Posted on Mon, May 07, 2012 @ 09:32 AM
One of the largest electrical slip rings United Equipment Accessories has made stands 55" tall and is 45" wide! This custom electrical slip ring features a painted steel enclosure with two removable window side panels to allow for easy inspection. Three junction boxes are mounted to the sides of the enclosure to separate the power, control and signal circuits. Slewing ring bearings are used on each end of the enclosure and a large steel mounting tube extends through the center core for support. Terminal blocks are used for ease of connectivity inside the junction boxes for the stator side wiring as well as on top of the core for the rotor side wiring. Two lifting eye bolts are used for assembly as this slip ring weighs over 500 pounds! Due to the nasty environment, the enclosure is sealed to I.P. 65 rating.
All of the features listed are easily customized for our customer needs. The enclosure can be made using painted steel or stainless steel. The removable window panels could be painted steel or stainless steel solid panels. Rather than using terminal blocks inside junction boxes, we can use panel mounted connectors for a plug and play feature. United Equipment Accessories strives to make sure that each customer gets the features that they want for their slip ring assembly!
-Josh Bockholt , Sr. Designer - Engineering
Posted on Fri, Apr 06, 2012 @ 02:29 PM
An electrical slip ring assembly is required to be mounted on the center of rotation between the stationary and rotating components of a piece of equipment. Often there are other fluids or possibly other types of signals that need to pass between the stationary and rotating components and these too require some type of rotary joint. In all cases of more than one type of rotary joint mounted on the center of rotation either the slip ring wiring must pass through the center of the other unit, such as a hydraulic rotary swivel or union, or the hydraulic lines must pass through the center of the slip ring.
With designs for up to 14.00” through-bore, UEA slip rings can be built to meet a high percentage of the combination rotary union applications. Usually when combined with a hydraulic swivel, since the slip ring wires or leads bundle are much smaller than hydraulic hoses, it makes more sense economically to pass the electrical leads through the center of the hydraulic union. In these cases the center bore size, and therefore the overall diameter of the slip ring assembly can be minimized and the cost of the slip ring portion of the overall assembly also minimized. There are other applications that require one or more air passages in addition to the electrical and hydraulic swivel unions. Depending upon the size or sizes of air lines required, UEA has designed and used a combination of purchased single passage or UEA
custom designed two and four passage rotary pneumatic swivel units. The UEA pneumatic swivel units feature all brass construction and two or four 1/8” NPT ports for control-type air lines. Note that these same all brass swivel units have also been used with other gases and fluids, normally only requiring a different material seal between the passages. When combined with a UEA slip ring center harness both the wiring harness and the air swivel lines pass through the center hole of the hydraulic swivel. With this design the pneumatic swivel unit is removable without the necessity to disrupt or remove either the slip ring or the hydraulic swivel unit. A very similar design has been used to combine a fiber optic rotary
joint (FORJ) with a UEA slip ring.
As a custom slip ring manufacturer UEA has in the past and continues to design a variety
of ‘combination’ units to meet center of rotation rotary needs.
-Brent Jensen, Head Engineer
Posted on Fri, Mar 23, 2012 @ 11:40 AM
Replacing existing slip rings on the aftermarket side of the wind industry has become an
important part of UEA's business. The majority of these replacement slip rings are designed by reverse engineering existing slip rings the end user now has. Service companies, site owners, or power companies that are having issues with the existing slip ring in their wind turbines are all contacting us. The problem is they generally do not have the detailed specification for us, but what they do have is the existing product for us to reverse engineer.
Reverse engineering is needed only for the mechanical mounting of the slip ring and the
electrical connections for the customer, allowing the slip ring to be a drop in replacement. UEA designs the internals of the slip ring, which consist of our brush and ring combinations. This can be challenging depending on the amount of information we receive.
In many instances we only receive the existing slip ring and "no" circuit ratings or specifications. In these cases we have to pay extreme attention to detail to make sure we build our circuits to handle the power and data requirements. We also take into consideration the problems that have caused the customer to contact UEA. Commonly, the problems were caused by the other supplier "under engineering" the slip ring, or perhaps the original information was inaccurate. Whatever the reason, our goal is to give the customer a product that will fix their problems and perform well beyond the slip ring we are replacing.
Jesse Shearer - Design Engineer
Posted on Mon, Mar 19, 2012 @ 12:00 PM
I am proud to write this post today about UEA’s growth. Our current fiscal year is off to a roaring start thanks to our loyal customers. All of our product lines: electrical slip rings, electric cable reels, and transmission shift controls are selling at record revenue levels. All of our core markets in construction, forestry, and utility equipment as well as wind generation, intelligent machinery, packaging and material handling along with center pivot irrigation are doing very well. We are very excited to formally announce our new product line in the next month. Besides current customers for slip rings, cable reels, and shift controls, new customers in current markets will help us increase our market share.
April will see the construction of additional office space for our quality, engineering and sales
departments. Each time we feel we have enough capacity for the next 5 years, we seem to max it out in 2 – 3 years. In addition, we are starting planning for an approximately 14,000 square foot addition to our north plant campus, construction will start a year from now. This will give us the space for the rapid growth we anticipate in our newest product line introduction and current product growth. We are nearly fully utilized with our current 70,000 square foot structures. There will not be room for additional machinery needed without this new structure.
The next question to answer will be what additional space can we squeeze into our present land footprint? At some point in the next 5 years we may need to find additional land availability to utilize. Wait, maybe I should say 2 to 3.
-Mark Hanawalt, President
Posted on Wed, Jan 18, 2012 @ 10:18 AM
WAVERLY --- The newest chairman of the president's advisory council at Wartburg College brings experience from the business world to the role.
Mark Hanawalt was appointed by Wartburg President Darrel Colson.
Hanawalt, a graduate of Cornell College with degrees in economics and business, is president of United Equipment Accessories in Waverly. He also serves on the board of trustees for State Bank and Trust in Waverly, is a board member for the Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community and Waverly Community Foundation and serves on the executive board of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
According to the college, the advisory council includes leaders from around the country who represent a wide range of expertise and disciplines
Read More:
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/hanawalt-appointed-chairman-of-advisory-council-at-wartburg/article_78e34d8b-624c-59a0-b5bc-6c4537aee7d5.html#ixzz1jpMgTCxx
Posted on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 @ 03:19 PM
To not only satisfy but to exceed our customer's expectations tops our list of goals at United Equipment Accessories. This means not only providing high quality, high value slip ring assemblies, cable reels and shift controls but exceptional service. Customer Service is not a unique department at UEA but includes every employee. This service starts with a real person, not a computer, answering all calls and a quick transfer of the caller to the correct department for a knowledgeable response. Sales and Engineering are closely related at UEA and work closely together to provide the most accurate quotes for new products as well as providing personal contacts for any questions, revisions, suggestions, etc. from both new and existing customers. Some of our personal contacts go back 30 years or more and relationships with specific customers for over 50 years.
UEA has been building slip ring assemblies for over 50 years and shift controls for nearly as long. Support in the form of records, trouble-shooting, repair parts and repair service are still available for virtually any slip ring, shift control or cable reel assembly ever built at United Equipment Accessories. It is not always easy to determine the exact model of slip ring used on a specific serial numbered machine built in the 70’s, for instance, but with the advent of the cell phone camera, etc., today’s technology has been used to identify some very old and limited production products. Identification and problem resolution questions can come from both a final user or from the service department of a current customer. If the final user needs parts or a replacement assembly, and the machine was built by a current UEA customer, the user is referred to the original manufacturer. In such cases the manufacturer was and is UEA’s customer and retains the right to sell repair parts. If the manufacturer is no longer in business or declines the repair parts business and refers the user back to UEA then repair parts or complete new assemblies can be provided. In a few applications an exact duplication of a complete slip ring or shift control is not possible due to the obsolescence by the manufacturer of specific cable connectors or similar parts. In the case of an obsolete connector the problem can normally be resolved with the use of a reasonable substitute connector attached to the wire harness and supplied with the mating connector and terminals. Repair service is also available at UEA and is always preceded by an evaluation by UEA personnel to determine if repair is justified or if a complete new assembly is the best option.
Personal service always has been and will continue to be a very important ingredient of the total customer experience at United Equipment Accessories.
-Brent Jensen, Head Engineer
Posted on Fri, Dec 09, 2011 @ 11:45 AM
United Equipment Accessories, Inc. President Mark Hanawalt speaks with the Iowa House Leaders! See below link for details.
ABI Leaders Meet with House Leaders
On Wednesday, ABI’s Executive Committee met with Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen and House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer to discuss the 2012 ABI legislative agenda. The ABI leaders stressed a focus on pro-economic growth policies and encouraged less partisanship in the 2012 legislative session. The “Its About Jobs” program was also outlined to encourage House members to visit ABI member facilities in the coming months. The ABI Executive Committee will meet with Senate leadership as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday.
http://www.abievents.org/abienews/120811_ABI%20E-News.html
Posted on Thu, Nov 03, 2011 @ 01:56 PM
United Equipment Accessories, Inc. President Mark Hanawalt serves on the ABI Board of Directors. Check out his story at: http://www.iowaabi.org/index.cfm?nodeID=29724&audienceID=1&action=display&newsID=11741 Note: His first job was sweeping the floors at United Equipment Accessories!!
Name: Mark Hanawalt
Position: President/CEO
Company/ Organization: United Equipment Accessories, Inc.
Address: 2103 E Bremer Ave, PO Box 817
City/State/Zip: Waverly, IA 50677
Telephone: 319-352-3946 Fax: 319-325-2175
E-mail address: markh@uea-inc.com
Web Site address: www.uea-inc.com
Education: BA: Cornell College
Home Town/State: Waverly, IA
About My Family: Married to Barbara - Sons: Michael, Matthew, David, and Daniel
Notable Achievements: 37 years of marriage and helping raise 4 successful sons
Boards or Organizations you serve on: ABI Board of Directors, Waverly Fund Foundation, Waverly Community Foundation, Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community, State Bank and Trust of Waverly
I Drive an: Lincoln MKS
My First Job: Sweeping floors at United Equipment Accessories, Inc.
Biggest Career Break: The opportunity to come back to a family business and make a difference for our employees, the company and my family.
Outside Interests: Musical Arts, Water Sport Activities, Golf, Running, and Tinkering
Something not everyone knows about me: I sang professionally.
What’s the best business advice you ever received? Always have capacity.
Leadership Is: Instilling in people the confidence that you have the vision to take your organization forward.
What company achievements are you most proud of? 5 year annual growth rate of 20%+ from 2003-2008.
Why does your organization support ABI? It is an organization in which you feel you can make a difference for your company, your city, and your state. The networking opportunities to meet exceedingly interesting people are outstanding.
Posted on Wed, Oct 12, 2011 @ 09:24 AM
It seems as if bad news regarding the US economy is hiding around every corner. Shipping jobs off to India, Mexico, China and the list goes on and on. Mean while the soul of US manufacturing seems to be becoming shelled out. How can we compete with rock bottom wages of developing nations? How can we leverage our strengths as a nation? What are our strengths?
Geert Hofstede developed five cultural dimensions and ranked many of the world's countries on these cultural dimensions. The dimensions are as follows: Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation.
The US's highest ranked dimension is Individualism. Countries with high individualism scores tend to exhibit loose ties between individuals and a strong will to be self sufficient. Our lowest score is Uncertainty Avoidance. A nation with low uncertainty avoidance usually has fewer rules and does not attempt to control all outcomes and results; also there is a higher degree of tolerance for a variety of ideas, thoughts and beliefs.
Our highest and lowest cultural dimensions indicated that we are a nation of creators, inventors and innovators, which is true; we create the technologies that the world uses. Our national R&D budget has more or less increased every year since 1953 (data from 2009 onward has not yet been compiled) according to the National Science Foundation. This is an encouraging trend considering our nations strengths.
Here at UEA we embody the innovative spirit that will carry this country forward. With many new products in the pipe-line we are not standing still, we are not resting on our laurels; we are carving out new niche markets. Watch us grow!
-Brady Haugo, Engineer
Posted on Wed, Oct 05, 2011 @ 11:00 AM
A few weeks ago, United Equipment Accessories, Inc. exhibited at the Small and Community Windpower show in Des Moines, IA. The demand for smaller scale wind turbines was represented at the tradeshow with many attendees looking to purchase a small turbine for their home or for their small business. UEA slip rings for small turbines are very highly regarded in quality and design. They send all the power from the generator down the tower and allow the machine head to turn. Many small wind turbine manufactures were present at the show as well. It was a great show as UEA got to speak with current customers and prospective customers.
Every UEA slip ring is custom designed to the customer’s specification!
For more information on our wind turbine slip rings please visit our webpage: www.uea-inc.com/products/slip-rings/wind-turbine-slip-rings.aspx