Working in Stainless Steel

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Ace Controls International Unit 404 Easter Park Haydock Lane Haydock WA11 9TH United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0)1942 727440 Facsimile: +44 (0)1942 717273

Email: info@ace-controls.co.uk Web: www.ace-controls.co.uk

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ACE: Working in Stainless Steel

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ACE: Working in Stainless Steel

Ace Controls International is a manufacturer of motion control equipment, actively solving applications around the world.

Strong & Attractive

The key attributes that stainless steel adds to Ace products are corrosion protection, non-rusting, low magnetism and where products are visible, the clean, attractive look of stainless steel.

The company started in the 1960's with a uniquely designed shock absorber. This was developed to serve the then, highly productive Detroit automotive industry. From this single shock absorber, a series comprising some 170 different models has followed and Ace has become an industry leader in the process.

In addition, to their shock absorbers the Ace product range has expanded to include safety shock absorbers, TUBUS profile dampers, SLAB damping plates, rotary dampers, hydraulic dampers, feed controls and industrial gas springs.

Ace has been producing many of its products in stainless steel for several years, harnessing the key performance benefits of these products with the inherent benefits that stainless steel offers.

Two main types of stainless steel are used by Ace. For shock absorbers grade V4A is used (1.4404/AISI 316L). For gas springs and hydraulic dampers grade V2A is used (1.4301/1.4305/AISI 303/304) and the V4A grade is an available option.

The main difference between these two stainless steel kinds is that V4A is additionally alloyed with 2% molybdenum.This offers better corrosion protection in chlorine area. So V4A is the better choice for saltwater, chemical industry etc. It has in general a better rust protection.

Good With Food

To comply with food industry regulations all of Aces stainless steel products are available with a special oil (NSF-H1) that meets all food and beverage processing and packaging industry guidelines where there is a potential for incidental food contact.

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High Performance Products

Shock absorbers, hydraulic dampers and gas springs are the Ace products currently available in stainless steel.
Choosing The Right Product
Complete technical information about all of our products is available in our comprehensive technical catalogue or via our website where visitors can download the catalogue, access shock absorber and gas spring selection programs and view CAD images of products with selected accessories. More importantly however, if you are unsure about what product to use, then contact us about your application. Use our product expertise, application experience and installation knowledge and get the right solution for you.

Quality Approvals & Lifetime Warranty

Ace products are designed and manufactured to ISO 9001: 2000 and are guaranteed to be free from defects in materials or workmanship. Ace will repair or replace any of its products determined to have a defect in materials or workmanship at any time for the life of the product.

Shock Absorbers
Shock absorbers operate on the basis of energy conservation; in that energy cannot be created nor destroyed but can only be converted. The input energy, be it the motion of a mass (kinetic energy) impacting or that supplied from a motor or cylinder is converted inside the shock absorber to thermal energy. It is due to this process that the shock absorber has a specific energy capacity which correlates with the hydraulic oils specific heat capacity and the volume contained. Ace shock absorbers are specifically designed to complete this conversion of energy quickly and safely without re-bounding the input energy. By entering the application details into their product selection software programme, Ace engineers can accurately predict the performance of a particular shock absorber. For optimum performance the shock absorbers internal metering tube pattern can be custom designed. Peak reaction forces and rates of deceleration can be plotted with extreme accuracy thus allowing design engineers to calculate associated stresses placed on any supportive structures. The majority of Ace shock absorbers are now Weartec Plus treated as standard. The self-compensating MC150 to 600 Series and the MC33 to MC64 Magnum Series are also available in stainless steel.

Hydraulic Dampers
Hydraulic dampers create resistance to movement by restricting the flow of oil through a single metering orifice. As standard, the rate of damping is adjustable which once set, remains constant throughout the stroke. The specific stainless steel range available is the HBS-28 to 70 Series.

Gas Springs
The Ace gas spring range includes push type, pull type (traction) and tandem models. Gas springs are ideal for assisting the lifting of lids, covers and flaps and holding them in the open position. Stainless steel models are available in all types together with an extensive range of stainless steel end fittings and mounting brackets.

In the UK, Ace also has the ISO 9001:2008 with UKAS accreditation from the British Standards Institution for operating a quality management system covering the stocking, sales, application selection, modification and supply of automation control equipment.

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Stainless Steel Applications

Ace stainless steel products are ideally suited to the following applications: Food Processing & Packaging; Pharmaceutical; Medical; Marine; Nuclear; Electronics & Clean Room. Typical ways in which our products are being used are detailed here.
Pharmaceutical Tablet Manufacture
In this application, stainless steel GZ traction gas springs are used to ease the opening and closing of lids on tablet forming machines. In this clean room environment, the gas springs help the operator lift and hold the lids of the tablet forming machine, where tablets are formed in a sealed nitrogen atmosphere. Six units are used on the three section machine, all complying with industry clean room standards.

Medical Preventing Impact

An Ace shock absorber is used to decelerate the movement of heavy, lead lined doors on a nuclear medical X-ray machine. Due to the heavy weight of the doors, once opened by the operator, the doors gained momentum and needed to be decelerated prior to impacting into the mechanical door stop and causing damage. A stainless steel MC600EUM-V4A was fitted to catch the door in its open position and to meet the clean room and regular wash down requirements.

The units, manufactured by a bespoke carpentry company, feature attractive lifting wooden seat tops that needed a lifting mechanism that would not only ease opening and closing but also be able to perform in the harsh sea-salt spray environment. Ace GS 22-250 stainless steel, resistant to corrosion, gas springs were selected and two units are used on every seat/storage unit.

In this application, Ace provides bespoke stainless steel gas springs used in their systems guarding equipment. The gas spring is required to damp both in extension and in compression, so to achieve not only assistance for the operatives but also control as the guards close and open. The guards, which are hinged from above, move from a near vertical position almost all the way through 180. In addition the guards fold in the middle to help reduce height requirements. The inherent issue with 180 movements is keeping control at each end of the movement. Fortunately, Ace gas spring software allows Aces application engineers to simulate the effects of the moving centre of gravity on applications and gives them the power to move the fixing positions to achieve the best performance possible. This service saves customers the expense of re-engineering fabrication work and expensive re-designs!

Food Industry Safety Guarding

In this application, GS-22-150-AA-V-1200N stainless steel gas springs are used to provide both assistance with the lifting and damping during the closing of machine safety guards. In accordance with international FDA regulations, any components which may come into contact with the food being produced or packed are required to be manufactured in stainless steel. The production of food for human consumption will, invariably, involve the cutting, chopping

or slicing of the product. As a result, all moving blades are required to comply with Health and Safety regulations and be protected and encased within safety guards. Furthermore, as all food manufacturing machinery and equipment is required to be steamed down after each production shift, then stainless steel becomes a necessity due to possible rust contamination of the edible products. Ace stainless steel gas springs are used extensively within the food industry, from small independent producers to large household name manufacturers.

Food Industry Complex Safety Guards

Complete line integration for the process of fresh food products is this customers forte within this industry. They provide extremely high quality food weighing, packaging, sealing and wrapping equipment throughout the world. Their equipment is made fully from stainless steel and other food grade materials from one end of the line to the other.

Recreation Guarding Against The Elements

In this unusual application, a local authority was installing new seating/storage units in a popular beach front recreation area.