Inverter Control

What is an Inverter Controlled Crane?

Frequency inverter control technology allows for adjustability. It harnesses the modern power of variable voltage and frequency, which means our inverter control cranes have limitless variability when it comes to setting a crane’s Forward/Reverse/Left/Right/Up/Down travel motions. Inverter tech doesn’t end there, as the parameters, features, and programmability allows for ‘clever’ cranes, with any settings achievable for any application. An example of this is load detection and the inverter crane brain detecting whether a hoist is under load and if not allows the hoist motor to hoist up a lot faster in order to save time, with faster speed settings under certain circumstances especially useful with extra long height of lifts in order to save time and and man hours, such as sending hooks down shafts.

Because inverter variable multi-speed frequency control regulates the frequency motors and feeds back information that allows for 3 or more speed settings per travel motion on a multi-impression pendant button. Precision incline/decline adjustments can make extremely minute alterations to suit our customer’s requirements for example when ‘inching’ (or less with an inverter) depending upon what they are lifting, meaning no more clunky fixed dual-speed contactor control movements.

Our brand new and used refurbished cranes can come as a completely inverter driven crane, with inverter variable multi-speed control on long travel, cross travel, and hoist travel motions.

Dependant upon the crane and condition of the control panel we have for sale, and dependant upon what the customer requires, our typical used refurbished package includes a brand new control panel with inverter variable multi speed drive for long travel and cross travel motions, and standard contactor multi speed for hoist travel motions. Inverter multi speed control for hoist motion is usually an optional extra and must be requested before a crane build.

Inverter drive for forward and reverse long travel ensures super smooth and precise operation at all times as standard. The inbuilt inverter safety features are designed to eliminate damage to motors when changing directions of the crane. This will prevent break wear by no longer requiring the brakes to stop the crane by using electronic inverter breaking, other than for anchoring, and will minimise damage to gears, pinions and other mechanical components by electronically preventing crane operators moving the crane forwards, then straight away trying to move the crane backwards, known as reverse switching inching, meaning an exponential increase in crane life.Inverter long travel ensures smooth and precise operation at all times when changing directions as standard. This will prevent break wear by no longer requiring the brakes to stop the crane, but by using electronic inverter breaking (other than for anchoring). This will minimise damage to gears, pinions and other mechanical components by electronically preventing crane operators moving the crane forwards, then straight away trying to move the crane backwards, known as reverse switching inching, and exponentially increasing the crane’s life span.

Our Inverter control for cross travel left/right motions make a huge difference when going from slow to fast to stop speed and fast to slow to stop speed, incorporating super smooth precision settings of ramp-up and ramp-down timings. The inverter drive allows for unlimited fine tuning to set the travel motion exactly how you need it to react to the operator’s pendant remote, ultimately allowing for more control of the crane and safer working practices.

Whether the crane we manufacture is brand new or used refurbished with brand new control panel, we offer inverter variable multi-speed control for hoist travel, to allow for unlimited configurations when fine-tuning fast and slow speeds on a hoist unit, meaning precision settings. This is typically an optional extra but an important feature for certain crane operations where configuration is paramount to achieve a specific type of delicate lift. Based on the work you are doing, such as heavy tandem lifts or lowering components into a CNC machine for example, we recommend inverter control on the hoist unit for up/down motions, making the whole crane inverter control and as smooth as possible. The inverters we use in our crane builds are state-of-art, and easy to programme.Inverter control also vastly improves the longevity of the crane’s life span, as on hoist travel it would no longer require brakes, greatly reducing wear and tear on motors and gear boxes, reducing the chance of damage and repair costs. With inverter control fitted for hoist travel it would also come with heavy duty braking resistors.

Anti-Swing technology is an optional extra that we offer that puts an end to load sway, which is the main cause of accidents. This is done through us installing sophisticated software into your pre-existing control gear or to a crane build. The software detects the cranes long and cross travel motions and makes the relevant calculations to stabilise the hook.