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Riding on properly inflated tires should be a priority for every one of the thousands of motorists who will be hitting Canada's highways during this summer's driving season.

Drivers who take the few minutes needed to measure and, if necessary, adjust their tire pressures before heading out can be assured that they will get the exceptionally safe performance tire makers design into their products, and that their tires will deliver the best possible fuel efficiency.

Motorists who ensure their tires are properly inflated can expect to save about two weeks worth of fuel annually. Under-inflated tires cause vehicles to burn more fuel because of increased rolling resistance.

Proper tire inflation may sound like a no-brainer for drivers who want optimum performance and fuel efficiency, but recent research from the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC), which represents tire makers, found that just under half (49%) of all Canadian drivers are riding on at least one tire that is under or over-inflated. More disturbing, the study also found that one in ten Canadian drivers have one or more tires severely under-inflated by 20 percent or more — a potentially hazardous condition.

According to the national study, which was conducted by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, only 30 percent of Canadian drivers make a point to measure their tire pressures each month.

"Properly inflated tires deliver the exceptional performance that tire makers want every consumer to have," says Glenn Maidment, president of RAC. "Drivers need to know that improperly inflated tires increase stopping distance; lessen vehicle stability, particularly when cornering; waste fuel and shorten tire life. All it takes to avoid all this is a reliable tire gauge and five minutes each month to measure and, if necessary, adjust your tire pressures."

Measuring and adjusting tire pressure

SKF Canada Ltd. has introduced a new range of shaft alignment tools that have been designed to be easy to use and harness the power of lasers to achieve pin-point accuracy in the alignment of shafts.

The new TKSA series is the latest development of SKF’s alignment tool range, and consists of two models; the TKSA 20 that suits virtually any budget and the TKSA 40 with built-in tolerance checking and a memory facility that allows results to be stored and shared.

“The old methods, using straight edges and dial gauges, belong to the past,” said Benjamin Provoost, development engineer. “With the new TKSA range, virtually any technician can align shafts accurately, in a fraction of time it took previously.”

Both tools have been designed around the needs of technicians, who have to perform shaft alignment tasks. The TKSA series are simple to use and display real-time alignment values, allowing the results of alignment corrections to be seen as they are done.

“Reducing energy consumption and machine breakdowns is an important goal nowadays,” Provoost said. “The new TKSA series helps achieve these goals, as good alignment helps saves energy and puts less stress on mechanical components, significantly reducing breakdowns.”
www.skf.ca

UE Systems has developed the Ultraprobe 15,000 Touch, which provides plant inspection professionals the ability to use iPhone-like touch-screen technology to analyze conditions with a wide range of on-board features including: a spectral analyzer, the ability to take equipment temperature with an infrared thermometer, photograph test points with an on-board camera, select from multiple data screens including dB, temperature, and spectral analysis, pinpoint locations with a laser pointer, store data, sounds and images, generate reports, review historical record data, plan/review routes, review alarm groups for planning corrective actions, adjust emissivity and much more.

Used for all plant applications, the company says the Touch is something truly special. “We are very proud and privileged to introduce such powerful, intuitive technology to plant maintenance professionals,” said Alan Bandes, vice-president of marketing for UE Systems. “Truly a full-featured inspection system, the (Ultraprobe 15,000) Touch takes the most necessary components of ultrasonic inspection and simplifies the process to intuitively guide inspectors through their routes more quickly and effectively.”

For mechanical and electrical applications, the Ultraprobe 15,000 Touch gives immediate opportunities to analyze on the spot, using an array of features to report and diagnose premature problems before they occur. The system can also serve as an energy conservation tool to not only find leaks and help determine your carbon footprint emissions and overall energy consumption.

Optional accessories Trisonic Scanning Module, Stethoscope Module, Long Range Module and RAS-MT can be added to the basic kit.
www.uesystems.com

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Last month, Ford Motor Co. of Canada in Burlington, Ont., was fined $850,000 for violations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after two workers were killed in separate incidents.

On Jan. 31, 2008, a worker was fatally injured at Ford's Oakville assembly plant after being crushed between two forklifts. The worker was standing beside a forklift when a co-worker reversed another forklift into the worker. A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the forklift operator did not keep a clear view of the vehicle's path of travel while reversing.

On Jan. 14, 2009, a worker driving a lift truck carrying an unsecured pallet was killed at Ford's Bramalea parts distribution centre. While the worker was driving the lift truck down a narrow aisle, the pallet struck a storage rack. The worker was crushed between the pallet and the vehicle. A Ministry of Labour investigation found that Ford's material movement policies and procedures were not adequate.

Ford pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to take all reasonable precautions in the circumstances to protect the safety of the workers.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Jerry Woloschuk. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-percent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
www.ontario.ca/labour

Mississauga, Ont.'s RotoPrecision Inc., a provider of precision mechanical and power transmission components, has entered into an agreement with Ruland Manufacturing Co. Inc. to become its Master Distributor in Canada for their complete product range of shaft collars and couplings.

For more than 70 years, Ruland has been producing “thoughtfully designed” and “carefully made” products from its Marlborough, Mass., manufacturing facility. Through continuous innovation, manufacturing control and a range of proprietary processes including special materials and surface treatments, single-point facing shaft collars, anti-vibration coupling hardware and precision honing, “Ruland continues to drive the evolution of product performance and appearance,” the company says.

Ruland manufactures a full range of shaft collars, rigid couplings and flexible couplings including beam, bellows, oldham, jaw and disc. Recent product line extensions include metric shaft collars, metric rigid couplings, step bore couplings and motion control couplings. 

In announcing this new alliance in Canada, Gregg Robinson, president of RotoPrecision, commented: “We are very excited to add Ruland’s excellent range of couplings and shaft collars to RotoPrecision’s family of world-class products.  Ruland’s reputation as the leading manufacturer in their field will complement perfectly RotoPrecision’s existing products and services.”

Bob Ruland, president of Ruland Manufacturing, added: “Given its strong presence and solid reputation for distributing premium products, RotoPrecision will be a great partner for Ruland in Canada. We look forward to a long and successful relationship between our companies.”
www.rotoprecision.ca
www.ruland.com

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