Emka collaborates with enclosure OEM on new handle

Emka has worked with Italian control cabinet manufacturer MP Gamma to develop a newly designed handle with changeable lock inserts, with the enclosure company looking to modernise the design of its portfolio.

The comprehensive project also included developing a new locking system for the company’s control cabinets and housings. In addition, the compression latches used until now were replaced by specially designed lifthandles. To develop the new system, the engineers at MP Gamma relied on Emka’s expertise in a relationship developed over many years.

MP Gamma has been designing and producing stainless steel cabinets and housings for electronic control systems for almost 25 years, over which period, because of its expertise in stainless steel design, it has held a strong position in the industry and now distributes its products internationally. In addition to its standard portfolio, the company also responds to customer requests, to the point that 70% of its personalised products are developed in collaboration with its customers.

MP Gamma’s customers span the likes food and beverages, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, marine, as well as railways and telecommunications. In these areas a high standard of hygiene is an essential requirement. That is why it uses AISI 304L and AISI 316L stainless steel which is hygienic and corrosion-resistant. Furthermore, the products must comply with various specifications for international distribution.

Future proofing was an important consideration in terms of appearance and function, so a comprehensive project was launched to redesign the products. The locking system of these housings was a critical element since up to now, the Italian company had used compression latches with multiple interlocking points. However, the designers at MP Gamma really wanted to replace this with a system of new generation lifthandles to open the cabinets faster and provide a better feel without sacrificing anything in terms of security.

“MP Gamma was looking for a supplier with high stock levels and exceptional quality standards. That was the start of our long-term cooperation,” explains Alessandro Donelasci, managing director of Emka Italy.

Within a year, Emka and MP Gamma developed a new handle together for the design project. It seemed the requirements were broadly similar to Emka’s 1390 standard lifthandle although some adjustments were required including adapting so that the handle could be mounted on MP Gamma’s products. In the first step, Emka modified the model to the 25x150 and 25x68/14/68 cut outs.

“This step presented a significant challenge to our team. First, all internal parts had to be identical to the standard model. Second, the new fastening points had to be located within the new cut out,” explains Roman Jung, design engineer in the mechanical project development department at Emka. In order to comply with these specifications, the gear wheel and the dish were changed to allow the handle to be installed using a new fastening plate and four screw-on domes.

In redesigning its own product range however, MP Gamma also had a design-related adaptation of the handle solution in mind. This included shortening the handles at the top, extending the handles at the bottom and adapting the dish’s design. These changes were necessary to integrate a new slider cap into the handle. These slider caps are stamped at Emka and subsequently clipped onto the dish, then secured by a clip.

This was a very successful cooperation as explained by Paolo Corvi from MP Gamma: “The cooperation with Emka on this project was successful and straightforward,” he explained. “The experts from Germany responded to all our requests and could perfectly adapt the handles to the cut outs of the control cabinets and housings.”

After the project was completed, MP Gamma signed a supply contract with a term of at least five years.