Keep Your Cool with Acres Engineering and Accuride
Ever since the industrial revolution started in the 1700s, manufacturing has been a large part of the UK economy, today making up 44% of total exports. In various sectors such as aerospace and automotive, the ‘Made in Britain’ label is highly sought after, being synonymous with quality and expertise. As technology advances, new manufacturing solutions are required, meaning the industry is showing no signs of slowing down.
Acres Engineering is a design and manufacturing business based in Derbyshire, UK, creating, assembling, and testing custom machines and solutions, as well as sub-contracting parts and assembly services. Using over 70 years’ experience supplying a number of industries including marine, food and drink, and power generation, Acres have become a market leader in their trade.
One solution recently designed and manufactured by Acres was a cooling cabinet created for the power generation sector, intended to slow down the process of cooling engine fan blades, preventing the fracturing that can occur to the blades if cooled too quickly. The cabinet was designed to be opened pneumatically, with a solenoid valve and wire rope assembly pulling the door along two slides, providing easy and safe access to the fan blades and turntable inside.
To find the perfect slides for this cabinet door, Acres Engineering turned to Jet Press, a distributor of fasteners and hardware that has been supplying to engineers and manufacturers since 1977. Jet Press recommended Accuride’s slides, not only for their smooth operation but also our fast turnaround on quotes and delivery. With our technical specifications so readily available, they were also able to design the cabinet to suit our specific drawer slide.
The slide chosen for the cooling cabinet was our DZ9301-U-E slide. This heavy-duty slide has a high load rating of 272kg which, combined with its shock-absorbing ball bearings and lubrication, makes even this heavy cabinet door open smoothly and easily. Despite its heavy load rating, this slide is light and easy to handle, making it ideal for the above chest height assembly on this product. The 9301 has a maximum length of 1.5m in the closed position, with 100% extension providing a full length of 3m when open.
With the UK currently ranking as the ninth largest manufacturing nation in the world, here at Accuride, we’re proud to be providing high-quality solutions for this important industry. To find out more about many of our past projects, or how Accuride slides can improve your future projects, contact us today and we’ll be happy to help.
