Wednesday, January 15, 2014

RTO Carousel Washer for Train Cylinders/Robotic Cell

Carousel Parts Washer C-6000-P-SS

Cylinders built for locomotive engines need to have chips and oils removed and then be dried after the manufacturing process.  The cylinders are 12.5" D x 20" H and weigh 150 lbs. each.

This parts washer is robotically loaded and unloaded. The system has a large turntable for indexing and 4 mini-turntables to spin the parts at the wash and dry stations. Every five (5) minutes the turntable indexes 90 degrees. The robot removes a clean part and loads a dirty part. The C-6000-P-SS parts washer also has a mist collector and a chip drag-out conveyor.




Better Engineering Mfg., Inc. • T: 800-229-3380  F: 410-931-0053 • info@betterengineering.comwww.betterengineering.com Industrial Parts Washers

Parts Washer for Helicopter Gear Boxes

Industrial Parts Washer, Return-to-Operator Style

A leading manufacturer of civil and military helicopters needed to clean gear boxes to the highest level.

This RTO-R-6000-PCS washer rotates the parts around a horizontal axis as they are being sprayed to flush out complex passages. A dolly transports the parts in and out of the spray chamber. This system has four tanks and a five stage cleaning cycle… a wash stage followed by three rinse stages and a dry stage. The company has reported to us that before this machine was implemented into their cleaning program they only had a 20% parts approval rating.  After only 6 months, they are up to a 65% approval rating and are on track to reach an 85% approval rating in the coming months.
















Better Engineering Mfg., Inc. • T: 800-229-3380  F: 410-931-0053 • info@betterengineering.comwww.betterengineering.com Industrial Parts Washers

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Replace Hand Washing With An Automatic Parts Washer

Automatic Parts Washer Capabilities

A particular mid-west based company produces precision machined high-performance powertrain parts and prototype components for all the major automotive manufacturers.

This particular part is an aluminum bed plate. Its dimensions are 19”L x 14” W x 4” T with many blind holes. Previously manufactured as a prototype and individually cleaned, this bed plate is now in full production and a more cost effective and less time consuming cleaning method was needed. Several criteria had to be met: 1) the system had to be totally automatic with safeguards in place in case of production line back-up; 2) it had to be integrated into a fully automatic production line with the ability to communicate with several other machines; 3) the part temperature could not exceed ambient +/-5°F after the wash, rinse and dry cycles; 4) the system also had to produce at least 150 clean parts per hour / 1,200/shift; 5) upon completion of the cleaning cycle the part had to be 100% dry to pass a QC inspection of the machined surfaces (a surface indicator test).

A customized automatic, aqueous-based conveyor system capable of washing, rinsing, and drying these bed plates was designed. Unlike other conveyors, this machine was specifically designed to be loaded and unloaded by a “pick- and-place” robot. In case of any production line difficulty, special PLC programming was incorporated to purge any parts remaining in the conveyor to avoid unnecessary heating of the parts. The conveyor was also equipped with three (3) electronic eyes that would: a) first, index each part to begin the cycle after being placed onto the conveyor belt; b) secondly, would sense the part entering the dry zone and position the part to be blasted with 80 psi of compressed air using specifically placed nozzles located directly above the blind holes. The part then passed through a heated dry section to assure 100% dryness; c) lastly, would sense a completed part and allow the “pick-and-place” robot to remove it from the conveyor. Finally, wash, rinse and dry temperatures are carefully monitored to ensure compliance with part temperature requirements as the part exited the machine.

The output requirements have been met; this cleaning system is now producing a clean, dry part every 23 seconds (1,253/shift). The automatic conveyor washer cleans and dries their parts more efficiently and effectively than hand washing previously did.

Better Engineering Mfg., Inc. • T: 800-229-3380  F: 410-931-0053 • info@betterengineering.comwww.betterengineering.com Automatic Parts Washers

Cleaning Metal Stampings

C-24 Conveyor Washer This C-24 conveyor washer, with a 24" wide belt, is cleaning stampings coming off a press at the rate of 150 par...