T
oday’s carsareshiningexamples
of perfectlyautomatedprocesses.
From thesmallest screw to the
largestmetal sheet, from thefirst
secondof production to thefinal engine
performance test –behindevery car isa
seamless chainof thousandsof individual
steps.Withadvances inautomation
technology comes improvedproduct
quality. Thesafer andmore reliable
processesbecome, themore running
costs formaintenanceandmachine
downtimewill fall. Improvedprocess
reliability is thereforeadecisive
competitiveadvantage for companies like
NSMMagnettechnikGmbH, a
manufacturer of customised conveying
systems thatworkswith leading
companies in theautomotive industry. In
anewsystem for stackingmetal sheets,
theexpertshaveopted for a cylinder/
valve combination consistingof individual
valveVUVGandstandard cylinderDSBC
withself-adjustingend-position
cushioningPPS.Withfivehundredof
these cylinders, the ready-to-install
solutionensuresprecise cushioningand
synchronousmotion.
Small changes, big impact
It isoften thesmall things thatmake the
biggestdifference– take thechangeoverof
pneumatic cylinders inastackingsystem
for sheetmetal blanks, for example. If the
blanksare tobemade intoperfect vehicle
outer skinpanelssuchas car roofs, doors,
bonnetsandboots, youneedmore than
just aflawlessly cut blank.
Theprocesses for settingdownand
stacking theblanksmust alsobeerror
free. If just oneof the500pneumatic
cylinderspushes thesheet transportedby
magneticstrip to thestackat thewrong
timeor in thewrongdirection, this results
indefects that impair product quality.
Inprevioussystems, theprocess for
pushing themagnetically transported
sheetmetal partswas carriedout using
cylindersDNCBwithmanuallyadjustable
cushioningPPV. Since the changeover to
thenewcylindersDSBCwithself-adjusting
cushioningPPS, process reliabilityhas
significantly improved.
Synchronousand consistent cushioning
Thesynchronousadjustment of the500
pneumatic cylinders in theNSMstacking
systemused tobeanythingbut easy.With
theoutdatedcylindersDNCB, the
cushioningPPVhad tobeadjusted
individually. For safetyand to facilitate
visual inspection, theadjustingscrews
were coveredwithsealingwax. The
processof adjusting the cushioningof the
500 cylinders tomakesure that itwas
absolutelysynchronouswasnot only
extremely timeand labour intensive, but
also lacking inprecisioncomparedwith
thenewcylindersDSBC.
Thanks to thenewself-adjusting
cushioningPPS, each individual cylinder
isalways cushioned identicallyand
advances completely insync. Thisnot
onlyprotects theblanks, but also reduces
maintenance costsbyup to70per cent
Big isbeautiful:
500 cylindersDSBCwithself-adjusting
cushioningPPSand individual valvesVUVGpushmetal
sheetssynchronously.
