Bosch Rexroth Canada Golden at Vancouver Olympics
By Canadian Packaging Staff
General Bosch Rexroth Olympics
During the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the Canadian men’s curling team won a Gold medal; the women’s team a Silver medal, and with each rock thrown, Bosch Rexroth Canada‘s engineering capability played a key role.
In early 2009, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee (VANOC) engineering group in charge of construction of the $39.5-million Vancouver Olympic Centre curling facility contacted Bosch Rexroth Canada’s Burnaby, BC, office. One feature at the curling venue was a melt pit built into the floor in the maintenance area. Ice was taken from the curling surface by the grooming machine and disposed of. There was a requirement to open and close the doors to the pit.
A prime consideration for the VANOC engineering group was that the melt water would drain into the civic sanitary sewer system. For this reason, Bosch Rexroth Canada recommended a custom-built hydraulic system using an environmental fluid. The hydraulic system itself consisted of a power unit, cylinders and electrical package. Engineers in Bosch Rexroth Canada’s Burnaby, BC, office designed and installed the hydraulic system, including start up. The company’s head office in Welland, ON, manufactured the power unit.
"Part of the design was to dispose of the ice taken off the curling surface with the ice resurfacer. To do this, they built a pit right into the cement. And the ice was dumped into the pit. Then the waste heat from the chillers melted the ice," says Christoph Neuscheler, BC Regional Manager, Bosch Rexroth Canada. "The VANOC engineering group wanted a system that would open and close the doors of the pit. We set up a meeting to talk about the water draining away and into the sanitary sewer system."
Hydraulic System Facts:
▪ 5-gallon reservoir;
▪ 2-HP electric motor;
▪ Gear pump;
▪ Control valves;
▪ Stainless steel cylinders;
▪ Built-in limit switches; and
▪ Electrical package (i.e. control panel, starters, push-buttons, relays and alarms).
"Our solution was the design of a hydraulic system using an environmental fluid. We did engineering to determine what it would take to lift these doors and close them safely. Our own local Bosch Rexroth Canada in-house engineers developed a design, it was accepted, the contract was given to us and the power unit was built at our head office. The unit was then shipped out here. The hydraulic system was started up – and away we went. The project was a complete success."
Bosch Rexroth Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Bosch Rexroth AG, one of the world’s leading specialists in the field of drive and control technologies. Under the brand name of Rexroth the company supplies more than 500,000 customers with tailored solutions for driving, controlling and moving machinery used in industrial and factory automation as well as in mobile applications.
For more information please visit: www.boschrexroth.ca.
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