Month: April 2011

Think Outside the Box

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If you have been around for as long as I have, you would have witnessed the progression of product designs which were more or less iterations of a previous designs.  Take for example the hood ornaments on cars from the 40’s and 50’s. These were a takeoff of the radiator cap on the model “T” Fords.  Back in those days, proud owners would embellished their vehicles with ornate radiator caps.

 

As auto designs evolved, radiator fill caps were nestled under the hood. Designers though kept to the theme, and placed their company mascot on the hood. One of my favorites was the ’52 Pontiac. It actually had a lighted face of Chief Pontiac.

Today hood ornaments are all but nonexistent. It was a progression that took 50 years. The point here is that we tend to do what we have done in the past and what we are most familiar with. I attribute the elimination of hood ornaments with the introduction of  the Japanese  autos into the American market. The Japanese were not familiar with the Model “T” like we were so they were not included in their designs. Detroit went with the flow and eliminated them from their designs.

Which brings me to an application that I just did with a customer testing their product to be waterproof  down to a  water depth of 10 feet. Doing what they were most familiar with, they were thinking water and pressure. So they pressurized their product and submersed it under water for a leak test. This required drying the product off after test.  His original intent was help with blow off nozzles. I suggested that he eliminate the water test and use an EXAIR Ultrasonic Leak Detector. This instrument can detect  a pressurized air leak 20 feet away. He was easily convinced when he saw that it actually found leaks that were overlooked in the water test.

If you would like some help thinking out of the box for your application, call us at 1-800-903-9247 and ask to speak with an application engineer.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer

Phone (513) 671-3322
Fax   (513) 671-3363
Web: www.exair.com 
Twitter: www.twitter.com/exair_jp
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Plastic Bag Manufacturer With a Climbing Static Problem

Published on by Brian Farno1 Comment

A few months ago I received a call from Medipak.  After discussing their application they were kind enough to take advantage of our giveaway (Link Here) by sending us some pictures and an explanation of their application utilizing our Super Ion Air Knives.   Medipak manufactures special UVLI bags that are processed on a machine that was designed to do so.   These bags start on a roll then they are pulled through a machine which cuts and sorts them.  A picture of the machine is below.

The problem Medipak experienced was the feed would lose tension which would allow the bag to start to climb up the curtain which applied tension to the feed.  This would cause considerable amounts of downtime as it was happening quite frequently.   After discussing the application, the customer sent these pictures of the problem he was seeing.   Note the system had a “Static Eliminator” on the cutting end of the machine that would not help with any of the problems he was actually seeing.

Another issue they encountered was when the machine would start to really build up a static charge the bag lengths would start to become erratic and out of spec.

The solution to these issues was to install a Super Ion Air Knife.  The unit mounted quite easily utilizing our Universal Air Knife Mounting System.

Medipak has since seen the bulk material climbing the tension curtain come to a halt along with the problem at the cutting end because the Super Ion Air Knife eliminated all issues with the bag feeding errors and incorrect cutting.

If you’ve had an experience like this customer feel free to send us pictures, video, or even a well written description of your application and you’ll be entered into our giveaway.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_BF

Just A Thought

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

I had a conversation at lunch today about success.  A friend and I were discussing what it means to be successful, pointing out what is truly success and what is merely perceived as success.  There are the relative parameters such as social status, possessions, and community opinion; and then there are deeper definitions like happiness, contentment, and the ability to help others.

After the discussion calmed and I had a moment to think on my own, I considered that for as much as we all have a desire to achieve these things we often fail to pursue them on the grounds that they are too great a task.  In order to achieve what we desire, we have to first make a commitment to the effort required.  This train of thought led me to think about the engineering department I’ve recently joined. 

We share a goal here to provide the best for our clients, something that requires a disciplined approach.  Just like an ocean is filled drop by drop we build our products step by step.  This is a laborious task, but the more I become habituated to the labor involved, the more the struggle to sustain it lessens.  Eventually it will become second nature, but there are no shortcuts.  That is something widely appreciated about the team here at EXAIR; no one is taking shortcuts.  We put in the time and the effort necessary to put out the best product on the market, and it shows.

I believe that’s why EXAIR has been so successful, and not just relatively successful, but deeply successful.  We have people here celebrating 17+ years with the company, a cookout next week organized by our president to show his appreciation for the people who work here, and when people come to us for help, we help them.  Even if you don’t have an EXAIR product we’ll do whatever we can for you and part ways with a plan and hopefully a solution.

Lee Evans,
Application Engineer / International Sales
LeeEvans@exair.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/exair_le

Leadership In Engineering

Published on by Kirk EdwardsLeave a comment

EXAIR has been recognized by Design World for providing leadership in the field of engineering. Design World has created a Leadership in Engineering Recognition Award in order to commend companies who remain dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, and we are honored. Third party recognition of our efforts is both humbling and empowering and we thank all of you who have contributed to our success.

If you believe we are fulfilling the obligations of this recognition, please vote for us though the button below:


Design World :: Leadership In Engineering 2011
We Appreciate it,
Kirk Edwards
Application Engineer
kirkedwards@exair.com