Kiryu, Japan

The Ogura Akabori Plant inKiryu handles the greatest diversity ofproduct out of all Ogura mobile clutchmanufacturing operations. Aka b o r inot only makes car air-conditioningclutches but also produces all mobileand garden tractor clutches for OguraIndustrial. With the increase in busi-ness activity over the past year,Akabori has continued to automate itsproduction processes. One of the latestimprovements was on an assemblyline dedicated to a mid size clutchvolume of around 80,000 assembliesper month. To help reduce the laborexpense, the line has been redesignedso that all 80,000 assemblies can bemonitored by one person.

In order to do this, the input of therotors to the line had to be changed.Now both lines are fed from the exactsame point. To do this effectively, newrobotics had to be developed for thisoperation. This included a new rotorquality inspection station, which runsa master roller onto the poly V grooves

of the pulley. This detects the pres-ence of any waste, dents or over paint-ing. The bore of the rotor is alsochecked for any waste material leftinside and is checked to make sure themachined diameter through the boreis complete. If the rotor fails any ofthese tests, it is automatically rejectedbefore the bearing is pressed in toavoid the possibility of a costlyscrapped bearing and rotor assembly.This means that when the bearing ispressed in and checked for runout,quality can be 100% assured.

In order for the worker to feed the

rotor assembly line, import conveyors,bearing conveyors and a new accumu-lating bearing conveyor were manufac-tured that can store up to 120 bearingsat a time. By automating this tediousbearing loading station, the operatorcan concentrate on the more intricateparts and processes of the new semi-automatic assembly machine.

The net result of these improve-ments is reduced labor costs,reduced scrap cost and increasedproduction efficiency, which hashelped the plant to achieve its new700,000 per month record.

Any one involved in

the lawn and garden indus-

try has heard of lawn mower

racing. And any one involved

in lawn mower racing has

heard of Bobby Cleveland.

Bobby has won the national

lawn mower racing champi-

onship 7 times. Bobby

recently expanded his racing

team and Ogura had the

opportunity to become a

new sponsor on those teams.

Ogura has been sponsor-

ing Bobby Cleveland's team

since May. The Ogura logos

appear on the tractors, caps,

racing suit and the mower

transport truck.

The races have been

ongoing throughout the spring and summer months. On August 30,

the official race season

ended with the “Challenge

of Champions Race” in

Mansfield OH. Until that

race, Bobby and Shane

were in the top positions in

the lawn mower racing

point system. At the

championship race Bobby

ended up in 2nd place in

the race and ended up

winning in overall points

for the season. Shane

had a collision with

another driver and was knocked out

of the race but

still ended up in 5th place

for the season. If you

would like to see Bobby

and Shane (before the

crash), the race will be

shown on ESPN2, Oct. 15

at 3:30pm.

C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s

Bobby, Shane and Mark

on a great mowing/

racing season! (Fo r

more information on

lawn mower racing, go

to www.letsmow.com.)

Hello, my name is Mike Vasko. In

April, I joined Ogura Industrial as Mobile

Products Manager

as well as Regional

Sales Manager for

the South and

Southeast. I live in

n o r t h e a s t e r n

Maryland with my

wife Toni, daugh-

ter Alex and son

Michael.Since graduat-

ing from theUniversity of Hart-ford many yearsago, I have worked in the clutch industryfor the better part of my professional life.My first exposure to the industry camewith Inertia Dynamics in Connecticutwhere I gained experience as an applica-tion engineer for three years. In 1988,lured by the glamour of the sales world, Ijoined Warner Electric as a RegionalAccount Manager. Relocated from snowyConnecticut to even snowier Rochester,NY, I was responsible for managing numer-ous office automation accounts includingXerox, Kodak and NCR.

Seven years later and tired of thewinters, I shifted gears. Moving to Mary-land, my main focus turned to managingWarner distributors in the mid-Atlantic aswell as servicing a few select lawn &garden OEMs. As my territory developed,I became more focused solely on lawn &garden and mobile products accounts inthe Southeast.

In my spare time I enjoy traveling withmy family, attending my daughter's eques-trian competitions and playing golf withmy son, who is already beating me by anumber of strokes.

I look forward to the challengespresented to me and anticipate contribut-ing to the continued growth of Ogura inthe mobile, lawn & garden as well asindustrial markets.

We spend nearly one-third ofour lives on them and rarely givethem a second thought. To most ofus, the only time we think of amattress is when we purchase oneor our backs are suffering from them.

At Atlanta At t a c h m e n tC o m p a n y, sleep products are an

integral part oftheir business.They designand manufac-ture advancedt e c h n o l o g ya u t o m a t e dequipment forthe sleep prod-ucts industry.Their machin-e ry manufac-tures some ofthe highestq u a l i t ymattresses inthe world,i n c l u d i n gS e a l y, Sertaand Simmons.Founded in1969, they

have grown to become the world’sl a rgest supplier of automatedsewing equipment and customlaborsaving devices for this indus-t ry.

Part of theirproduct line-upincludes the Model1345-2 Tape EdgeWo r k s t a t i o n ,designed forstitching “tape” tothe top and sidesto close themattress. The1345-2 iscomprised of threeintegral assem-blies: the sewinghead, the carriage,which houses the

The MD Seriesdelivers hightorque rates in anextremelycompact size . . .For Atlanta, theMDC 5 carries a 72ft. lb. static torquerating in justunder a 4-1/2 inchdiameter whileweighing less than7 pounds. Inchoosing the MDSeries, Atlantarecognized thebenefit of pushbutton operationto engage ordisengage theclutch.

drive train and controls, andthe base and table top, uponwhich the mattress restsduring the sewing process.Prior to stitching, mattressdimensions are programmedinto the workstation andoperator work height isadjusted. The operator thenbegins the process by bring-ing the side and top of themattress together with the“tape” as the workstationfollows, sewing the tape,sides and top. The sewingprocess continues on astraight, constant speed lineuntil it reaches the mattresscorners. Herein lays thedilemma which facedAtlanta Attachment.

As the head moves intothe corners, speed may vary.To ensure a constant sewpattern, the operator mightneed to disengage thecarriage from the track andoperate the workstationmanually. A tooth clutchwas previously used toaccomplish this disengagement.However, while the clutch wasengaged around the corners, thisvarying speed would begin to chip

teeth on the clutchuntil it eventuallyfailed.

Knowinganother toothclutch would beunsuitable, Oguraworked withAtlanta Attachmentto solve the situa-tion while insuringa cost effective andretrofittable solu-tion. While a singledisk clutch couldhandle the applica-tion’s torque

requirements, its size wouldprohibit usage in the existingcarriage housing. Ogura's MD Seriesdry multiple disk electromagneticclutches were the perfect solution.The MD Series delivers high torquerates in an extremely compact size.Output can be gear or belt driven ordirectly coupled to a shaft. Torqueratings range from 18 to 8,850 ft.lb.For Atlanta, the MDC 5 carries a 72ft. lb. static torque rating in justunder a 4-1/2 inch diameter whileweighing less than 7 pounds. Inchoosing the MD Series, Atlantarecognized the benefit of pushbutton operation to engage or disen-gage the clutch as well as the serv-ice and support from the world’slargest producers of electromagneticclutches and brakes.

In the August issue of Machine Design, an editorial was writtenon how Ogura clutches are being used in the oil field industry to allow

natural gas engines to cost effec-tively replace electric motors onpump jacks. One item that wasnot mentioned in the article wasthat because of the e-coat corro-sion protection, the epoxycoated coil and water resistantgrease in the bearings, theclutch is ideally suited forcontinuous exposed environ-mental conditions.

For more information onthis article, please refer toMachine Design or you cancheck the Editorial archivesection on the Ogura web site.

P.O. Box 5790, 400 Cottontail Lane, Somerset, NJ 08875-5790Tel: 732-271-7361 • Fax: 732-271-7580E-mail: ogura.nj@ogura-clutch.comWeb Site: www.ogura-clutch.com

from the staff of

In the July issue of Design News, a brief article on the Ogura clutchused on an electric gocart appeared in theirFLASH Section. (Thissection notes newand notable productdesigns.) As many ofthe readers of theOgura Newsletterare aware, this orig-inal applications t o ry appeared inthe 4th Quarter2002 Newsletter,but what you maynot be aware of is that the potential speedof this cart is now 150 mph. (Did someone say roll cage?)

For more information on this article, please refer to Design Newsor you can check the Editorial archive section on the Ogura web site.

The GT5 PTO clutch/brake fromOgura has been released to production.This new unit incorporates a larger arma-ture and rotor to generate high torque forthe new demanding higher horsepowerand large cutting deck requirements. The

new GT5 clutch has a torqueof 350 ft.lb. Each unit will

also go throughOgura's pre-burnishing processthat ensures ahigher out-o f - b o xtorque for eitherthe mowermanufacturer orthe end user.The GT5 field

bearing has beenredesigned to

insert the bearing into the rotor assembly.This reduces the overall length andreduces the overhung load on engineshafts. Currently the GT5 is designed tohandle 1-1/8” engine shafts but can alsoaccommodate 1-1/4î and 1-7/16î shafts.

To help make the unit more ruggedand reduce the chance of damage due tocontact, a new double formed backingplate has been designed. This makes theentire backing plate much stronger andless subject to physical damage due toinadvertent contact.

Besides the new improvements, theprevious design advantages of having e-coat corrosion protection, adjustable brak-ing force and the ability to adjust the PTOclutch/brake for wear is still present withthis new design.

OIC will have samples of the new GT5available for customers to view at theupcoming Lawn and Garden EXPO inLouisville KY, Oct 18-20, 2003.

New GT5 clutch/brake

H a p py AutumnH a p py Autumn Ogura Industrial