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SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER2014
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f it has been aquiet time for breakers
lately in terms of new launches, this is
because the sector has recentlyupdated
to the latest technology, withnoise reduction,
vibrationdampening andother advances such
as automatic lubrication at the forefront of
this.
Thenext big thing is almost certainly
waiting in thewings, or underwraps in the
research anddevelopment laboratories of
themajormanufacturers, so the lackof new
models of late is nothingunusual. Therehave
beenplentyof advances over the last few
years.
Looking further back, therewas an
Breakermanufacturers
have largely completed the
move to a single line of
silencedmodels and away
from non-silenced units,
and the latestmodels
generally also sport vibration
dampening.
D&Ri
reports.
Quiet times
anniversary to celebrate last year, as
September 2013 actuallymarked the 50th
birthdayof thehydraulic breaker. This
industry-transformingmomentwas claimed
byAtlasCopco.
GermanmanufacturerKruppBerco
Bautechnik, whichwas acquiredbyAtlas
Copco in2002, developed the carrier-
mountedhydraulic breaker and tookout a
patent in1963. The firstmodel it produced,
theHM400, attractedhuge interest at the
Hannover fair in1967, withmore than2,000
units sold.
The aimwas to save time and labour in
demolition andminingoperationswhere, at
that time, pneumatic toolswerewidelyused.
Of course, thenew conceptmeant that one
personoperating a carrier-mountedhydraulic
breaker coulddo the same amount ofwork as
several operatorswithpneumatic tools.
Today, hydraulic breakers are in
widespreaduse and availableunder
numerous brandnames around the globe.
The technologyhas come a longway since
its introduction, withmanufacturers now
integrating advanced features such as high
flowhydraulics, variable speed and anti-blank
firing systems.
Different parts of the industrywant
different attributes from their equipment,
and so, for example, the rentalmarket is
not particularly interested in amass of
on-board technology. For this sector, versatile
compactmodels aremost indemand, and,
Sandvik introduced four newRammer
branded breakers, including an addition
to its large range in the 5011
BREAKERS
Dehaco has introduced a new hydraulic breaker
series – the 12model IBEX range
