Solutions in Motion™

Let's talk MAGTEC. What is magnetic coupling, anyway? And when should you choose magnetically-coupled cylinders, as opposed to another style?

One reason pneumatic cylinders are so versatile is that they can be configured in so many different ways. That makes it easier to find a great match for your specific application, but it doesn’t mean every air cylinder works best in every instance.

There’s nothing we love more than a good challenge here at W.C. Branham. Usually, it’s our customers who challenge us to help them select or custom-create exactly the right component(s) for their application. Recently, however, we turned the tables on them. We challenged our customers to show us the innovative ways they're using our products in their own designs.

Our Branham Challenge turned out to be even more fun — and impressive — than we expected. We asked customers to share unique solutions that featured any of our products — a caliper disc brake, some type of pneumatic actuator, a right angle gearbox, or even one of our custom-designed components.

When picking the right sized cable cylinder for your pneumatic rodless cylinder application, the goal is to determine the amount of force necessary and provide a cost-effective and efficient solution.

In order to find the right sized cable cylinder, we’ve compiled a list of steps that will help you make the right calculations:

Reliability is crucial for any industrial equipment, but most of all when machinery is operating under high-speed, high-torque conditions. For these applications, a high-speed right angle gearbox is often the best design choice to ensure cost-effective, long-lasting, safe performance. Right angle gearboxes are also compact, an important advantage when space limitations are a design factor.

High-speed automation is common in applications such as packaging, bottling lines and other food processing operations, pulp and paper manufacturing, heavy manufacturing such as cement or steel, and mining. And locations such as car washes, food and beverage operations, or medical facilities typically use high-speed roll-up doors.

From PayPal to Tesla, space exploration to solar power, Elon Musk's ideas and innovations transform just about every industry he touches. Now, W.C. Branham is excited to help participate in Musk's next big idea, helping a team competing in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition.

In the fall, three Big Ten universities approached us with interest in our braking systems. Each team was participating in the Hyperloop Competition. Michigan Hyperloop, from the University of Michigan, was selected to race their pod this summer.

In order to pick the perfect spring applied brake for your application, you must first determine the amount of braking torque required, and then pair that with the right brake and disc solution.

There are two main applications that spring applied brakes are suitable for: Dynamic Stopping applications and Static Holding applications. But both applications have different requirements that spring applied brakes need to handle:

The nature of automation and the facts of physics dictate that all moving parts wear out over time, and your right angle gearbox is no exception. Industrial settings are demanding and unforgiving. High speeds, high temperatures, wash down requirements and other factors take their toll.

Right angle gearboxes require less maintenance than many other industrial components, but less maintenance still  doesn’t mean   no  maintenance. Developing problems can damage seals, bearings, bolts, and other internal components or even cause the entire gearbox to fail. You can prevent untimely problems and extend the service life of right angle gearboxes with a few simple precautions.

Looking for a caliper disc brake for your braking application? There are also a number of cost-effective and efficient brake and disc combinations that should be considered. From active pneumatic and active hydraulic to lever mechanical actuated and spring applied brakes, you can customize your application with the perfect product.

Each application type requires a different type of caliper disc brakes and features, so we’ll help you narrow down what product you’ll need based on the application you’re using it for.

Certain types of commercial facilities have doors that are very large and very heavy. Often, these doors are an integral part of the flow of operations, such as in a car wash, where automation is essential. But not all commercial door actuators are the same. A pneumatic door operator assures the power and reliability you need to keep things moving.

Here at W.C. Branham, we’ve been designing and manufacturing actuators for more than 30 years, and we’ve been providing specialized pneumatic products for commercial doors at least half that time. In our experience, a premium quality pneumatic operator is often the best tool for the job.