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 tech-
nology comes improvedproduct quality.
Thesafer andmore reliableprocesses
become, themore running costs formain-
tenanceandmachinedowntimewill fall.
Improvedprocess reliability is thereforea
decisive competitiveadvantage for com-
panies likeNSMMagnettechnikGmbH,
amanufacturer of customised conveying
systems thatworkswith leading compan
ies in theautomotive industry. Inanew
system for stackingmetal sheets, the
expertshaveopted for a cylinder/valve
combination consistingof individual valve
VUVGandstandard cylinderDSBCwith
self-adjustingend-position cushioning
PPS.Withfivehundredof these cylinders,
the ready-to-install solutionensurespre-
cise cushioningandsynchronousmotion.
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 settingdownandstack-
ing theblanksmust alsobeerror-free.
If just oneof the500pneumatic cylinders
pushes thesheet transportedbymagnetic
strip 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 cushioningt
Thesynchronousadjustment of the500
pneumatic cylinders in theNSMstacking
systemused tobeanythingbut easy.With
theoutdatedcylindersDNCB, thecushion-
ingPPVhad tobeadjusted individually.
For safetyand to facilitatevisual inspec-
tion, theadjustingscrewswere covered
withsealingwax. Theprocessof adjusting
the cushioningof the500 cylinders to
makesure that itwasabsolutelysynchro-
nouswasnot onlyextremely time- and
labour-intensive, but also lacking in
precisioncomparedwith thenewcylinders
DSBC.
Thanks to thenewself-adjusting cushion-
ingPPS, each individual cylinder isalways
cushioned identicallyandadvances
completely insync. Thisnot onlyprotects
theblanks, but also reducesmaintenance
costsbyup to70per cent andperman
ently reducesdowntimes for thenewsys-
tem.Thesearesignificant advantages for
NSMMagnettechnik in the competitive
automotive industry.
Increasedsafety through
industrystandards
Another key factor that contributed to
increasedprocess reliabilityand cost-
effectivenesswas the changeover from
CPE to individual valvesVUVG.With the
valvesCPE, theverysmall screws for
clamping the cables frequently caused
defectsdue toexcessive tightening. The
8Mplugsof the individual valvesVUVG
offermuchgreater reliability. For electri-
cians, handlinghasalsobeenmadeeasier
thanks to the8M industrystandardand
standardised cable lengths.
With900plugs in thestackingsystem, this
apparentlysmall improvementmakesa
hugedifference. Inaddition, the individual
valveVUVGswitchesat apressureof
below1bar,while theCPEswitchedat
1.5bar pilot pressure. Significantlyhigher
parallel switching is thusachieved in the
newstackingsystem fromNSMMagnet
technik.Withaswitching timeof 100 to
150milliseconds, thevalvesVUVG
canachieveahigh cycle rateof up to90
pushingprocessesperminute. Theoutput
is40per cent higher than that of conven-
tional systems.
Completesolution improves
servicequality
Thanks to the ready-to-install solution
suppliedbyFesto–consistingof cylinder
DSBC, individual valveVUVG, fittingsand
tubing–NSMMagnettechnikhasalso
reduced itsassemblycosts. Inaddition,
thecustomisedcompletesolutionmeans
that thecompanycan respondextremely
quickly tocustomer requests. Thenew
high-performancecomponents fromFesto
havenotonly increased theprocess reli
abilityof thesystem, but alsopermanently
improvedservicequality.
“The changeover to thenew
DSBC cylindersmeans thatwe
canoffer our customersmuch
better process reliability.”
HermannNelke, Director PressAutomation,NSMMagnettechnik
NSMMagnettechnik
GmbH
Lützowstraße21
59399Olfen
Germany
Areaof business:
Development, constructionand
salesof customisedsystems for
pressautomation, packaging
automationand conveyingsystems
Gaps for evenpressure:
Thepneumaticpusher
headsoperatebetween themagnetic conveyors.
Big isbeautiful:
500 cylindersDSBCwithself-adjusting
cushioningPPSand individual valvesVUVGpushmetal
sheetssynchronously.
Moreefficient together:
Asa ready-to-install solution,
DSBCandVUVG reducemaintenanceandassembly costs.
1.2014
trends inautomation
Synergies
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