a ma gazine and referencet ool for thew …...per, was one of the top ten most innova-tive products...

Guitars for Vets Scale tech volunteers guitar lessons

MSHAGuidelines for truck scale guardrails

Suitable for lunch pails, lockers and toolboxes too

Bumper StickerInsideFree

A mAgAzine And ReFeRenCe TOOL FOR THe WeigHing indUSTRY / FALL/WinTeR 2011 • iSSUe 2 • vOL. 8

www.ricelake.com | RiCe LAKe mAgAzine 3 2 RiCe LAKe mAgAzine | www.ricelake.com

T H i S i S S U e T H i S i S S U e

RICE LAKE MAGAZINE

Online Going green? Access the Rice Lake magazine online.

You will enjoy the same great stories plus links to more

information. Also, with electronic access, you can easily

share articles with employees and customers.

To SubscribeGo to ricelake.com/ricelakemagazine

and complete the online form. It’s that easy.

If you have any questions, please email us at

[email protected].

Editorial Staffmelanie Al Faraj, Technical Writer

Tamala Anderson, designer

Cheryl Aune, Literature manager

Bob Chatten, Translator

matt davis, marketing Specialist

Jessica de la Cruz, Writer

melissa Hjelle, marketing Specialist

Katy madden, Senior editor, Writer

Kelly musil, Catalog manager

Caleb Olson, Technical Writer, Reporter

Carrie Popple, Technical Writer

Pat Ranfranz, marketing director

Hannah Rechsteiner, designer

Tina Slayton, marketing Specialist

Stacy White, marketing Specialist

Kristina zengaffinen, Senior designer

RICE LAKE MAGAZINE • Fall/Winter 2011 • Issue 2 • Vol. 8

Inside

page 4 What’s new Wm-nano, the world’s first tabletop auto-wrapper; nTeP-approved Roughdeck®

Coil Scale; 920i® Programmable indicator/Controller with USB interface; Automated Ticketing System with

OnTrak® software; Counterpart® Configurable indicator turns any scale or balance into a parts counter.

page 6 Playing his part for vets guitars for vets. page 8 Zero tolerance

for error Checkweighing gas mask filters. page 9 Pressing need For vehicle armor

page 10 One perfect OTR SURVIVOR® and MSHA guardrail

installation page 11 MSHA guidelines for truck scales

page 16 At the end of the line The 720i™ keeps the show going in Las vegas.

page 20 The perfect mix Oem chooses the 720i for mixers. page 23 10-year-old

truck scale gets new lease on life page 24 Head in the clouds

page 27 Thinking inside the ammo box

11

16

20

Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/

ricelakeweighingsystemsmark Johnson, Jr. is the third generation of Johnsons, following his father mark O. Johnson, and grandfather, donald B. Johnson, Rice Lake founder.


W H AT ’ S n e W W H AT ’ S n e W

WM-Nano Groundbreaking auto-wrapper slims down for a better fitIt’s not hard to see why the WM-Nano, the world’s first tabletop automatic wrap-per, was one of the top ten most innova-tive products at Canada’s 2011 Grocery Showcase West. Until recently there’s been little middle ground in wrapping equipment. Retailers could choose a small, manual station or a full-sized automatic machine. But now there’s another choice.

New from Ishida, the WM-Nano is currently the only auto-wrapper on the market com-pact and affordable enough for all retailers. At 28 inches wide, 34 inches deep, and 28 inches high, it’s a unique concept—a tabletop unit with an integrated scale base and printer. It offers all the benefits and features of a full-size automatic machine in a modest size and attainable price.

Retailers no longer have to sacrifice floor space or make a huge investment to gain

productivity. The WM-Nano boosts output as high as 15 packages per minute (PPM), while reducing the risk of repetitive motion injuries often caused by hand-packaging and achieving the same attractive, quality wrap every time, regardless of operator.

By cutting space requirements 50 to 70 percent over competitor models, the WM-Nano fits almost anywhere, even crowded backrooms and production areas, and accommodates a wide range of prod-ucts and tray sizes. Its four-part modular design is easy to install or take apart. No forklifts required. Fully assembled, the WM-Nano is lightweight and easily trans-ported by just two people.

Controlled by the Uni-7 price-computing scale base and printer, the WM-Nano brings the same user interface from the front counter to the back room, where

operators won’t have to learn another type of equipment.

The Uni-7 has a long list of its own ben-efits, including a full-color customizable touchscreen that displays custom product images and provides positive input response for sensing when each button is pressed. Operators also appreciate the Uni-7’s quick-change label cassettes, Ethernet and wireless communication, compat-ibility with third-party devices, and SLP-V software for easier PLU management and label customizing.

There’s so much to like about the WM-Nano it could soon become the new standard in packaging, making high-quality automatic wrapping more accessible than ever before. Go to ricelakeretail.com/nano. ▪

Make way for a new wrap star

TurnS any Scale Or balance InTO a parTS cOunTer

Counterpart®counting Scale

Counterpart is a configurable indicator, available in dual or single channel consoles. It can be connected to virtually any analog or serial scale input. Operators produce accurate results immediately by simply following the keys: zero, tare and sample. See page 13 for more details.

Go to ricelake.com/counterpart. ▪

rOuGhDeck® cOIl Scale

NTEP approved

It’s official! Rice Lake’s RoughDeck Coil Scales are now Legal-for-Trade in capacities ranging from 25,000 lbs to 110,000 lbs. Go to ricelake.com/coilscale for more details. ▪

SpeeD Truck TraFFIc

ATS and OnTrak®Software

Improve safety, accuracy, and efficiency using Rice Lake’s Auto-mated Ticketing Systems (ATS) with OnTrak software. Drivers stay in cabs; data is accurate and secure; traffic flows efficiently. ATS kiosks operate in manual or automated mode with RFID readers, printers, intercoms and keyboards.

For more details go to ricelake.com/kiosk. ▪

920I® prOGraMMable InDIcaTOr/cOnTrOller

with USB InterfaceThe 920i with USB shares the same hardware

as the legendary 920i, but replaces the PS/2 interface port with a USB interface. Connector types include Standard Type A for hosting, connecting keyboards,

printers and memory devices, and Standard Type B for connecting as a device to PCs.

Go to ricelake.com/920iusb for more details. ▪

playing his part for vets

800-472-6703www.ricelake.com

mobile: m.ricelake.com

6 RiCe LAKe mAgAzine | www.ricelake.com

gUiTARS FOR veTS

BRINGING yOUR GUITAR TO A GAThERING IS A GOOD WAy TO BREAK ThE ICE AND START CONVERSATIONS. Mark Bristow, scale technician at BSI Scales in New Berlin, WI, brought his Martin® guitar with him when he came to Rice Lake to attend our “Fundamentals of Electronic Systems” training seminar. The conversation he started with us is well worth repeating.

Mark is a volunteer guitar instructor for Guitars for Vets (G4V), a national program that has given away over 800 guitars and more than 1,500 lessons. The students are service men and women who have come home from war feeling the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He believes music is a universal language that can help veterans communicate emotions that are hard to talk about.

Guitars for Vets was strummed to life at the Milwaukee VA spinal rehab unit, where Dan Van Buskirk and Patrick Nettesheim per-formed for paralyzed veterans. They saw how therapeutic music is for those who are fighting a lifelong battle waged in wheelchairs and hospital beds. Dan, a Marine Corps reconnaissance scout during the Vietnam War, took up guitar in 2005 after years of PTSD had devastated his life. In 2008, he and his guitar instructor, Patrick, formed Guitars for Vets.

Watching Mark take his Martin out of the case, it was easy to see the close bond that exists between musician and instrument. When Mark heard about the program, he volunteered immediately.

Instructors must train through a strict VA program, and they’re submit-ted to rigorous FBI background checks that require fingerprinting and official badges for admission to facilities. In addition to government protocol, G4V has three requirements for instructors:

•They must show gratitude toward veterans for what they have given.

•They must be empathetic and be sincerely able to feel these veterans’ stories.

•They must be nonjudgmental and throw all political thoughts out the door.

Before receiving their free guitar at their sixth lesson, veterans enrolled in Guitars for Vets learn to play on donated practice guitars.

If you have an acoustic guitar gathering dust in your closet, send it in! Even if the instrument is no longer playable, artists associated with the program can turn it into an art piece that will then be sold to raise funds for Guitars for Vets. Guitars for Vets also needs instructors like Mark and coordinators to set up new chapters and help with existing groups.

Visit their website guitarsforvets.org or Guitars for Vets’ Facebook page for more details on the program and ways you can play a part in bringing music into the lives of our country’s heroes. ▪

mark Bristow, scale technician at BSi Scales in new Berlin, Wi, is a volunteer guitar instructor for guitars for vets (g4v).

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) damages millions of dollars’ worth of electronic parts and equipment every year. Pulling tape off a dispenser just six inches can build up 4,000 volts— and electronic devices can be damaged by ESD well under 1,000 volts!

Rice Lake Technical Training can teach you what you need to know about electronic weight-related technology. Each of these four to four-and-a-half day hands-on courses include lodging, meals and transportation between your hotel and our top-notch training facility in Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

ES-111 Fundamentals of Electronic Systems

ES-222 Advanced Scale System Troubleshooting

ES-300 Indicator Format and Process Control

MS-101 Understanding Mechanical Scales

ES-301 920i Programming

Visit ricelake.com/training for seminar dates and additional information, or call 800-472-6703, ext. 5128.


m.ricelake.com


O n L O C AT i O nO n L O C AT i O n

Accuracy is supremely important. With the proper

filters the masks protect against a range of chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear contaminants.

ThE PEOPLE AT OTTAWA MOULD CRAFT, LTD., ONTARIO, CANADA, have a contract to mold and assemble filtration products—some with military specifications. They use an ultrasonic welder to weld three very light, separate and distinct layers of media into each filter, all of which weigh a few grams.

The operator of the sonic welder checkweighs every set of filters before they are placed on the welder to be absolutely sure all three media discs are present. Because it would be impos-sible to ascertain after the discs are welded into the part, Ottawa Mould Craft needed a check-weigh system that allowed no room for human error. Accuracy is supremely important. With the proper filters inserted, the masks protect against a range of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear contaminants.

To guarantee accuracy, GTR Scales, Ltd., of Arnprior, Ontario, came up with an innova-tive solution. Jeff Wallace, GTR sales director, says, “We didn’t know for absolute sure if the solution would actually work. It worked on the back of a napkin.” That solution? GTR incorporated a Rice Lake platform into the base of the welder and interfaced the CW-90 checkweigher with the welder. If the weight of the set of filters does not fall into the allowable tolerance, or “accept band” of the CW-90, the welder will not operate.

Today, the Rice Lake base continues to stand up to the sonic frequencies and pressure produced by the welder, and David Veal, Ottawa Mould Craft vice president, reports that the ingenious solution is working perfectly—each and every time. ▪

gTR Scales’ solution guarantees the check-weighing step occurs before welding. if the weight of the set of filters does not fall into the allowable tolerance, or “accept band” of the CW-90, the sonic welder will not operate.

VEhICLE ARMOR IS SOMETIMES IMPROVISED by vehicle crews or individual units in the midst of an armed conflict. In World War II, U.S. tank crews welded spare strips of tank track to the hulls of their Sherman, Lee, and Stuart tanks to break through the Normandy hedgerows after the D-Day invasion. In the Vietnam War, U.S. “gun trucks” were armored with sandbags and locally fabricated steel armor plate. U.S. troops in Iraq armored Humvees and various military transport vehicles with scrap materials, which came to be known as “hillbilly armor” or “haji armor.” Today, the U.S. is armoring vehicles to withstand modern conflict tactics.

Technical Weighing Services, Inc. is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that uses Rice Lake instrumentation and load cells in weighing and control systems for steel plants that produce flat carbon products; some for military projects.

Technical Weighing has developed a three-million-pound press, which is used to test, adjust, and calibrate the higher capacity force measurement load cell transducers.

The large capacity force measurement systems Technical Weighing developed played a part in the manufacture of the special armor-plate alloy that saved the lives of a military group whose Humvee was blown up by a bomb in Iraq. After the explosion, nothing was left except the armor-plate components and the personnel that the armor successfully shielded. ▪

Polishing the super press for its photo op; david Heuer, engineering director with Technical Weighing Services, inc., griffith, indiana.

for a unique three-million-pound pressPressing need



One perfect OTr SurVIVOr®and MSha guardrail installationJOE MAyBERRy, SCALE SALESMAN ExTRAORDINAIRE FOR AMERICAN WEIGhING SySTEMS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, is rightly proud of this new SURVIVOR® OTR truck scale installed in a three-sided pit for a Butler Sand Company sand mine operation. Lloyd Shapard, LL Designs, Inc., did the installation and fabricated the MSHA-approved guardrail.

The workmanship is just plain beautiful. Mike Bordino, Rice Lake southeastern regional director, insisted on close-ups of the end caps and debris guards, and a long shot down the scale showing the linear perfection of Lloyd’s work.

Lloyd laid a concrete slab beside the scale so front loaders are not losing traction in the fine white sand while they are topping the load. A LaserLight® four-inch display is strategically placed so both the front loader driver and the truck driver can see when optimal weight is reached. ▪

Tightly fitted debris guards keep rocks, rubble and even sugar sand out of the weighbridge.

The driver of the front loader uses the LaserLight to top off the load for optimal weight.

mSHA regulation guardrails are expertly welded and finished.

Sugar sandGood for baseball, bad for roads

Sugar sand, found in some areas of the eastern United States, is a fine silt made up of ultrafine mineral sand mixed with a large percentage of organic granules. Because of its lightness, when wet, it can easily form quicksand in hollows. even when dry, sugar sand tends to be too light to support motor vehicles.

Sand from Butler Sand Company created the substrate for the diamond and outfield at Turner Field; the home of the Atlanta Braves. Sugar sand mud is also used by major League Baseball as an abrasive to condition new baseballs. Sugar sand mud is rubbed into new baseballs by hand before they are put in play. it dulls the shiny, slick surface and softens the leather. ▪Wikipedia.org

The able hands of mike Bordino with a clump of damp sugar sand.

MSha Guidelines for Truck ScalesBy Bill Murphy, Rice Lake national heavy capacity director

ThE MINE SAFETy AND hEALTh ADMINISTRATION OR MShA (nicknamed “emshaw”) is the government organization that oversees safety at mines, quarries, and related industries. MSHA is headquartered in Arlington, VA, with district offices at six locations around the United States. There are presently over 850 inspectors within MSHA.

How does MSHA impact scales and the scale industry? Legislation has been on the books since the 1970s relating to berms, guardrails, elevated roadways, bridges, and roads on mine property. These regulations, however, have been very loosely enforced with respect to truck scales. Truck scales have just recently been clearly defined by MSHA as elevated roadways and are therefore now subject to MSHA policies regarding guardrails and berms.

In early 2009 MSHA inspectors initiated an aggressive campaign at these facilities, levying significant fines and penalties related to guardrails on truck scales. Compliance has generally been left to the discretion of the local MSHA inspector. MSHA has been vague in the past as to what was expected from scale owners. The most common criteria provided by MSHA up until this time was that “guardrails were to be half the height of the largest tire on a powered vehicle to cross the scale.” Rice Lake and other scale suppliers have provided higher rails to satisfy the requirement—and this appeared to be acceptable to most MSHA inspectors. This interpretation changed with the release of the MSHA policy letter on August 26, 2010.

The new policy as it relates to truck scales applies specifically to all mining operations and businesses located on mine property, including aggregate facilities, sand and gravel, bulk cement, concrete plants, asphalt operations, strip mines, tipple operations, coal loadouts, Continued on page 12


O n L O C AT i O n

Counterpart® is a configurable indicator that can be connected to virtually any analog or serial scale input. Operators produce accurate results immediately by simply

following the keys: zero, tare, and sample.

Counterpart quickly recalls items by ID number or by scanning the barcode. Network capabilities allow Counterpart to expand the database. The configurable data output and multiple

formats allow easy customization. For further expandability, Ethernet makes Counterpart easy to integrate with existing IT processes.

See more scale bases that count with Counterpart and request a demo. Go to ricelake.com/counterpart.

Counterpart pictured with BenchMark®.Also available with DIGI® scale bases.


m.ricelake.com

Turn any SCalE or balanCE inTo a

parTS CounTEr

The internal structure of the weighbridge on flat top truck scales is designed for compression type loading and not lateral forces of the nature defined by MSHA.

What options are available to scale dealers and mine owners?

1. The simplest solution is to mitigate the elevation of the scale platform to the 16 inch height as indicated by MSHA. This is often difficult considering state Weights & Measures clearances beneath the bridge even with the lowest of truck scale profiles. In some cases retaining walls or fill material can be located adjacent to the scale platform main-taining the 16 inch elevation.

2. One of the best solutions is the Rice Lake SR Side Rail model in either a concrete or steel deck design. The out-board 24WF76# main beams serve as a natural restraint for keeping truck traf-fic on the scale. By welding an optional 4 inch schedule 40 pipe with standoffs to the top of the beam, the mid-axle rail height can be achieved. Rice Lake has

installed a number of these designs at quarries around the country.

3. Conventional deep or shallow pits will also provide compliance with the MSHA regulations. Although pits are often the most expensive foundations, in some cases they may provide the best option for the owner.

4. Steel highway guardrails are another viable option and can often be pur-chased and installed by local compa-nies. These rails can be achieved with galvanized railing and I-beam posts and can be bought and installed for as little as $40 per linear foot (prices will vary by geographic location).

Keep in mind that the local MSHA in-spector will have the final say on what is acceptable and what is not. As indicated by MSHA, there is no “one-size-fits-all.” The best advice is to consult with the local MSHA inspector to determine the ideal solution for your application. ▪

and other related businesses. These poli-cies apply to both metal and non-metal mine facilities.

The basic premise of this letter is:

• All elevated scales should be equipped with a curb, rub rail, berm, or guardrail depending on its elevation level. For scales having a driving surface elevated 16 inches or less above the ground, the scale should, at a minimum, be equipped with either a substantial curb or rub rail at least 6 inches high.

• If the height from the driving surface on the scale to the lowest ground surface adjacent to the scale is greater than 16 inches, the drop-off hazard can be mitigated by raising the ground to decrease the distance to less than 16 inches or the scale can be equipped with a guardrail capable of restraining the vehicle from driving off the scale. Any guardrail should extend to at least mid-axle height of the largest motorized vehicle using the scale.

MSHA has established that the following four parameters for truck scales must be considered when providing MSHA-compliant guardrails:

1. The height of the guardrail (impact height)

2. The speed of the vehicle while driving onto, over, or off of the scale

3. The loaded weight of the vehicle

4. The angle of impact

The clarification provided by MSHA is that the rail must be mid-axle height and capable of keeping an 80,000 pound truck, traveling at 10 to 15 miles per hour, at a 10-degree angle to the direction of traffic on the scale.

Based on the parameters established by MSHA, it is Rice Lake’s position that it is structurally impractical to design a guardrail restraint system for the flat top truck scale designs on the market today. Flat top truck scale products are not designed to handle the lateral forces and conditions as established by MSHA.

In early 2009 MShA inspectors initiated an aggressive campaign at these facilities levying

significant fines and penalties related to rails on truck scales.

Bill murphy, Rice Lake national heavy capacity director.

MSHA Guidelines for Truck Scales continued from page 11

SCAN ITScan this QR code to learn more about Counterpart.

1. RailBoss helps you ship optimally loaded rail cars.

2. RailBoss costs one-third the price of conventional rail scales.

3. RailBoss installation usually takes less than eight hours.

4. RailBoss fits in small yards, tight spots and lean budgets.

5. RailBoss prevents fines, fees, and delays—not to mention derails.

6. RailBoss is manufactured by rice lake, the best by every measure.

Need more reasons? Go to ricelake.com/railboss.


m.ricelake.comSCAN IT

Scan this QR code to learn more about RailBoss.


ON A DRy AND WINDy LAS VEGAS AFTERNOON, A BODy LAyS MOTIONLESS ON ThE CONCRETE FLOOR OF SILVER STATE WIRE ROPE & RIGGING. hIS TORSO IS CRACKED AND BROKEN, FRAGMENTS OF hIS ARMS ARE SCATTERED AROUND ThE ROOM, AND hIS LEGS ARE WRAPPED AROUND EACh OThER. A crowd of onlookers simultaneously gasps at the sight. It is not a good day to be Bob, the com-pany’s test dummy. This was his last starring role in Silver State Wire Rope & Rigging’s (SSWR&R) weekly demonstration where entertainment and construction industry professionals witness the effects of improper rigging and the fatal impact of a 10-foot fall on the human body.

Mounted near the demonstration, Rice Lake’s 720i programmable indicator displays the actual weight placed on the 240-pound test dummy as his 10-foot drop ended violently in mid-air. When the steel rope suddenly tightened on his harness, it exerted a 4000-pound force sending Bob into early retirement (forces exceeding 1000 pounds are typically considered fatal).

Constructed in January of 2011, the demonstration has been a valuable teaching aid. Klaus Damm, of D&G Scale, installed the load cell and indicator. “They custom-built

a huge frame and needed to know the loading value, so I chose the 720i indica-tor and a Rice Lake load cell,” Klaus explains. “The 720i’s peak-hold feature made it an easy sell because they needed to display the highest weight value incurred during the test. Once they saw how it worked it was a no-brainer.” Klaus continues, “Initially a competitor’s indicator was in place. It also had peak hold but it didn’t work properly. The way it updated versus Rice Lake’s 720i was no comparison. The 720i displays values in almost real-time where-as the competitor’s had such a lag that it was ineffective for an audience

watching the remote display and not seeing accurate values as the demon-stration was taking place. With the 720i, the audience could see the values

rapidly change during the demonstration and with a press of the PRINT key the peak hold value was displayed.”

Prior to the installation, SSWR&R verbally described which rigs and situations can create a fatal fall. A 10-foot fall being lethal was difficult for skeptical audience members to believe. Actually seeing the 4000-pound shock value resonates the gravity of the situation.

Since test-dummy Bob’s departure, SSWR&R has replaced him with a 240-pound test weight to simulate a suspended worker. The hoist lifting this test weight is an invalu-able and widely used tool in the entertainment industry. The hoists are used to raise and position sound equipment, trusses, lighting grids, graphic panels and virtually everything else used for setting up and running the type of show one might see on the Las Vegas Strip. However, positioning these items takes a delicate hand. “The operators know they’re supposed to make a smooth and consistent lift but that isn’t always the case,” says Andrew Rogers, crane and hoist shop manager of SSWR&R. “In reality, they get the equipment close to where it needs to be and then repetitively tap the LIFT button to fine-tune the height.” This creates a dynamic shockwave through the system, often resulting in a load spike equal to 200-300% of the actual weight being lifted.

Illustrating this dynamic shockwave is also part of the demonstration. Silver State uses a hoist to lift 400 pounds of test weights. In mid-air the LIFT button is tapped a few times to simulate the activity of a typical hoist worker. A press of the 720i’s PRINT button displays the highest value placed on the support cable during the process, 1200 pounds. This has the potential to be a catastrophic problem because often, a hoist will be selected based on the weight being lifted; however, a more robust hoist is actu-ally needed because of these transient load spikes.

Pete Rogers of SSWR&R explains, “The hoists are actually built for industrial use but the entertainment industry has gotten so big in the last 20 years their use in


Continued on page 18

by Caleb Olson, reporter

120º

30º

300 lb

300 lb150 x 2.0 = 300 lb


displaying the 4000-pound shock value resonates the gravity of the situation during

SSWR&R’s safety demonstrations.

O n L O C AT i O n

watching a fatal fall from six feet, the same fall is reproduced with a shock ab-sorber installed on the harness. Instead of 4000 pounds of force, the test weights incur a painful, but not fatal, 700 pounds of force. “I wouldn’t want to experience that kind of force,” Andrew smirks, “but at least it wouldn’t be the end of me.”

In addition to rigging safety classes and demonstrations, SSWR&R performs hoist inspections. When the hoists come in workers disassemble and rebuild them, taking wear measurements as they work their way through the machine. Before the hoist can be certified, ASME B30.16 standards require a load test to be performed at 125% of its rated load. “Everybody can do that,” Andrew explains. “It’s basically just testing that the motor is going to lift the load and the load is not going to slip. The cool thing about the setup we were able to do with Klaus is that we can also do a slip test.”

A hoist is required to slip at less than 200% of its rated load. With another 720i and Rice Lake load cell, the operator can see weight readings in real-time with simu-lated weight, to the slipping point. “We can see exactly where it slips,” Andrew continues. “If it slips high we can adjust it down or vice-versa until it’s perfectly dialed in. We used to lift concrete blocks and were trying to simulate using hydrau-lic pressure off the gauge which was not accurate. That’s when we called Klaus and put together the current system that gives us an exact reading. It’s working wonder-fully and saves quite a bit of time.”

With two 720i’s running the show, Silver State Wire Rope & Rigging have increased their testing efficiency and effectiveness in demonstrating safety. The only thing missing is Bob, the re-tired test dummy, resting peacefully in an undisclosed location. Asked why the mangled humanoid is kept, Pete opti-mistically replies, “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.” ▪

O n L O C AT i O n

angles require multiplication factors to determine actual weight values. Measured in relation to the horizontal

plane, the factors for equal-length bridles are:

Hanging on by a thread! The geometry of bridle setups drastically affects cable tension and weight values.

Angle to horizontal Between legs Mult. Factor*

10° 160° 5.76

15° 150° 3.86

20° 140° 2.92

25° 130° 2.37

30° 120° 2.00

35° 110° 1.74

40° 100° 1.56

45° 90° 1.41

50° 80° 1.31

55° 70° 1.22

60° 60° 1.15

65° 50° 1.10

70° 40° 1.064

75° 30° 1.035

80° 20° 1.015

85° 10° 1.001

90° 0° 1.00

*Based on the Backstage Handbook by Paul Carter

At the End of the Line continued from page 17

geometry or depending on the magnitude of dynamic loading. Either of these factors drive up those loads exponentially.”

Because of the rising popularity of shows that require more sophisticated rigging, hoist-related accidents have risen at a similar ratio. The entertainment community has incurred quite a few serious accidents, from Spider-Man on Broadway to the building of Las Vegas’ City Center during which six deaths occurred. A renewed emphasis on safety is promoted industry-wide. Intelligent and informed selection of equipment in rigging situations and the fall protec-tion applications (which include the use of force-reducing components or shock packs) can potentially reduce the frequency of these incidents to zero. The test weight drop demonstration has become an essential sales tool for SSWR&R’s shock absorbers. After

that industry has become widespread. Because the hoist appears to be large and robust, it is a very common occurrence for the operator to tap the LIFT button.” The operator may be using a single hoist attached to a piece of scenery or they may be using an entire grid with 200 hoists going to a truss and lifting a much more elaborate setup. Because no two motors run at the exact same speed, the opera-tor commonly tries to maintain level as equipment is being lifted and does so by tapping that pesky LIFT button. “People don’t think much of it,” Pete continues. “But when they watch our demonstration it really drives the point home that they may need a higher capacity hoist or at least must be aware of how their behavior creates dynamic loading situations.”

In addition to accurately determining correct hoist capacity, another compo-nent affects dynamic load—geometry. The same weight and wire taken at different angles will produce different weight values. For example, if a 300-pound weight is suspended on two equal-length cables (known as a bridle setup) at 30 degrees below horizontal, one might think the weight on each hoist to be 150 pounds. However, because of the 30-degree angle, a multiplication factor of 2 must be applied, making the actual weight value 300 pounds on each hoist. The more the angle varies from 90 degrees off the horizontal plane, the higher the multi-plication factor.

Using the same setup as the test weight drop, SSWR&R illustrates the influence of how the geometry of a suspended load affects the tension. “People don’t realize that with typical rigging situations static weight is not always what it appears to be,” Andrew explains. “With geometry and dynamic loading it can be a great deal higher. There are certain pieces of rigging and sizes of rigging that need to be used for a specific load depending on the


Continued on page 22

A & J Mixing is a small Canadian com-pany specializing in high performance mixing systems. In 1995, the company’s founder, Bliss Flower (who regularly receives calls requesting floral bouquets) invented a unique rotor design. Using industry and engineering know-how, Bliss developed a single-rotor, low-intensity mixing machine that achieves the fastest and most accurate batches in the industry. In the years since its inven-tion the mixing system has been used in multiple applications. The advance of technology in the past 15 years meshed well with Bliss’ revolutionary design.

Today across the food, chemical, animal feed, and construction industries, A & J Mixing’s patented rotor provides a predictable, repeatable and reliable solu-tion. With batch times at one minute for straight powders and three to five minutes for colors, A & J had the perfect mix for the Thailand job. The client is in home-construction products.

Another customer wanted a system that fills multiple-sized pails with multiple weights of grout and cement per pail.

Jon Prenger, a veteran designer with A & J Mixing, suggested Rice Lake’s 720i indicator to handle the individual scales beneath the mixing system and a 920i indicator interfaced with a PLC & PC to control the weigh hoppers and load-cell-based mixer. But it doesn’t end there; where product is discharged sit two 720i’s that monitor a pail-filling system resting on a bench scale. Since the product flows so quickly, its rate of flow is difficult to control. This is where Bliss’ auger design integrates into the system to achieve unmatched results. Calculations for flow are based on the attributes of the material being used which is stored in Rice Lake’s ProAction PCEE database. From there an automated roller conveyor sends filled pails to a pail closer.

“This was a brand new installation,” Jon remembers. “In the past, systems like this were hand-filled or not controlled in con-junction with a PLC and programmed indicator. They would just have an indi-cator, fill, stop, and it would be a manual top-off to get to weight. Today, with our

system there’s none of that going on and the element of human error is minimized as much as possible. The operator just puts the pail in place and hits START. It fills and is taken away.”

The 720i triggers relays in a separate control panel which then goes back to the main control panel where the VFD is located. It’s not actually controlled by the PLC. Because the PLC is a separate system, they can keep mixing or run a parallel system at the same time. Every-thing fills into the mixer, which is also on load cells for checkweighing so the PLC knows when the material has actually been added to the mixer. Any hand-adds (small requirements of 10 pounds in a 5,400-pound batch) can be seen by the indicator. Through touchscreen interac-tion, the operator verifies the hand-add has been done. Floor scales are used

alongside the mixer. The operator puts a container on one of these floor scales and the PLC will see the extra 10 pounds. Once the operator confirms it has been added, the indicator commits the weight and the mix begins. When everything is mixed, it is discharged into the hopper above the small screws A & J Mixing designed. From there everything is mixed together and pails are filled as required based on weight. However, some materials flow so quickly that aeration is impossible to avoid. This aeration results in the system not necessarily seeing the exact flow rate all the time but the scale’s high accuracy compensates for this.

“We also had to look at how many dif-ferent recipes and weights that we had to incorporate into this,” Jon continues.

A perfect mix of speed and quality, this Phlauer dual-rotor custom mixer can complete dry ingredients in 30 seconds and a total cycle in five minutes. Mixing faster than segregation can occur and controlling the void size assures a top-quality outcome.

O n L O C AT i O n

Using industry and engineering know-how, Bliss developed a single-rotor, low-intensity mixing

machine that achieves the fastest and most accurate batches in the industry.

O n L O C AT i O n

IN ThE hEART OF ThAILAND, A COLORED-CEMENT AND GROUT MANUFACTURER NEEDS ThE FASTEST AND MOST ACCURATE CUSTOMIZED MIxING SySTEM IN ThE WORLD. Where other mixers take 20 minutes or more they need a system that takes under five. In an 8,000-pound batch they need five 30-gram samples to be within Cv. 5%. They also need the system to be automated yet foolproof; sophisticated yet user-friendly; fast, accurate, and repeatable.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, a sales representative is starting a follow-up call to a recently installed system. As he waits in the lobby toward the exit he is stopped by a tap on his shoulder. “Hey, are you the guys who did the mixer?” a curious stranger politely asks. “I saw the logo on your shirt—A & J Mixing. We might have a project for you.” They exchange pleasantries, business cards, and a handshake.

Two weeks later now back in his Oakville, Ontario, Canada home office, Lyndon’s phone rings. It is the gentleman from Pennsylvania; he has a project in Thailand and he wants to talk details. “He was asking me, ‘Can this be done’ and ‘Can that be done?’” Lyndon recalls. “When I described some of our previous projects and what A & J Mixing is able to do, we had a match.” Little did he know the system would develop into an incredibly complicated, yet surpris-ingly user-friendly, cutting-edge mixing solution.

“When I described some of our previous projects and what A & J Mixing

is able to do, we had a match.”

lyndon Flower, regional sales manager, a & J Mixing

Bliss Flower, Founder of A & J mixing, says, “i always get phone calls from people wanting to order flowers.” He spells his name “Phlawer” on his mixing systems.


The framework of a system that works this well allows A & J to use it as a template for

similar solutions in different industries.

ship with Rice Lake. “Working with Rice Lake is great,” Jon reports. “Any time we have customer questions or need something shipped overnight they always come through. Their support is unmatched. Our customers don’t neces-sarily have a scale company in place. This is something new for them; they’re used to just mixing and bagging off a system and haven’t used scale controllers and technology to control and run the whole system, so they don’t have those contacts. Rice Lake is able to provide local distributors or scale companies. My customer now has a local contact so if there’s anything physically wrong onsite someone can show up right away. I can help them only so much from the phone, so it’s nice to have someone local. We provide a lot of support, and it’s important that everything—from

indicators and scale bases and load cells to the cabling—holds up.”

A & J Mixing is pushing the envelope in their niche industry. The first pail-filling system they completed was in 2005 and had only one target weight and one product/bucket size. Subsequent systems go leaps and bounds beyond that. The framework of one system that works this well allows A & J to use it as a template for similar solutions in different industries. The flexibility and reliability of Rice Lake equipment is there every step of the way, and support is only a phone call away. Rice Lake and A & J Mixing work well together to provide the perfect mix. ▪

Joe Prenger, designer with A & J mixing, uses ProAction PCee to program batch routines.

O n L O C AT i O n

prompt before the batch can continue. A similar prompt appears when the pail is full, and the operator has to confirm it has been removed before continuing.

Surely, a system this complex must require extensive programming experi-ence. “I was familiar with programming for the 920i,” Jon explains, “but PCEE and DBE were new to me. It was nice the PCEE steps you through the program-ming process to give the customer total flexibility for their database. We even have it set up now so the plant manager can connect and upload any changes to a recipe with only five minutes of down-time. The manager just plugs a laptop in serially, downloads the information, and the operator can get back to work.

“The nice thing about the 720i,” Jon con-tinues, “is that it has the flexibility with the

“The benefit of the 720i is flexibility and reliability. The entire system is controlled with Rice Lake equipment.”

Joe prenger, designer with a & J Mixing.

digital I/O to control what’s happening, and we can set it up to control the fast and slow feeds, turn mixers on and off, and give feedback to confirm ‘yes, we’re running’ or ‘yes, power is on.’ People in the office know the equipment status at any given time. The way we set up the fields in the database, it displays back on the screen so operators can see when entering a certain number, it says they’re doing a certain size pail and a certain target weight, and they can confirm. The work order shows the customer name, pail size, and weight. So even if someone types it in incorrectly on the database field, the proper values will be on the screen, and the operator can visually determine if something doesn’t match up.”

A & J Mixing’s attentiveness to customer needs is reciprocated in its relation-

“We used ProAction PCEE and DBE to create our own custom input system where the operator looks at the work order to see which product is being made that day. The operator will input that product code in the 720i where a confir-mation system in the database double-checks the proper code has been input. After that, it’s semiautomatic. When the operator presses START, the batching program has preset points set so it au-tomatically fills when setpoint relays are reached, which is controlled by the digital I/O of the 720i and slows down the screw to achieve high-end accuracy. When we do a 60-pound pail, we can be no more than plus or minus half a pound, and can never be under weight. We were filling six-gallon pails in approximately thirty seconds! The benefit of the 720i is flex-ibility and reliability. The entire system is controlled with Rice Lake equipment. The customer has never had a problem with it and is extremely happy.”

Product coming off this system is shipped internationally, and there are a lot of different customers with everything from small batch orders to large volume orders. Because A & J Mixing designs a system like this from the floor up to fit all the equipment—bench scales and tables to mount indicators, switches, and junc-tion boxes—they have a full grasp of the facility and its needs. To accommodate the variety of products, A & J engineered slide-out troughs that are completely removable for easy cleaning and acces-sibility. So when an order comes in for a different-colored grout, brushing out or vacuuming residual material from a previous batch is a breeze.

Often with semi-automated filling systems, the customer’s worst fear is an inattentive operator pressing START with some weight on the scale, which means the system thinks a bucket is actually in place. It wouldn’t take long for 1,000 pounds of cement to be on the ground. A & J Mixing thought of this as well and set display prompts such as “add your empty pail,” which acts as a checkweigh setpoint. Since the weight of the pail is known, the operator is forced to respond to this

The Perfect Mix continued from page 21

The 720i’s combination of power and ease-of-use makes it a perfect fit for complicated batching systems.

10-year-old truck scale gets new lease on lifeSteve Parker, co-owner of Accurate Scale, Ashburn, georgia, is keeping a truck scale (not a SURvivOR®) weighing perfectly for Helena industries’ chemical crop protection and production facility in Cordele, georgia. He added a Rice Lake LaserLight® Stop/go Remote display and a radio system with wireless data transmission. The viRTUi2® PC-based indicator program and OnTrak® software are in the scale house about 300 feet from the scale. now the scale house operator uses the CB to speak to the driver. They can print a weigh ticket from their computer via viRTUi2 to a ticket printer or an in/out weight transaction via OnTrak.

The iQUBe²® diagnostic junction box Steve installed is interesting because this old truck scale has 10 load cells to monitor. So Steve used a triple-stack iQUBe² encased in a waterproof enclosure mounted next to the truck scale. The iQUBe² communicates wirelessly to the computer in the office eliminating any potential electrical surges between the truck scale and the computer.

iQUBe² monitors and communicates load cell performance, and when necessary will compensate for a failing load cell until repairs can be made. For more go to ricelake.com/iqube2. ▪


T e C H TA L KT e C H TA L K

“CLOUD COMPUTING,” OR COMPUTING IN ThE “CLOUD,” IS ThE LATEST EMERGING TEChNOLOGy BEING OFFERED TO BUSINESSES LARGE AND SMALL, BUT IT hAS ITS ORIGINS WITh ThE BEGINNING CONCEPTS OF ThE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT TODAy.

Robert Metcalfe is considered to be the inventor of Ethernet* (not to be confused with the Internet). Ethernet was conceived as a method of allowing computers in different locations to communicate and share data with one another. Although the necessary infrastructure was not in place at the time, Metcalfe and others would offer this idea in the form of generalized sketches where various computers were drawn as icons, and lines from each of them extended to a drawing of a cloud. The cloud represented the wiring, cabling, and other equipment that would be required to support this communication.

Today, the Internet has evolved into a high speed conduit for millions of simultaneous connections. The continued advances in processor speed, connection speed, and data transfer methods have made the “cloud” that was envisioned years ago a reality. This includes what we know as the “World Wide Web.”

The term “cloud” has been applied to a number of areas, each with unique capabilities.

HEAD IN THE CLOuDSTHE FuTuRE OF COmpuTINg TECHNOLOgyby Jim Daggon, Rice Lake senior engineer, Emerging Technologies

CLOUD COMPUTINGThis refers to the ability of one computer to use the computing capability of another remote computer. A single basic computer can harness the power of a larger com-puter or group of computers to do data analysis, for example, and then display the results on the basic one. This allows many people to harness the power of larger, more capable computing engines.

CLOUD STORAGEThis term refers to the ability to store and retrieve large amounts of data on a remote computer or data storage device. Many companies are now providing cloud storage as a remote backup service, offering secure and spacious data storage to users of all sizes.

SAASSaaS is an acronym for Software as a Service. This allows remote users to access and use programs that reside on another computer to perform selected tasks and return the results to the remote user. All of the capabilities of the software are available to the user as if the hardware and software existed on the user’s computer. This leverages the use of what may be prohibitively expensive software and hardware for smaller busi-nesses or those that do not need the entire software and hardware overhead all the time.

No matter how it’s used to best suit a com-pany’s needs, cloud computing technology appears to be firmly established on the horizon in today’s computing world.

*Ethernet is a communications protocol; the Internet is a conglomeration of hardware and software that, in many cases, uses Ethernet protocol.

www.ricelake.com | RiCe LAKe mAgAzine 27

RiCe LAKe C.1950

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Over 400 employees come to work every workday at our manufacturing plants. Building SuRVIVOR® truck scales is a lot like building America—the tougher the better. We believe keeping Americans working makes America work.

go to ricelake.com/aaw to learn more about the people behind the products that carry the Rice Lake name.


m.ricelake.com

EVERy MEChANICAL SCALE CAN BE REPAIRED AS LONG AS GOOD PARTS CAN BE FOUND. But what’s a service shop to do when the parts shelves go empty?

That’s exactly the problem that faced Rice Lake founder Donald B. Johnson in the 1950s. Troops had been home from World War II only a few years when suddenly something was brewing in Korea. Resources were strained. Materials like copper, zinc, and steel were all needed elsewhere. To be sure, the war effort was putting a big kink in the scale-parts supply chain.

But Donald was determined. He wasn’t about to let this setback affect his customers, and his scale service shop was busier than ever. He needed parts. So they made do by taking old, worn pivots and bearings and grinding them back to their original knife-edge condition, making them as good as new. It was a solution that others didn’t have the equipment to provide. Though Donald Johnson may not have known what opportunities the future held, one thing he knew for certain—the solution at that time was in refurbishing.

The same military conflicts that had caused so many shortages had also created odd surpluses, for example, army green 30-calibur ammunition boxes. The Rice Lake founder bought a truckload of them, turning them into shipping containers for worn scale parts. Donald sent them out across the country, starting with people he’d met at national scale conferences, and he attached a very appealing offer. “Send us your scale parts. We’ll refurbish them for a fraction of the cost of new, and we’ll do it in just two or three days.”

The rest, as they say, is history. With customer after customer, Donald kept his promise and marked the beginning of a strong future for his company. ▪

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