Bearings provide a lift onboard

MacTaggart Scott, a company with a reputation for solving the most difficult of engineering problems, has, for many years, been supplying inter-deck lifts for use onboard ships. In a recent design of inter-deck lift - which is required to operate reliably for long periods and to carry loads of many tonnes - SKF bearings have amply proven their worth, transporting both the platforms and their payloads. The company's engineers turned to SKF when developing this new and improved inter-deck lift system as SKF offered to investigate potential solutions, and to take over the responsibility for the design and manufacture of the rollers. MacTaggart Scott undertook the basic roller design and subsequently passed the "design baton" over to SKF. Enhancing the basic design, the SKF team developed a new roller assembly that incorporated paired taper roller bearings and CR seals, with lubrication provided by type LGEM 2 grease. The new rollers would be fully assembled by SKF, so that when received on site they would only require bolting in place. MacTaggart Scott deemed the new design to be entirely satisfactory, and placed orders for rollers. These have now been delivered, and are in regular service, operating smoothly and dependably. The first lift, which has a platform area of 200m2, incorporates 21 rollers with diameters ranging from 360 to 650mm and, in all, it uses five different variants of the basic roller design. For MacTaggart Scott, working in collaboration with SKF has produced important benefits. Not only was the company able to take full advantage of SKF's in-depth bearing expertise and experience, it was also to pass the design work out to SKF, giving its own in-house design team additional time and flexibility to work on other aspects of the project. The solution developed in conjunction with SKF features rollers which are easily capable of handling the large loads and levels of misalignment that are inherent in this demanding application. A further major benefit is that, as the rollers are supplied ready for immediate installation, MacTaggart Scott saves time and money on the assembly of the lifts. The unrivalled expertise which underpins SKF's products and services has helped MacTaggart Scott to produce an improved inter-deck lift which fully meets its customers requirements and expectations, thereby continuing its long tradition of producing effective solutions for challenging engineering problems. That same SKF expertise is available to all users of SKF products, providing them with a resource they can rely on when addressing even the most onerous technical and commercial requirements.