Partner content with ACE Controls.
Food manufacturers produce some of the most difficult products to craft. Items must be handled gently, which is not easy when moving at breakneck speeds through industrial mechanisms. As such, shock absorbers play a key role in ensuring safety, the condition of food-grade machinery and the tasty bites they produce.
Shock absorbers take in and dissipate kinetic energy as objects decelerate. In manufacturing settings, they handle products and control the movements of equipment such as conveyor, sorting, filling, sealing, capping, cutting and slicing machines. In other words, shock absorbers improve the performance, lifespan, precision, reliability and safety of people, tools and products on the factory floor. Additionally, shock absorbers reduce vibration, noise and impact damage while improving efficiency, throughput and the control of moving objects.
Food production, however, adds an additional challenge when selecting the right shock absorbers for a particular job — sanitation. Contamination of organic and inorganic matter can result in added expenses, disasters, recalls and even tragedy when making items people eat. To eliminate contamination, the industry uses stringent washdown procedures.
“A washdown typically involves multiple steps including manual cleaning, cleaning agents and sanitization — which are typically separated by rinsing,” said Andy Curriston, engineering manager at ACE Controls. “This is an important process in food processing to prevent contamination of food products and ensure long equipment lifespans.”
As a result, shock absorbers must be able to withstand the industry’s strong cleaning agents, hot temperatures and washdown processes without breaking down, degrading or adding to any contamination. To overcome these challenges, engineers typically select shock absorbers made out of stainless steel for food production applications.
“The washdown process can be detrimental to many materials, resulting in corrosion or degradation,” said Curriston. “There is also the potential for chemical reactions with some cleaning agents, which can increase degradation or create contaminants. While there are alternatives to stainless steel, the strength it provides is essential to the performance and longevity of shock absorbers.”
Stainless steel is resistant to moisture, food-grade oils, cleaning agents and lubricants. The metal has been a popular choice for chef knives since the early 1900’s, because it can have direct contact with food without leaching harmful substances. This food-safe material also provides the strength needed to produce most of the equipment used by the food industry.
However, food processing is not the only industry that requires washdown procedures to eliminate contaminants. As a result, stainless steel shock absorbers have found popularity in other businesses including pharmaceuticals, chemical processing, clean rooms, biotechnology and semiconductors. Engineers also tend to select stainless steel shock absorbers for applications with considerable risk of corrosion, such as the marine and utilities industries.
Ace Controls has offered industrial shock absorbers for over 60 years. Since then, it has grown its portfolio of shock absorbers to include options for automation control, motion control, vibration control and safety products. The company also offers food-grade shock absorbers made from stainless steel.
For more information, contact Ace Controls here.
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