The history of automated process manufacturing is a
fascinating study in the translation of mechanical ingenuity to electrical
ingenuity. Before electricity was
discovered and transformed into the dominating and indispensable force that it
is today, engineers and workers had to devise ways to manufacture things without the
benefit of smoothly synchronized electric motors operating with
user-friendly interfaces that allow a
few lines of code to control rooms full of machines.
When step-by-step processes were mechanically controlled,
they were powered and timed by what is known as a line shaft. An example of a line shaft is essentially a main long steel
shaft suspended above operating machines, connected to them by a complex system
of other steel shafts and pulleys, and set up in such a way that the main shaft
would power and turn the machines in a consistent and regular way, allowing for
timed step-by-step processes. The main
shaft would generally be powered by some kind of mechanical source like a water
wheel, or other power source. As
electricity, and more specifically electric motors, entered the scene,
factories quickly realized the advantages, and the modern factory was
born. One other interesting fact is that
we get the term “grease monkey” from the workers who had the unfortunate task
of ensuring these systems of shafts and pulleys were well lubricated – those
climbing up in the rafters of factories armed with oil cans and other
lubricants quickly became known by the now-common moniker.
Thankfully, we have come a long way from the lumbering,
loud, and less efficient (albeit ingenious) days of line shafts. Today we use an electronic line shaft which took
the place of the main mechanical line shaft, and various other “slave” processes instead of
complicated pulleys and belts. These are
all integrated into the software controls on the servo products we
engineer, and have made motion control a much easier (though, one could argue,
vastly more complicated) task.
