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Fives has always been a pioneer in the supply of key equipment for the Aluminium Industry in order to maximise the performance of equipment and industrial installation. Fives’ teams are continuously developing technological innovations notably for the automation of pot operation services, aiming at enhancing productivity and improving the safety and health of operators. The Pot Tending Machine availability rate and performance is not only linked to the equipment itself but also to the comfort of the driving operator visibility. As an example, a standard potline with 9 high performance PTMs, eight in operation and 1 in preventive maintenance, tapping operations included, can operate today 360 pots instead of 264 few years ago. To meet such high requirements, Fives developed a new PTM driving cabin, named VISIO+. The comfort of the operator has been highly improved not only thanks to the new ergonomic seat integrating two joysticks and a better cool air circulation, but also thanks to a unique glazing configuration, which reduces the blind spots. More than 10 years ago, Fives developed a cabin-lifting device, which gives the possibility to access the PTM anywhere in the potroom. Consequently, there is no need to move up or down the machine using a dedicated access staircase. This function allows for a total flexibility and optimises the time of taking the job at each shift changing. The floor operator and the cabin operator can exchange very quickly without disturbing the colleague who is working on the next PTM to access the stairs. If this system is very useful for the operations in the potline, the maintenance teams also appreciate it. Indeed, with the possibility to go down the driving cabin Aluminium International Today May/June 2018 TRANSPORT & HANDLING 36 www.aluminiumtoday.com New cabin VISIO+ With lifting and rotation possibility on ECL Pot Tending Machines. By Jean Paul Leroy* *Process Cranes Product Manager, Fives ECL, France in the maintenance bay, the access to the cabin is much safer. Thus, maintenance operations like replacing glazing or air- cooling device can be done from the floor without using any cherry picker or scissor lift. Many smelters already benefit from this feature with their ECL Pot Tending Machine. But today, Fives is now going further by offering his customers a new function of its PTM cabin with a possibility of extra angular motion on its latest generation PTM. Because in recent years, the use of the PTM mono-turret, where the tools and the driving cabin are fixed on the same frame, has become more and more current due to the compactness of the new pot line which optimises the building height, thus the cost. Nevertheless, sometimes, for specific operations, the visibility is a little bit less good than on the old double turret PTM, where the operator could turn around the tools with its cabin. Thus, for maximising his visibility, the operator has now the possibility to rotate his cabin from -30° to + 30° to eliminate eventual blind spots. This rotation is done thanks to a circular rail and electrical motorisation. The choice for this kind of motorisation enables to warranty an easy adjustable motion with acceleration and deceleration smooth slope for a maximum operator comfort. Conclusion The safety of people was one of the main considerations in the design of this system which is CE certified. Better working conditions of operators and optimised visibility in the cabin lead to increasing production and making operations faster and in a safer environment, key points for the global performance of the smelter. �
