transport goods even in sensitive areas. This system is based on mathematical calculations taking into account travelling speed, acceleration, time lag of crane and hoist, the position of the hook, and the length of the load lifting attachments. ABUControl does not only include the anti-sway system but also offers a number of other functions for the optimised crane operation: travelling and lifting profiles of ABUS cranes may be adapted to either current or desired crane operating situations in order to achieve high travelling comfort. Travelling characteristics of cranes with two fixed travel speeds will differ from cranes controlled by frequency converters for example. The crane used by RISE features one hoist. When two hoists are used on one crane or when two cranes operate in tandem with two hoists each then the synchronisation control in the ABUControl control will make sure that the lifting speeds do not get out of sync. These kinds of cranes need to be fitted with frequency converters. This will engender added safety and comfort in particular when transporting long goods.

The crane at RISE is controlled via the radio remote control ABURemote. The crane user can operate the crane from an independent position while keeping an eye on the loads and safely moving them. All new cranes fitted with the crane control ABUControl will also feature the radio remote control ABURemote. The ABURemote comes in the shapes of an ergonomically shaped hand-held transmitter ABURemote Button as used by RISE and as a master switch system ABURemote Joystick. Both radio remote controls have modern intuitive menu navigations in common among other things.

JJ-Gruppen concluded a service contract for this new crane also.