Product category:
Maintenance planning, services and equipment
News Release from: Eriks UK | Subject: Triplex roller chain
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 December 2005
Chain keeps 'Willie Wonka's' boat on
track
During production of the current 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' film the 'special effects' engineers sought help with how to pull a 6 tonne boat nearly 300ft through a winding 'chocolate river'.
During production of the current Tim Burton directed 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' film staring Johnny Depp the special effects engineers at Pinewood Studios, UK, contacted their local Wyko branch in Slough to help with a major challenge; how to pull a 6 tonne boat nearly 300ft through a winding 'chocolate river', while keeping the journey smooth and safe for the occupants The solution was provided through collaboration with Renold Chain using large pitch roller chain and a sprocket drive system
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 19 Mar 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Thermography team fine tunes energy efficiency
A thermography department studied the heat and energy loss from other diverse areas of a brewery plant and offered a potential of saving up to GBP 60,000 in annual energy costs.
Transmission roller chain offers longer life
Transmission roller chain has solid rollers, manufactured to achieve an extremely high surface hardness, and to ensure high wear resistance in hostile environments as well as improving chain life.
Andy Beasley at Wyko Slough came up with the solution.
The boat journey along the river is a memorable part of the trip through the chocolate factory and is was important to get it right.
"The problem was essentially that the stage chocolate in the river had a thick consistency and a high lubricity, which meant that it created a lot of drag on the boat, but prevented a friction based drive system from working.
Further reading
Pulley groove gauge determines wear
Using a Fenner Pulley Groove Gauge to quickly determine if pulley grooves are worn or not allows maintenance engineers to make an informed and swift decision on remedying any potential problem.
Gearboxes, gearmotors gain Baseefa certification
Fenner gearboxes and gearmotors have recently been awarded certification by Baseefa for use in ATEX Zones 1 and 2 (gas) and Zones 21 and 22 (Dust) atmospheres.
Initial ideas were for pulling the ornate boat through the winding river included a propeller driven boat and quad bikes pulling cables attached to the underside of the boat.
Neither option proved a success as the propeller covered the set in fake chocolate and the cable operation was too jerky." Beasley then discussed his idea with Renold chain and it was quickly established that triplex roller chain could be attached between existing tracks under the chocolate river and the boat's drive system adapted to use chain drive sprockets underneath.
The chain allowed just enough lateral movement to create long, smooth curves easily and the sprockets provided a smooth but powerful engagement.
The company's experience in providing chain drives for high-load conveying and power transmission applications meant that specifying the right pitch size and type of chain was easily done, Wyko supplied an initial 30ft length for a scaled down trial run and when that went successfully a further 245ft was ordered.
The chain was manufactured in the UK and supplied complete with a variable speed drive system to allow smooth gradual acceleration and consistent speed/torque performance.
The chain drive proved doubly useful since the scene required the boat to be moved through the river and returned to the start many times to perfect the shot before the live take, the chain drive enabled the set engineers to simply reverse the motion in order to return the boat to its starting position instead of having to push it back by hand.
Wyko also has close working relationship with the leading manufacturers of roller chain, bearings, motors, gearboxes and innumerable other power transmission related products and services.
Combined with its 35 Electro Mechanical Repair facilities, Wyko has the ability to offer industry an un-bias repair-or-replace option for any maintenance engineering challenge. Request a free brochure from Eriks UK ...
• Eriks UK: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
