Features & Benefits of Air Bearing Load Moving Equipment

Pneumatic powered air bearing and caster equipment
has made a great impact on load moving systems throughout the
material handling industry over the past 20 years. And while they
will never replace the forklift truck and overhead crane, they are
generally able to provide a suitable alternative in many cases.

Please take a moment to check out some of the
features and benefits offered by this affordable and cost-effective load
moving equipment.

• Only needs compressed airto operate: That’s right, in most cases all Hovair Systems standard load moving equipment, such as air bearing kits, air pallets, aluminum transporters, air lifting jacks etc., only need a supply of compressed air to enable them to operate. Electricity or other power sources are not essential for their operation.
  

• No overnight charging or gas bottle changes: The beauty of these pneumatic powered systems is that their power source is pneumatic – compressed air. In addition to not needing other power sources such as electricity and propane gas, you also enjoy the fact that there are no overnight charging chores, or gas bottle exchanges to ensure these load moving systems keep running. All you need to do is keep your shop compressor in tip-top running order and you are in business.
• Built with safety in mind: Hovair Systems are ever mindful of Safety in the Workplace. It is our main priority when designing our load moving equipment – the safety of our equipment users. Considering the only power source will be compressed air, and that there are very few moving parts associated with our load moving equipment, any safety concerns are kept to the absolute minimum. As long as you follow the basic safety rules associated with compressed air, you should have no real safety
  concerns. All equipment that leaves our factory is accompanied by an Operator Manual which highlights various safety advisories and how to stay safe while operating our equipment.
• Lift and move loads of weights up to 300 tons, and more: Hovair Systems load moving equipment is capable of moving lightweight, delicate machinery or similar loads as little as 500 pounds in weight, right through to giant-sized transformers weighing up to 300 tons and more. Starting with the smallest air bearing kits you can easily move a load of two tons without having to take a breath. It really is that easy!
• Awkward shapes and sizes -no problem: One of the most important benefits of Hovair Systems load moving equipment is their tremendous versatility. You are not required to set your equipment out and use it in the standard four-sided rectangular format. Using an air bearing system, you can pretty much place you caster modules anywhere you want to. And this is their strength: the ability to be flexible. You can have the most awkward-shaped load that needs to be moved, and we’ll shift
  it for you. How? By placing caster modules at the most important places of the load – where it needs the most support. You will be amazed at the versatility of these air bearing and caster load moving systems.

• Loads of uneven and disproportionate weight distribution: This is one of our most popular requests – how can we move a heavy machine or load that is 4 tons at one end and only 2 tons at the other end? Try doing this with a forklift and it will almost certainly tip over. Using the tremendous versatility of an air bearing and caster system, you can make this task a piece of proverbial cake. Here’s an example of how it can be done. So no matter how unevenly the weight of your machine or load is distributed, you can be sure of a Hovair Systems solution.
• Tremendous versatility and flexibility: If there is one thing that stands out with our product line, it is the versatility and flexibility of our air bearing and caster systems. You do not have to stick to any rigid load footprint format. You format is the footprint of your load. Your load dictates where the caster modules are placed and our casters are happy wherever you put them. They don’t care! You can add more casters as your load moving needs dictate, or you can take some away for smaller load use. All hardware is a breeze to assemble with air supply hoses easily snapping into the casters modules and
  other valves and tee-pieces. You can even run two air supply lines to two air inlet ball-valves and run two systems simultaneously under the same load.
• Pinpoint accuracy and load positioning: Because your load moving system will be floating on air, there will no restrictions on how it can move – except for any objects that might need to be cleared from its travel path. Your load will really be floating just above the floor surface. This means that its travel path has become truly omni-directional. That’s right, once floated, you can spin it on a dime. Just imagine, no more pushing and shoving to line up the load, no more dropping it to change direction, no more struggling to get it in place. Using this tremendous air power, you can simply adjust the load’s travel at any time during the operation. Stop, start, carry on in the most effortless way imaginable. When you get to where you want your load, simply push it into place with pinpoint accuracy – first time, every time.
• Anyone can use – guys, gals, even the boss: The days of having to use your company’s muscle-men to move your heavy loads are now over.  Because your load is always in a state of flotation when being moved, it does not take a tremendous amount of effort and energy to cause it to move. In fact, the air bearing industry usually says that it takes only 1
  pound of physical human force to move 1000 pounds of load. So you can see just how easy it for ANYONE to operate this efficient load moving equipment. Gals as well. That’s right, we have many clients using load moving equipment that is being operated by teams of female workers. As well as flexibility for the client, it also helps to increase worker productivity.

• No special training required: Because of their inherent low safety risk, pneumatic powered load moving equipment does not require any special training for its operators. Unlike forklift truck drivers and crane operators, you do not have to undertake any special training to attain a certificate of competence to use our products. All you need is a little common sense and a good working knowledge of basic compressed air safety and other rules and regulations within your workplace.
• Perfect for repetitive movements: Many of our inquiries are regarding the repetitive movements of heavy machinery and other similar loads. For clients that need repetitive machine movements, this is the perfect equipment for that purpose. You can simply bolt-mount the caster modules directly to the machine and pretty much forget about it. Mounting plates are available, specifically for this purpose, with our Round Steel systems, and make permanent attachment to your loads a very easy process. Here’s how it works: Simply attach the caster modules to the machine at the correct place, add the connecting air supply hoses to the air flow control valves and tuck them out of the way. Connect air supply hoses to your air inlet ball-valve. That’s it, you’re done! From here, it is a simply case of snapping your compressed air supply hose onto the ball-valve, turning on the supply and moving your machine. The first time you move the machine, you may need to adjust the air flow control valves slightly to support the machine’s weight and to get an even floating load. However, you only do this once, and after that, it is just a case of snapping on the air line to the ball-valve and watch your machine lift off the floor for yet another simple, effortless move. And using the omni-directional and pinpoint positioning properties of these pneumatic systems, you can be assured of getting your machine
  into the same position time after time. Could it be any easier?

Here’s what you will need to ensure you can set up and enjoy using one of these great load moving systems:

• A compressed air supply delivering around 85 psi constant
• A smooth level, non-porous floor surface -preferably smooth concrete or polished wood, Crack can be filled.
• A desire to save money, time & energy, and to make your load moving operations easier than ever before.