PNEUMATIC HOLD-DOWN CLAMPS HELP REDUCE CYCLE TIME BY 70%

CHALLENGE

A plastic filter cores needed to be trimmed to length, drilled along its length and the ends reamed. Machining of the plastic filter core was being done in three separate locations. Set-up and material movement time resulted in a bottleneck. Quality was an issue as the machining was being done manually.

SOLUTION

Engineering designed a machine which would perform all of the required operations. The sequence is as follows: Grippers, mounted on slides, take the 12" long core blank and place it in the first station. Model 802 pneumatic hold-down clamps hold the tube blank while a model 807 pneumatic clamp, with a knife blade mounted on the clamp arm, cuts the end of the tube to the precise length. Grippers and slides then move the blank to the next station where it is drilled along its length. It is then moved to the final station where the id of the tube is reamed on both ends. Pneumatic swing clamps hold the tubes during the operation.

RESULTS

Cycle time reduction was improved 70%. The parts are of consistent high quality. Ergonomics issues were addressed since the entire process is automated with grippers, slides, and clamps.