Whatever sort of work you do, it’s important to maintain good posture. This means you need to be sure that you aren’t straining your back or any of your muscles while you work. The implications of bad posture are enormous as stress and strain on the spine can result in a myriad of complications. These range from headaches, neck pain, and sore knee, hip, and shoulder joints, to cramps, indigestion, and of course, backache.
Welders generally stand when they work, and they often find they have to bend and virtually contort themselves to reach inaccessible areas that need to be clamped and welded.
Ergonomic Equipment Helps Posture
Ergonomic equipment is frequently used in home and office environments, to help people sit correctly and avoid muscular or skeletal injuries. And now welders have access to ergonomic equipment too.
Forster America specializes in lifting and tilting welding tables that have hydraulic lift and turning functions that make it easy to adjust the height of their tables.
The Ergofix welding manipulator is a particularly useful piece of equipment, enabling workers to maintain an ergonomic posture throughout the welding process.
Both the lift and turn functions are operated using hydraulics. This means that there is no need for physical strength, and the user doesn’t have to strain in any way.
The Ergofix hydraulic system is easy to control and it is incredibly accurate. It is easy to start, speed up and slow down, and stop manually. It provides constant force and torque and is safe and economical, and easy to maintain.
Apart from its superior hydraulics, Forster’s Ergofix manipulator has been designed for use with a highly superior vacuum clamping system, Vakufix.
Ergofix Works With Vakufix
Made for both manual and robotic welding of sheet metal plates, Vakufix enables welders to clamp parts of the work piece directly in the line of heat. Better still, because the Ergofix can be tilted and rotated, the clamps can be used at a three-dimensional level.
One of the most important advantages of this system is that welding seams aren’t covered with clamps or clamping arms. This makes the welding procedure easier, and of course, ensures that workers are able to maintain good posture throughout the process.
The way it works is that the parts are secured onto a vacuum plate that has a very small surface. So if work has to be corrected, or pieces repositioned, the process is simplified and is a lot quicker than it would be if using regular clamps.
Ultimately, because the Ergofix hydraulic system helps welders maintain good posture, their health is protected and downtime is minimized. It’s a win-win situation for employers and employees.
Contact Forster America to find out more about the Ergofix manipulator and other lifting and turning tables that will increase efficiency and productivity in your welding workshop or factory.
