Souper" Performance Keeps Food Plant Rolling. Lovejoy, Inc. Stainless Steel Coupling Provides Rust-Free Performance.

Every evening, thousands of hungry diners across the country open their cupboard doors and open a can of soup  for a meal, for flavoring, for an ingredient in a recipe. Yet the recipe for keeping food processing operations running according to standard procedures is anything but simple. The slightest problem can cause the maintenance crew the largest headaches - all it takes is one small part to fail and cause mechanical breakdowns, lost production time, lost revenue, and potentially, lost consumer confidence in the companys product.

(PRWEB) January 16, 2004 --A leading food processor on the East Coast, packaging millions of cans of food annually, was experiencing just such difficulties; minor, annoying problems that were causing extended maintenance. Any process, procedure or product that contributes to the plants efficiency is indispensable when margins are tight and customer service expectations run high. This food manufacturing plant contacted Lovejoy, Inc., Downers Grove, IL, to perform a coupling analysis on their existing applications. When processing millions of cans of soup every year, implementing preventive maintenance to increase plant efficiency was a strategic move.

This analysis uncovered the fact that the process pumps used in the kitchen area, as well as the can seamers in the cannery process, were utilizing a standard sleeve coupling consisting of cast iron flanges and a rubber sleeve. A standard sleeve coupling requires an extensive amount of time to change the element upon failure, because the flanges had to be moved for element removal. In addition, the washdown chemicals critical for cleanliness standards in a food processing operation, were causing the coupling hubs to rust onto the shafts.

At least four times per year, during strategically scheduled preventive maintenance time, the company had to change these elements, a task requiring at least five to six hours per pump. The plant contained eight pumps just in one processing area, posing a time-consuming task for the maintenance crew and stealing time from other, valuable maintenance procedures. In addition, rusty equipment, even a small part such as a coupling, makes it more difficult for a food plant to comply with USDA regulations.

Lovejoy, Inc., recommending replacing these couplings with stainless steel hubs and the Jaw-In-Shear 6 Pin element and ring. The Lovejoy stainless steel hubs were less expensive than traditional stainless steel couplings and provided an excellent rust-preventative solution. The Lovejoy Jaw-In-Shear 6 Pin is made up of a urethane, wrapping-style element with a much longer life than the previous equipment, plus a #347 stainless steel locking ring. The easy, tool-free assembly characteristics of this coupling eliminated any need to move the flanges for element replacement. The reduction in failures, and time previously spent on unscheduled maintenance resulted in a 95% increase in efficiency for those applications.

Today, replacing the element in these horizontal, centrifugal pumps common to all canning plants, takes perhaps five minutes, according to Vince Baschoff, Lovejoy representative. In addition, he says, The option of a stainless steel coupling that helps these plants comply with USDA regulations, and requires but a fraction of the previous time spent on maintenance, makes this coupling a part that is indispensable to food processing operations."

The stainless steel hub and Jaw-in-Shear 6-pin coupling is just one of many engineered solutions for industrial maintenance and performance provided by Lovejoy, Inc., an emerging leader in the global power transmission market. Founded in 1900, Lovejoy enjoys an international reputation as the leading company specializing in flexible coupling design and development. Lovejoy products are available worldwide through distributors in North America and 45 other countries, supported by Lovejoy offices and support staff in Canada, Europe and the USA. Lovejoy, Inc., is certified under the ISO-9001 International Standards for Quality Management.

For more information, visit Lovejoys Web site at www.lovejoy-inc.com, or contact Lovejoy, Inc., corporate offices at 2655 Wisconsin Ave., Downers Grove, IL, 60515, USA. Phone 630-852-0500; fax 630-852-2120; e-mail inquiries Info@lovejoy-inc.com.
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Photos available upon request.
JIS Assembled.jpeg -- Demonstrates easy removal of element from Jaw coupling hubs without moving machine. Note locking ring in position to be slid over the element to lock the assembly together."

Jaw-In-Shear 6 Pin.jpeg -- Photo of Jaw In-Shear element and ring."

JIS With Coupling Hubs. Jpeg -- Photo showing Jaw In-Shear 6 Pin and Jaw Couplings in complete assembly."