Tension and spring elements in the food industry

MC.Technology is basically a technical trading company with over 25 years of experience in the field of drive and control technology. The focus is on stepper motors and linear actuators, among other things, as well as slides and guides. One of the many highlights of the program are the products of the Italian company Tecnidea Cidue; a company that in 35 years has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of tensioning and spring elements, chain tensioners and oscillating joints.

Founder Franco Canova is a rastechneut with many (brilliant) ideas to solve industrial mechanical problems. To translate his ideas into products and offer them in the market, he started his own company Technidea Cidue in 1988. Over the past 35 years he has grown into a company that supplies worldwide through distributors such as MC.Technology. Sales engineer at MC.Technology Jorgo van Duffelen: "The products of this Italian 'all-rounder' fit well with our own product range and support our customers in designing and building optimal machines and installations for the food industry, among others."

Belt and chain tensioners

Van Duffelen highlights a few signature products and puts them in the spotlight. "Among others, we sell the belt and chain tensioners that are available in a variety of types with catchy names such as: Asso, Blu, Ten Bloc and Ten Joy. But also Arco, Cresa and Ciao can be ordered from us. Arco, for example, is a rotating version with a bending angle of ±40 or ±90°. Because these elements are made of solid steel, they are resistant to temperatures that can reach the 300°C mark."

VIB elements

And then there are the VIB elements. Mechanical components that use the elastic deformation of four rubber cylinders. These are housed in four openings created by coupling two square elements rotated 45° relative to each other. The maximum torsion angle with these elements is ±30°. They are suitable for very high loads and have various mounting options. This special construction makes the VIB elements suitable for a variety of applications. For example, they can be used as springs, shock absorbers, retarders, oscillating supports or just as vibration absorbers. Van Duffelen: "They can also be used in a wide temperature range that varies between -40 and +80°C and under all environmental conditions. This is because they are insensitive to dirt and are also highly resistant to water and UV radiation. Logically, they are mainly used in applications where mechanical vibrations play a role, such as sweeping and brushing machines and playground equipment."

Axial tensioning elements

MC.Technology is also proud of the latest addition to its program: the GRIGIO series of axial tensioning elements. These robust elements are reliable and optionally available in an Anox version; the latter is resistant to corrosion and caustic (cleaning) agents. If desired, they can be combined with various attachment kits including POMH sliding blocks, bearing sprockets, plastic and steel rollers. Van Duffelen: "Besides their functional properties, these tensioning elements are easy to use and universally deployable as chain or belt tensioners, but also as spring or damper elements. In addition, the manufacturer uses a combination of shades of gray that makes the whole thing an elegant Italian appearance. After all, the eye wants something too!"

Engine mount

Finally, Van Duffelen mentions motor mounts, which are primarily used to automatically correct drive belt extensions and counteract static loads during motor start/stop. The self-tensioning motor mount is universally attachable to all IEC motors and uses the same technology as the elastic VIB elements to develop a torque that keeps the belt in tension. This is possible for drives up to 250 kW. He concludes, "Because these elements automatically keep the belt at the correct tension, shocks during startup and stop of the machine are correctly absorbed. They thereby prevent vibrations, reduce the noise level of the belt drive and increase the life of the system and drive. In short: through the ideas of the founder of Tecnidea Cidue, we at MC.Technology can provide maximum support to customers in optimizing their machines and installations. This benefits everyone."