Month: January 2012

Out Of Season

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Winter is a long season for me. I can’t really complain about the cold, partly because I grew up here, but mainly because I moved back here from Florida, on purpose, some twenty years ago. The shorter days may trigger some of that Seasonal Affective Disorder I hear about…or it may just be a subconscious response to my suppression of the desire to complain about the cold.

Maybe it’s a craving for blueberries. I really like blueberries, and they’re easy to come by in the summer, since a great many of them are grown just a few hours away, in Michigan. It’s hard, though, to find them in the winter, and, when you do, they’re almost always prohibitively expensive. That’s why I was so pleasantly surprised to find pint containers (yes; pints, not those pitiful little flat clamshell packs) of fresh blueberries, on sale, at the grocery store this week. I’m not sure why or how, but I’m stocking up now and asking questions later.

Just as the produce folks at my neighborhood grocery store are no respecters of seasons, neither are EXAIR’s customers. I had the pleasure of talking to a gentleman just the other day about a spot cooling application. We, of course, joked, “Why don’t you just take the part outside?” and it was funny for a moment…I am SO going back to Florida someday…but after I explained the operation of a Vortex Tube, he was anxious to try one out. By the way, he’s cooling brazed and welded joints on small metallic parts – if there’s a better suited year-round application for a Vortex Tube, I’m not sure what it is. And it worked so well, he called to place another order the same day he got his first Vortex Tube!

We’re getting our share of Static Eliminator applications, no doubt, as the dry air takes its toll. We’re even running a nice little promotion for a free AC Sensor with any Static Eliminator purchase, which seems akin to putting blueberries on sale in the middle of winter. Regardless of the time of year, it seems that showing appreciation for your customers never goes out of season.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
(513)671-3322 local
(800)923-9247 toll free
(513)671-3363 fax
Web: http://www.exair.com
Blog: http://blog.exair.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_rb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exair

Super Ion Air Knife Set to Eliminate Static in Polystryene Foam Board Extrusion

Published on by Neal RakerLeave a comment

Perhaps you have seen the blue or pink foam boards used to insulate anything from basement walls to garage doors, to walk-in freezers. The stuff is used everywhere in building trades and for any application that requires a great deal of insulating value from a rather thin piece of material.

One of our customers manufactures these foam boards and was having a good deal of difficulty with static electricity within the process. The static electricity in this process was being generated between the Polystyrene board and the Teflon sheet used to create the smooth finish within the calibrator section of the extruding process.

Specifically, the static field was forming where the Teflon sheet peeled away from the material. Whenever you separate two insulating materials which are in contact with one another, an amount of static will form at this point. In this application, the resulting problem was that the conveyor drives did not have enough power to overcome the friction created by a meter wide foam board providing resistance to the flow of the material through the die. Also, operators received frequent static shocks from the material if they even came close to the side of the process.

In the video, you will see the actual extrusion process with the calibration die which has the white Teflon sheet.  The Super Ion Air Knife was not installed at the time the video was taken, but it gives a good perspective of what the customer has to deal with.


Once the customer installed (2) model 111242 (42” Super Ion Air Knife kits) where the blue foam exits (one for top and one for bottom), the conveyor drives no longer had problems moving the material and the operators were safe to come into close proximity to observe.

Sheets of fiberglass, polypropylene, ABS and other polymers are extruded into sheet form in a similar way. In the past we have solved other similar static issues when the process involves a “carrier” type of material to set the surface of the extruded material and subsequently removed by a peeling action.

Neal Raker
Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com

Reinvent Yourself or Become Irrelevant

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Recent news has it that an American icon Kodak is going belly up. Why is it that such a pioneer in graphics lost it competitive posture in the market place? They failed to reinvent themselves. Photographic film has been obsoleted by the digital age and Kodak failed to participate in the new medium.

National Cash Register, Dayton Ohio, used to occupy several city blocks of 4 and 5 story buildings manufacturing the hundreds of parts that went into the mechanical cash registers. Computerization all but obsoleted them and the buildings have long since been razed.

The winds of change will always be with us. You either go with the flow or get blown away.

The current focus is on energy conservation. Compressed air, while a vital component of any manufacturing operation, is an energy consumer. As time goes on, more pressure will be put on reducing compressed air consumption. EXAIR’s core business is designing and manufacturing Intelligent Compressed Air® products with conservation and efficiency benefits. Each and every year EXAIR has introduced new products that save our customers compressed air. Old school air nozzles and jets do not have a future in our changing economy, engineered air nozzles are the future.

If you would like to explore how your company can improve its sustainability by reducing compressed air consumption, give our engineers a call 1-800-903-9247

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

Air Amplifier Helps Keep Work Area Clean

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

I spoke with a customer early this week that was wanting to share their application with us and inquire about more units.  This customer manufactures machinery for the automotive industry.  They had built a machine for a car manufacturer to remove the protective film from the car windows when they are installed.  The problem the manufacturer had before the Super Air Amplifier was installed was that protective film would accumulate and cling to anything around the work area.  The trash cans would fill rapidly and have to be emptied which slowed production.

Our customer designed a machine that used a vision sensor to see the operators hand enter the entrainment area of the Super Air Amplifier.  The Amplifier was then ducted away from the work area to a large waste container.  This way the operator would simply pull the protective film off then, just like they would throw it into the trash, they would move their hand close to the suction side of the Super Air Amplifier and it would vacuum away the waste film.

The best part of this is that they were able to install a Super Air Amplifier at each work station and convey all the scrap trim to a single container which made for a cleaner work area, easier disposal of the film, less downtime, and a safer work environment for the operators.

If you have an application you would like to discuss please contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
 @EXAIR_BF