Once the tube has been loaded onto (for this discussion mandrel #1) it will index to position 2. In position 2 it will be completely loaded onto the mandrel. We have found from experience running speeds of 140 parts per minute the mandrel cannot be loaded completely in one station due to the pressure required to move the 7”-8” in length. The same mechanism that is pushing the tube halfway on will complete the operation in station 2.
Station 3 will be a flame treating station. RLS will provide an adjustable 8” to 4” long ribbon burner that will be used to flame treat the component. As the component indexes into position it will already be rotating from a “V” belt pulley system located on the back of the dial. This speed will be adjustable to suit proper flame treating characteristics.
As the tube moves to station 4 and 5 this will begin the capping operation. Our experience has shown two stations are required to do speeds of up to 140 per minute. A twin cap track has been provided to bring the caps in a vertical orientation down to stations 4 and 5. Two stations are required to allow time for the cap to be placed into the chuck / gripper mechanism that will hold the cap. Once the tube has moved into stations 4 and 5 the cap chuck will move forward while the mandrel is spinning. There will be a secondary spin mechanism on the back of the dial to set the proper speed for the capping operation. In the capping stations small clamping mechanisms are required in order to prevent the tube from spinning on the mandrel itself.
Once the tube has been capped it will move to station 6 which is a final torque mechanism. At this point during the quoting process the torque specifications have not been supplied to RLS. RLS will use a cone shape rubber disk that grips the cap and also allows it to spin once a sufficient amount of torque has been supplied to the unit. Once our testing is completed RLS will ensure the mechanism is the proper one for final torque. If required RLS can go to a magnetic clutch system for the torque control. The capper stations, 4 and 5, can be converted with the proper change parts to run a “snap on/overcap” with proper change parts.
After completing the capper operation and final torque there will be a few extra stations that will not currently be used. These stations can potentially be used for slitting and removal of the disk once having been slit. The two bottom stations numbers 10 and 11 will be used for removing the tube from the dial. RLS proposes to use compressed air located behind the mandrels to blow the tubes off the dial directly onto a conveyor that will guide rail the tubes to the proper centerline and a pneumatic pick and place system will place four tubes on every double index of your labeling conveyor. The indexing system will index twice prior to removing two tubes from the dial. The entire system is designed to run at or above speed of your labeling system. As your labeler moves two indexes the RLS system will have moved one index in order to keep up with your 140 parts per minute.
The caps will be fed from a Gaylord supply system. RLS proposes to use a National Bulk Equipment Hydraulic Gaylord dumping system to hold the bulk supply of caps. The caps will be dumped into a Hoppman 35 cubic foot hopper that will elevate the components to a rotary feeder system. RLS has quoted a Hoppman FT-40 rotary bowl that will orient the caps upside down the twist into a rolling fashion. The caps will then be split into two tracks for the dual headed capping system on the indexing dial.
The main index dial will be driven by a Camco 800RD roller drive indexer and a Cone gear reducer that will have an AC frequency drive on the system to allow the unit to index on demand and maintain the proper cycle rate.
|
operator would use their hands or a manual rake system to automatically remove a row at a time from the tray. The operator would place the tubes in an oriented fashion onto the new pin chain conveyor that would infeed to the capping system. This product load conveyor is approximately 5’ long and shown on the attached layout drawing. The tubes sit in a rolling fashion on the pin conveyor. The pin conveyor is designed to have numerous bearing spindles that will minimize backpressure as they are transported to the machine. At the end of the pin conveyor they will fall into a chute that would put them into a gravity rolling fashion. A pocket wheel that is driven by a Camco roller gear indexer will pick the tube off of the end of the tray and move it to the loading position. Once in the loading position a servo driven pusher arm will move the tube half way onto the mandrel. The main machine consists of 12 stations on the indexing dial. All mandrels are free to spin in any position depending upon the driver mechanism located on the dial.
Continued below videos....