Parts Cleaning for Work Cells
A manufacturer of automotive disc brakes produces parts in work cells, where one operator is constantly rotating from machine to machine. They needed to clean the parts in the cells without burdening the operator with constantly opening and closing a door and then waiting for the cycle to end.A "Carousel" system which has the front of the turntable exposed for loading and unloading was the solution to their application.
The operator, at his convenience, loads and/or unloads the parts. The turntable rotates very slowly - about 5 minutes per rotation in this case - moving the parts through a "wash" zone and then a "dry" zone. By the time the parts come back around, they are clean and dry.
It doesn't matter if the parts go around once or several times. The operator knows that any parts coming through the exit curtain are clean and can be removed.
A C-5000-P (50" diameter turntable) with wash and dry zones was designed. For drying, the machine has a 10HP regenerative blower and a 21 kW air heating system. The large "box" on top is a "Mist-Pac" which pulls out the steam and condenses it, avoiding the hassle of running a vent line. The system runs 24 hours a day, six days a week, and processes up to 6,000 parts per week.
