New hysteresis tension control product distributor

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 15, 2001

Well-established company DJ Automation has been appointed as a distributor in the south-east of England for ZF Industrial's range of hysteresis tension control products

The considerable growth potential of ZF Industrial's unique range of hysteresis tension control products has been underlined with the appointment of DJ Automation, a company with over 20 years experience of designing and installing automation system packages in all types of industries, as the distributor for an area centred on Bedfordshire and encompassing Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, London, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex.

The new appointment provides a well-established applications base for ZF's hysteresis clutch and brake products.

DJ Automation are specialists in controlling tension in the processing of foil, wire, tape, ribbon, fibres and paper and have many years experience of applying magnetic clutches and brakes in these type of applications.

The company's principal is Peter Jones, an experienced time-served engineer who was previously employed in a senior position in clutch and brake sales for Warner Electric before founding DJ Automation in 1983.

Another industry specialist, David Levett, complements Mr Jones's experience, and they are backed-up by an electronics engineer who builds complete control systems, undertakes in-house modifications to products and provides repairs and rebuilds.

"Our business is built upon a total service package, and an ethos of getting things right first time," says Peter Jones.

"A great deal of our business is in industries such as packaging, paper and pharmaceuticals where dust cannot be tolerated.

This is one of the major reasons why we have taken on ZF's hysteresis products.

Their unique non-contact design not only means no wear, but also none of the dust that is encountered with friction brakes and clutches." "The efficiency, cost effectiveness and simplicity of the hysteresis brakes and clutches means that they are also the ideal products, generally, to expand tension control range.

We were looking for something unique and the contact free and maintenance free hysteresis products have certainly provided it." "Despite the fact that we have only recently taken on the ZF range, we have had a flying start by successfully applying hysteresis technology to a machine manufacturing high-tech multi-layer wound dressings.

We have also supplied thirteen hysteresis brakes and controllers to a major UK domestic products manufacturer for use on motor test rigs.

These early projects are evidence enough of the potential of the ZF products for tension control, and we have the industry and applications knowledge to realize it." "The wealth of applications and systems experience which DJ Automation brings to our new partnership is an ideal complement to our hysteresis clutches and brakes, and means that customers with tension control problems benefit from a synergised package of optimised design and product performance," commented ZF's Account Manager, Rob Pearson.

"This appointment comes at an particularly opportune time, as more and more process and control engineers are realizing that, whilst a servo system is almost always the first choice for precision applications, it may not always be the best choice, especially if there is a highly efficient, cost effective and simpler mode of control available, such as our hysteresis range of products." ZF Hysteresis Products - Non-Contact Operation Means No friction, Wear or Dust.

ZF's hysteresis brakes and clutches provide a cost effective and much simpler alternative to servo systems in precise tension control applications.

Their exact control, and the unique combination of contact free and, therefore, wear free torque transmission, is ideally suited to all manufacturing processes where control of tension is required, e.g the production of endless products such as wire, cable, paper and foil.