Pneumatics specialist Festo has supplied a vacuum transfer application to tyre manufacturer, Continental Tyres South Africa, for use in its Port Elizabeth plant. According to Festo Port Elizabeth branch manager, Nico Landman, the existing electrical vacuum pump in the rubber textile sheet cutting and feeding machine needed to be replaced.
"The machine was complex and required high maintenance while overall inefficiency caused unacceptable downtime. Continental Tyres required a cost effective, reliable solution that offered increased performance, convenience and safe operation."
The Festo VAD 3/8 vacuum generator was supplied to replace the existing electrical vacuum pump, air reservoir, solenoid valve and vacuum regulators. The rubber textile sheet cutting and feeding machine is an integral part of the tyre component manufacturing process and the consistent transfer of the rubber textile sheeting is important to ensure downstream operations are carried out efficiently and with high accuracy. The sheeting is a sub-component of a complete tyre and is produced in various lengths for the numerous sizes of tyres.
Andrew Singer, plant engineering manager, Continental Tyres, says the vacuum pump in the existing system generated a maximum pressure of -40 kPa, which caused complications in the process. "At certain intervals the suckers used to move the textile would not work. To compensate, we would increase the delay time before lifting the suckers. Also, depending on the weight of the textile, the suckers would not lift the material at all or drop it in the transport phase. To obtain a higher vacuum pressure with this system would have meant a bigger, more expensive pump.
"The Festo vacuum generator is a cost effective way of obtaining higher vacuum and quicker cycle time and requires no maintenance. It also offers numerous additional benefits. The unit is small and light and was fitted directly onto the transport unit. The reaction time of the vacuum subsequently improved the cycle time of the machine. Vacuum pressure can be controlled by fitting an air pressure regulator on the air supply to the generator. This enables us to optimise the vacuum pressure for all material properties as some textiles are affected by temperature and are stickier in the warmer weather."
The Festo VAD 3/8 works with the existing Festo electrical drive type DGE and accurately and dynamically positions the textile.
The Festo VAD uses a sucker system to pick up one end of the textile that has been cut to a specific width. The suckers are then required to hold the textile as it is transferred to another conveyor belt and placed in such a manner as to allow the existing cut to align with the previous one.
The Festo VAD vacuum generator creates and delivers vacuum to the 20 Festo type VASB-30-1/8-NB suction cups strong enough to lift the sheeting for transfer to the correct position. The vacuum frame is transferred horizontally by means of the Festo electrical drive type DGEL-40-1800-Z while vertical movement is achieved with the aid of Festo type DFM guided pneumatic drives.
Singer reports that vacuum performance increased from -40 kPa to -80 kPa and cycle time improved. "Festo provided a precisely researched solution, with well designed and tested products and excellent support. With all the system components supplied by Festo, the complexity of the system was reduced and fault finding is simplified."
For more information contact Joanne Dix, Festo, 011 971 5560, [email protected], www.festo.com
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