Guyson Corporation's RB-RXS-400 uses a 6-axis industrial robot to direct the blast guns and has two auxiliary axes of coordinated robotic motion of the component-holding spindles. The two-machine cell is designed to be robotically loaded and unloaded.
Guyson Corporation has introduced a rotary indexing spindle-blast machine that incorporates a robot nozzle manipulator and two auxiliary axes of coordinated robotic motion of its servomotor driven spindles. The RB-RXS-400 is designed for precision work cell finishing and surface preparation operations with the capability to be loaded and unloaded by a robot.
A 6-axis FANUC M-10iA robot is mounted on a pedestal at the rear of the 46" x 42" blast cabinet and fitted with a custom tailored protective suit of laminated fabric that seals the back wall of the blasting enclosure and isolates the IP-67 device from the potentially abrasive environment of the work chamber. The end of arm tooling consists of a custom designed gun bracket that secures multiple suction blast guns and blow-off nozzles for a post blast air wash cycle. Pressure blast media delivery is also available.
The 180° indexing turntable design enables robotic unloading and loading to take place during the automated blasting cycle. According to the company, rotation of both component holding spindles is synchronized by the FANUC R-30iB robot controller, so not only is the motion of the part being blasted coordinated with the motion of the blast guns to maintain the correct angle, offset and surface speed, the component outside at the load station is accurately oriented for precise picking and replacement by the machine tending robot. The precision cam indexer rotated table is designed with rotary unions, so compressed air can be delivered to the spindles for automated fixture clamping and unclamping.
Suction-blast media delivery in the RB-RXS-400 is gravity assisted, with the hopper that feeds shot, grit or beads to the blast guns elevated above the blast cabinet. The blasting machinery manufacturer claims this feature augments the performance of the blast system because the vacuum induced by the suction guns does not have to lift the media up through the hose before it is mixed with compressed air and accelerated in the body of the blast gun. In addition to a Stairmand design cyclone separator and media reclaimer for removal of dust and fines, the reclamation system is also enhanced by a vibratory screen classifier to help ensure that only media particles of the specified size are fed to the guns. Electronic sensors in the feed hopper detect when the media level drops below a preset point, signaling the system's programmable logic controller (PLC) to automatically add media from a built-in storage hopper.
To help ensure consistency of finish, the air pressure of the blast gun bank is automatically regulated under closed-loop control to maintain the exact value specified in the process recipe for the component. The actual blast pressure is displayed in real time at the operator control panel. Data acquisition software is also offered for logging readings of all blast processing parameters, if desired.
Prospective users of automated or robotic blasting equipment are invited to submit sample components for free laboratory testing and application engineering evaluation at the blast machine builder's factory in northeastern New York State.
For more information contact:
John C. Carson
Guyson Corporation
13 Grande Blvd.
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-9090
800-633-6677 / 518-587-7894
info@guyson.com
www.guyson.com