Blommaert Aluminium is a market leader in aluminum ship hatches for inland shipping. With a unique system, the ship hatches are efficiently used in transportation across inland waterways. DROMEC Winches has developed a new serie of traction winches for this system.
The collaboration between Blommaert and DROMEC has been constructive for over 10 years. With new techniques and materials, this serie of a total of 56 units has received a significant update. The majority of them are destined for inland barges in Brazil, South America.
“Since 2013 Dromec delivers custom made winches for our projects here in Brazil. During the 10 years of close partnership the design of the winch changed many times always adapting the winch to our needs and combining innovation and robust design to get the best working solution possible.”
– Marco Eichmann, after sales and project manager Blommaert Brazil.
Traction Winch Systems
The two traction winch systems stand upright with feet attached to the foredeck of the barge. The cables are fastened to the hatch covers and are retracted using the traction winches. By cumulative frictional force, the winches achieve a pulling force of 700 kg. The traction winches have two pulleys on each side with a cable thickness of 6.4 mm. In combination with a tensioning bolt, the cable is continuously kept under tension on the two pulleys, pulling the hatch covers into position.
Pin/hole connection
The construction of the traction winches is entirely made of flat sheet metal, with traditional pin/hole connections. With this age-old technique, no bending is necessary, making the production process simple. Through this technique combined with the Protalloy surface treatment, the system is robust and has high corrosion resistance.
Electric drive and manual crank
The central electric drive in the winches simultaneously operates both traction systems on either side with a 1.5 kWh electric motor. A manual crank is built on the motor’s rear axle so that the hatch covers can also be operated manually in case of emergency. Instead of the crank, an operator can also use a cordless drill that can be attached to the system. In South America, power supply is not a given, so this option has been specially developed for this application. There is a brake with a hand brake lever on the electric motor to release the brake during manual operation. With this project, DROMEC Winches has once again achieved a successful collaboration with Blommaert!
