Investing in Automation: Shot Blast Machine Streamlines Plastic De-Flashing Process
Attaining a competitive advantage in the market through the economical production of innovative products. By automating the de-flashing of plastic housings at its German facility, a world leader in the manufacturing of electromechanical components for safe and effective switching operations and the protection of direct current applications complied with this recommendation. The company selected an ATEX-compliant Rösler wire mesh belt blaster, model RSAB 370-T1+1. The labor costs were essentially reduced because to this investment.
The Schaltbau GmbH is a top supplier of direct current (DC) solutions worldwide. This Munich-based multi-division company specializes in electrification solutions and products for a wide range of sectors. Railway clients have been using the extensive range of contactors, plug connectors, switches, and safety components for decades. The Eddicy trademark represents cutting-edge solutions for dependable and safe switching operations as well as the defense of direct current applications in the energy and e-vehicle sectors. These cutting-edge goods are manufactured in a number of places across Germany, Europe, the US, and Asia, including a facility in Aldersbach, Bavaria, Germany.
Reducing manufacturing costs through automation
Armin Voggenreiter, director of operations at the Aldersbach location of the Schaltbau GmbH, comments: “To remain competitive at our Aldersbach plant we work hard to identify cost reduction possibilities for practically every single manufacturing step.” As part of a lean manufacturing project the production of housing components was extensively analyzed. These are molded in a pressing operation utilizing melamine/polyester materials. Due to some material overflow in the press unwanted flashes are created, which must be removed to ensure the safe assembly and functionality of the components.
To date the flash removal was done manually requiring a lot of time and personnel. For example, one person was stationed at each press. Therefore, automating the de-flashing operation offered a substantial cost-saving opportunity.
The project managers at Schaltbau presented this task to two equipment manufacturers, whose machines are already utilized in other manufacturing areas of the company. Armin Voggenreiter explains: “Rösler was one of the two suppliers we talked to. We know this company well, because it has been a reliable partner of ours in the field of mass finishing.”
A major requirement for the selection of the right blast machine was that the de-flashing process had to be extremely gentle. For example, the components must not tumble over each other during the entire process, and they must be completely free of any residual blast media when coming out of the machine. “For this challenging task Rösler presented the by far most convincing equipment concept”, remembers the director of operations. Rösler offered the highly flexible wire mesh belt blast machine, model RSAB 370-T1+1, as the most suitable solution for the continuous, gentle de-flashing of the housing components. The de-flashing trials at Rösler were conducted in a comparable machine.
“The excellent results of the processing trials convinced us that the Rösler equipment concept was by far the best for our purposes”, concludes Voggenreiter.
Effective de-flashing with less personnel
After they have been pressed, the duroplast components, with dimensions of up to 350 x 215 x 45 mm and weighing up to 575 Gramm, are manually placed on the 370 mm wide, wear resistant wire mesh belt. The transport speed through the blast machine, precisely adapted to the respective work pieces and the severity of the flashes, is stored in a processing program, which can be selected by the operator at the control panel. The blast chamber is equipped with two W32 turbines, which were specially developed for the treatment of plastic components. One turbine is placed above and the other below the wire mesh belt. The mesh is wide enough that the blast media – in the form of polyamide pellets — reaches the work pieces on all sides so that they can be de-flashed in one single pass through machine. Any dust created during the process is continuously removed.
Moreover, the standard blow-off system and the additional compressed air blow-off device ensure that any residual blast media is removed from the de-flashed components. At the machine outlet a chute transfers the finished housing components to a separate conveyor belt system in “L” shape design for returning the components to the loading section, where they are removed by hand. “The shot blast machine allowed us to reduce our personnel costs by around 40 %”, reports Armin Voggenreiter. To minimize the operating noise, the entire shot blast machine is placed in a noise absorbing cabin. To offset the resulting shortening of the loading area, Rösler increased the length of the wire mesh belt.
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