Moving machines via hovercraft

An epoxy-coated floor provides a modern, clean look, but it won’t stay that way if forklifts or other forms of wheeled transportation move heavy loads over it. Lincolnshire, Illinois-based GF Machining Solutions LLC reported that it realized that effect after the machine tool builder coated a concrete floor with epoxy at a demonstration showroom. The company previously used forklifts to move milling machines, EDMs and laser cutting machines from a warehouse to the showroom.

The machine builder researched air lift systems to avoid scratching the expensive epoxy while moving machines. Based on a recommendation, AeroGo Inc. of Seattle was asked to demonstrate its air caster rigging system, which also is referred to as air skates or air dollies. For the demo, GF Machining Solutions selected a difficult-to-move machine that’s larger than what the company typically moves. The system displayed its ease of use and ability to prevent equipment from contacting the floor.

Although forklifts have rubber tires, John Massenburg, president and CEO of AeroGo, explained that forklifts tend to damage epoxy when the tires turn in a fixed position, digging even a minimal amount of dirt and grit into the epoxy and scratching the surface.

“The scratches are in the epoxy itself, so there’s no real way to get them out,” he said. “Scratches start, and then you get dirt embedded in them, and it starts not to look so good.”

Massenburg said rollers are an even less appealing option. Their steel wheels cause epoxy to flake, eventually destroying it as they directly contact a floor while carrying heavy, concentrated loads.

Although a damaged area can be stripped and epoxy can be reapplied, “the odds of the match being good enough not to tell are pretty much zero,” he said.

In addition, Massenburg said cranes were not logistically practical because they have limited reach and therefore still require a machine to be moved across a floor.

“What they’re doing is more of a rigging move,” he said about GF Machining Solutions.

Air casters, on the other hand, fit under an object to be moved and use the same basic principles that power a game of air hockey or a hovercraft but scaled to move industrial-sized machines that weigh up to 6,350 kg (14,000 lbs.), Massenburg said. Operators use standard shop compressed air to fill a flexible doughnut-shaped air bag attached to each caster. As a bag inflates, it lifts a machine by about 51 mm (2″) and forms an airtight seal with a floor. Once a bag reaches capacity, excess air is squeezed between the air bag and floor, creating a nearly frictionless film of air. At that point, the load literally is floating on a cushion of air.

AeroGo says its air caster system is simple and fast to implement. Image courtesy of AeroGo