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Technology Update What’s New
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UV-C Robot from Omron helps businesses Hybrid bearings from NKE are suitable
win the fight against Covid for tough industrial applications

As the UK’s customer-facing businesses Industrial applications in
plan their reopening strategies, keeping challenging environmental
consumers and staff safe from Covid will conditions call for special bearing
be a key priority. In a bid to prevent future solutions. Bearing manufacturer
outbreaks at high footfall, everyday NKE Austria has developed
environments like supermarkets, bars and hybrid bearings for precisely
gyms, industrial automation specialist these applications. NKE hybrid
Omron has teamed up with UV Systems bearings consist of ultrapure steel
UK to produce an autonomous robotic bearing rings and ceramic rolling
sterilisation system that guarantees to kill elements made of bearing grade
the virus without damage or harm to silicon nitride Si3N4 . “At first
surrounding goods. glance, this material pairing is highly unusual, but it offers many advantages in
UV Systems UV-C Robot eliminates an enormous range of applications, which significantly increases the reliability of
99% of lingering Covid virus cells from the overall system,” says Michael Rössl, application engineer at NKE in Steyr,
ceiling to floor with full traceability. It Austria.
incorporates proven UV-C light sterilisation The silicon nitride rolling elements are 60 percent lighter than those made
technology which, for decades, has kept from steel and are suitable for very high rotating speeds. “Consequently, NKE
the general public safe from harmful hybrid bearings can reach limit speeds that are over 20 percent higher than
bacteria in major leisure centres. This has now been adapted to kill the Covid conventional standard bearings,” says
virus in work and leisure environments where social contact is unavoidable, such Rössl. “Even at these very high and
as the retail, hospitality, travel and leisure sectors. demanding speeds, NKE hybrid
Ensuring the highest levels of hygiene will be essential to entice customers bearings demonstrate excellent
back to the high street post-pandemic. In a survey of 2,000 UK adults by Citron performance characteristics and
Hygiene and OnePoll, 67% of respondents said they are more afraid of germs minimal running noise. There are
and conscious of hygiene now than before March 2020. Employers and owners therefore particularly well suited for
of supermarkets, shops, bars, restaurants, hotels, gyms and other leisure use in high-speed electric motors.”
facilities, as well as office spaces, must therefore deploy a robust indoor cleaning The ceramic rolling elements
protocol to stop the spread of Covid and other bacteria and pathogens. have high wear resistance and can
Companies that fail to do so run the risk of an outbreak being traced to their achieve better results under extremely
facility and subsequent closure. Not only demanding conditions, such as poor
would this lead to a significant loss of lubrication, thereby extending service
business, but brand reputation, consumer life significantly. “The very good dry-running properties of a hybrid bearing play
safety and workforce wellbeing are also an extremely critical part in substantially enhancing the reliability of an
on the line. application,” adds the application engineer.
The solution developed by UV The tribological properties of a hybrid bearing are very good due to the
Systems UK, part of the Topline Group, special material pairing of ceramic and bearing steel. Very little frictional heat is
guarantees to eliminate viruses, generated, even at high speeds. “In turn, this also means that there is less power
pathogens and bacteria on all touchpoints loss at the bearing and by extension in the application as a whole,” explains
within a facility, helping businesses to Rössl. “Moreover, a hybrid bearing has a low breakaway torque.”
regain public confidence, relieve the www.nke.at
burden on employees and meet
regulations. Although manual processes
are still required to clean away visible
dirt, the UV-C Robot has been proven as New ball transfer units, roller tracks
a failsafe method to combat Covid and
other viruses such as SARS, MERS and and conveyor balls from Elesa
Ebola – in 2020, Boston University
researchers validated that UV-C light Elesa has added three new products
sources were capable of inactivating to its range of ball transfer units
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes (otherwise known as roller tracks or
COVID-19. The robotic solution also reduces the need for powerful chemicals conveyor balls). The new UTB units
that present health and safety risks to the operator. in white acetal-based technopolymer
Comprising an array of precision UV-C lamps developed by Phillips and with white polymer or stainless steel
mounted on top of a cutting-edge Omron mobile robot platform, the UV-C Robot roller balls are joined by ESD
autonomously navigates the natural features of a facility, requiring no user input. conductive units and UTR roller
As opposed to manual cleaning that would require numerous personnel, when transfer units for especially delicate
modelled on a 100,000 sq ft supermarket, a single robot would complete the surfaces such as glass and ceramic.
ceiling-to-floor sanitisation process within 2-3 hours. A run time of up to four UTB series ball transfer units are said to be particularly suitable for
hours means it can treat large areas efficiently, reliably and quickly, even applications on transfer and conveyor lines or end of production lines. They offer
returning itself to the charging station once the regime is complete. The solution smooth linear and rotational movement with maximum cleanliness as they do
is also built with sensor technology to allow the robot to detect obstacles in its not require lubrication with oils and greases. UTR roller transfer units facilitate
path and prevent collisions. If a human comes within eight metres of the system, both linear and rotary movement with a soft technopolymer roller. This makes
it will automatically shut down. them suitable for handling loads with particularly delicate surfaces.
www.industrial.omron.co.uk www.elesa.com

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June 2021 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY