Bristol firm gets $1M in tech grants

A Bristol manufacturer has gotten nearly $1 million in federal grants to improve machine tooling that its founder says can be used to make more efficient automotive fuel injectors.

Leonid Kashchenevsky, founder of ELKA Precision, said the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants will permit further refinement and testing of his hydrostatic spindle machine tools.

Spindles, which range from the size of a bread box to a house, are regularly used to grind and shape a range of metals from steel alloys and aluminum to titanium.

ELKA's spindles, moving at 120,000 revolutions per minute, use bearings that do not make direct contact between the rotating shaft and the housing, which results in more accurate production geometries and much longer spindle life, Kashchenevsky said. Typical spindles use ball bearings that shorten the life of the machine tool.

More efficient fuel injectors in automobiles would improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

ELKA spindles are used by manufacturers worldwide. The company recently shipped its first order of new spindles to Kummer, a Swiss maker of automotive-machining equipment, Kashchenevsky said.

Reader response:

"Elka Precision won $1 million in FEDERAL, not state, grants. The state has an office in Rocky Hill that supports SBIR winners, helps companies win these grants, and has other significant support programs as well. Last year more than 50 Connecticut companies won more than $46 million in SBIR federal grants. To learn more about the program, and the Office's other programs please contact us: www.CTSBIR.com'' -- Merrie London, CT SBIR Office