Australian Engineering Excellence Awards Winner 2012- Solid State Swing Pedal Engineering- The judges have commented on the preparedness and initiative of this business in applying technology to successfully develop and manufacture a product beneficial to one of our major export industries. The judges were impressed by the resulting simplicity for installation and long-term maintenance, as well as the magnitude of the extent of the adoption of this business initiative.
Owen custom swing pedals were supplied to Bucyrus for fitment to the 8750 AC dragline at Lake Lindsay for
the purpose of complimenting the existing joystick control. The client now has the option to allow any operator to control the swing motion via swing pedal or joystick selectively.
The incorporation of the pedals encoder into the profibus network was relatively seamless with follow up work inclusive of a stronger spring fitted for the neutral transition and some minor Software modifications to the swing ramp. With respect to the mechanical installation, prior planning into fitment and adaption to the Bucyrus console ensured that Owen’s were able to supply a fully functional product completely assembled for quick fitment.
General feedback from operators electing to use the swing pedal over joystick for swing control has been positive. Since installation in June 2010, the swing pedal as an individual component has proven reliable and robust in the chosen application.”
Goonyella Riverside Mining had been looking for solutions for quite some time in respect to an alternative option to the huge antiquated pedals that had been around for some 30 odd years. The original design was problematic in the fact that the pedals were heavy and cumbersome and operator fatigue was a real problem. When these pedals were designed many years ago parts weren't an issue and now we were finding that 30 year old parts were hard to find, expensive and the repair/maintenance time was a long and difficult process. The cost of downtime from old part failures (or any parts failure for that matter) costs a fortune, anywhere from $1,000 - $3,000 a minute depending on the size of the dragline and this really cuts into the bottom line profit. Another problem we were faced with was the machines uncontrolled movements and this in itself caused safety issues. We were looking to reduce this as safety is paramount on any mining site. We were looking to increase our operator comfort as well and anything that would do this we were willing to look at. When we originally tested the Owen Slimline Pedal on the Spohn and Burkhardt Console we did so with around 80 operators and listening to their feedback! We compared it at the same time with another console and pedal package on the market and the results/comments on the Owen Slimline Pedal were outstanding . It was based on this feedback that we made our decision to purchase the Pedal and the console as a package. Because of the design of the Swing Pedal we now have been able to address the ergonomics of reduced movement to the ankle which had been a concern for our Work Place, Health and Safety officers. The ease of serviceability was also a huge plus for us. It was actually designed with ease of serviceability in mind. If there is a need to change over a unit for servicing or replace any of the electrical components, we simply unplug the cables, unscrew four bolts and the unit is out. Since we have converted to this new swing pedal system there have been 0 failures, no safety incidents, good operator feedback and lower fatigue issues.
When the OEM was looking to replace the swing motion control pedals on large open-cut mining draglines, they required an innovative solution that not only provided a more ergonomic product then the original designs, but also one that could be adapted to suit the electrical control system utilised on each particular machine. Owen Custom Products has provided a quality product that has been installed on numerous draglines of various models with extremely high levels of availability, low maintenance requirements, quality after sales service and most importantly, tremendous operator acceptance. Owen Custom Products swing pedals have become the standard for not only existing machines but also all new draglines erected in Australia.
