Is Dust Creating a Problem in Your Inspection Process?

January 30, 2009 — ndraker

Do you have an automated inspection process that uses high speed inspection cameras? Do you also have problems with accumulated dust within the inspection system?  False reads causing rejects that otherwise would go on through as good product?

I was able to work on an application recently that had this exact problem. The application was for cardboard packaging used for medical products. Large sheets of printed cardboard are die cut and stacked so they can go through a subsequent high-speed vision inspection.

The first part of the application was at the exit of the die cutting machine. The cutting action produced the dust that was then transferred to the inspection machine. Implementation of an 18″ Super Air Knife at the die cutting machine blew away the bulk of the dust and any “hanging chads” that might have remained on the packaging.

The second part of the application was to provide an airflow to again blow onto the cards and the belts moving them through the inspection process. We used a 2″ wide flat Super Air Nozzle at the feeder. When we first turned the nozzle on, a large cloud of dust came up out of the machine. It was no wonder the customer was having problems. The housekeeping (or lack there of rather) was much less than what was necessary.

So, after a quick cleaning with a vacuum cleaner and installation of the Air Knife and the flat air nozzle, the customer was experiencing rejects only for such actual things as registration errors and color. There was still the occasional spec that would still get through, but the reduction in scrap material from 30% to less than 6% was a notable improvement as far as the customer was concerned.

Again, just another application idea for those of you out there who may be having the same sort of problem.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Posted in Air Knife, Uncategorized. Tags: . Leave a Comment »

Don’t Let Your Compressed Air Usage Get You Snowed

January 28, 2009 — esmortimer

Well ladies and gentlemen, we got a nice 0.25″ thick layer of ice overnight, and another 8-12″ of snow throughout the morning today, on top of the 4″ that fell yesterday.  Schools are closed again, and some local counties have issued Level 3 Snow Emergencies, meaning only absolutely mandatory driving is allowed.  We are experiencing the literal meaning of the common slang term, to get snowed.

Of course, the literal meaning of “snowed” is to be physically buried by snow.  But, one could also compare this to figuratively being “snowed” by a wasteful compressed air system.  Open blowoffs and leaks throughout a plant can cause a much greater demand than necessary on a central compressed air system, starving key equipment of needed compressed air and driving the overall cost of compressed air production and consumption way up. 

Unfortunately, many folks do not even realize the amount of air and energy that could be being wasted around their plant.  But, EXAIR has two tools available to help find this wasted air.  The Ultrasonic Leak Detector can be used to find even the smallest leaks around a plant.  Fixing just a couple small leaks can save quite a bit of money over time.  We also have two Digital Flow Meters available that can determine the actual amount of air being used in a given area.  Replacing the high-usage open blowoffs with our low consumption engineered Super Air Knives and Super Air Nozzles will also provide a great cost savings over a short amount of time. 

Give us a call if you are interested in finding leaks and saving money on your compressed air system.  We would be glad to help.

Emily Mortimer
Application Engineer
emilymortimer@exair.com

Posted in Air Knife, Compressed Air Optimization, Super Air Nozzle. Leave a Comment »

A Snow Day In Cincinnati

January 27, 2009 — kaedwards

361 School Closings in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Area at last count. The great white storm of 2009 fell last night at a whopping 3″ (maybe 4″) and shut the place down. Now understand, as a guy from Grand Rapids, MI; a 4″ snowfall does not qualify for closing anything.

Here is where I ramble about being a kid walking 1 mile to school, in the snow, uphill both ways with 16″ of snow which fell just on the walk to school – not to mention the 3 feet which had fallen overnight. But I digress.

The fundamental difference between Cincinnati and Grand Rapids, MI is kind and quantity of equipment. Grand Rapids has many more and much larger snow plows. This allowed us to function just fine with great deals of snow. It took a fairly significant snow fall to keep us from running our days as efficiently as possible.

It is the same situation when discussing difference between compressed air systems. It is important to outfit your system with the right size and quantity of engineered compressed air products to optimize the system efficiency. And if the equipment can pay for itself with a fast ROI, then it is an easy decision.

EXAIR carries a complete line of products which allow you quantify your compressed air consumption, optimize your compressed air efficiency and increase safety while paying for itself with a real and calculatable ROI. If you have open blow offs, continuous blowoffs, high sound levels or OSHA concerns – we can help.

Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com

Posted in Compressed Air Optimization. Leave a Comment »

Trying to Open Bags with Static Cling

January 26, 2009 — japanfalone

We have all experienced the frustration of trying to open plastic garbage bags that refuse to unfold and open. A produce packing company was experiencing the same kind of problem with bagging machines.

Their operators load a stack of bags onto a wicket similar to what you see at the checkout counters in the grocery store. The bagging machine then pulls off one bag at a time with vacuum. The problem they were having is that static electricity held the bags together. Instead of getting a single bag, several would come off together and jam up the machine.

This necessitated  an operator to separate each bag prior to loading and mount them singly onto the wicket. Needless to say this was time consuming and added cost to the process.

I suggested they use our Ion Air Gun model # 7293. Now the operator loads a stack of bags onto the wicket then blows ionized air from the Ion Air Gun to fluff up the stack of hanging bags and remove static charges. This only took a few seconds whearas the old method took several minutes.

Posted in Static Elimination. Leave a Comment »
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