Author: Neal Raker

Super Air Knife Protects IR Camera Lens

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2016-02-25 10.24.50
The blue compressed air line feeds the Super Air Knife used to keep a camera lens clean.

Our German distributor, Eputec Gmbh contacted me the other day regarding a customer they have been working with to supply 3” Aluminum Super Air Knives for keeping an infrared camera lens clear. The mentioned cameras were supplied with an “air ring” of sorts from the manufacturer, but they consumed a good deal of air and were not effective for the task of keeping the lens area with a clear view of the process it was intended to monitor.

With that, the end customer wanted to improve on this characteristic of their equipment. And so they contacted the technical specialist at Eputec Gmbh to discuss options. After determining the need, they chose a Model BP110003 (3” Aluminum Super Air Knife) to blow away the smoke and other light debris that can tend to float into the view of the camera. A photo of one of the IR cameras with Model 110003 fitted along with a heat shield and an automated lens cap to keep the lens clean when not in use.

Blowing lenses of cameras, sensors, lasers and other similar devices used to monitor process and provide feedback has been one of the more common uses for the Super Air Knife over the years. If you have a similar process that could benefit from using Super Air Knives, contact us and we will be glad to render the same quick service to help you through your application.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
 nealraker@exair.com
@EXAIR_NR

EXAIR’s New Ion Air Gun

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4 R UMAX PL-II V1.4 [3]
Model 8193 Ion Air Gun
EXAIR Corporation has designed and introduced a new design for our Ion Air Gun. The new design is able to perform all of the same functions as our previous model with the additional features that the design is even more rugged to withstand the rigors of industry in a variety of applications.

The New Ion Air Gun, Model 8193 still has the UL component recognition for the US and Canada. It is also CE compliant to applicable European directives for safety as well as electromagnetic interference. It is OSHA compliant for dead end pressures in that it keeps the output pressure well below 30 PSIG when dead ended. Keeping our RoHS compliance was another important factor when putting together the new Ion Air Gun design parameters. 

With the new design, we have integrated the grounding reference into the high voltage cable so there is now only one connection that must be made at the power supply for the high voltage signal as well as the return path for Earth ground. We have also changed the cable construction to be built using a flexible PVC coated, metal armored conduit  to resists scrapes, nicks and cuts in the cable. This conduit also provides electrical shielding to maintain CE compliance.

The modular, high voltage, cable assembly is also removable to allow for cleaning and replacement of the solid, stainless steel emitter point to insure problem free operation. The Ion Air Gun comes standard with a 10 ft. long, high voltage cable. However, other lengths up to 50 ft. are available by request.

When powered by Model 7960 Power Supply, the new, model 8193 Ion Air Gun remains shockless to operators and incorporates over-current protection by means of an integrated fuse in the power supply. This new power supply has a selectable voltage feature which allows you to choose 115 VAC or 230 VAC, both 50/60 Hz. 

The New Ion Air Gun will make a great addition for any application requiring a flexible static eliminating solution to be moved around easily and operated by personnel working in packaging, finishing, plastic molding, pre-paint dust removal and many more applications.

Give the New Ion Air Gun a try. You will be pleased with the fast static decay times and impressed with how easy it can remove static in your application.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
 nealraker@exair.com
@EXAIR_NR

EXAIR Cold Guns Provide Fast Cool Down on a Soldering Process

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DSC_0300
Two High Power Cold Guns Mounted Outside the Soldering Machine

One of our clients who produces automated test and assembly equipment for the automotive parts industry contacted me recently with a problem. Their recent project was an automated soldering station. The machine was designed to solder wire leads onto contacts for a motor assembly. The machine worked well at reasonably slow paces. However, when they made efforts to speed up the cycle time, they found they needed to put more heat into the part in a shorter duration of time in order to achieve the desired result for the solder joint. The problem that resulted was the soldering process was imparting too much heat into the connector assembly.

After reviewing the application with our customer, we determined there were two points within the machine that needed to be cooled during each cycle in order to keep the heat from building up in the parts. Given the high heat condition and the short available time for cooling, we opted to go for two of the High Power Cold Guns to blast the part immediately after the heating process for soldering took place. Before the High Power Cold Gun solution was applied, the assembly was climbing to 150C which did not bode well for longevity of the connected components. After the installation of the High Power Cold Guns, the customer was able to have a respectable 30C finishing temperature on the parts before they exited the machine.

The quality issue was more than handled by the cooling capability of the High Power Cold Guns which allowed the customer to continue with their plan to increase productivity with the machine without having any adverse effect due to heat penetrating into the parts. The High Power Cold Guns were controlled by way of solenoid valves to produce the cooling power instantly only at the end of the cycle.

Do you have an automatic or semi-automatic process that could benefit from localized cooling similar to this example? If so, EXAIR has a whole range of Vortex Tube and Spot Cooling Products that can be adjusted to fit your need within the application.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
Email: nealraker@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_NR

Ion Bars Eliminate Static in Foam Web Production

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10. STATIC
Foam Web with ineffective Earth grounding

Our Greek distributor came to me the other day with a production issue for one of his clients. They manufacture foam in a variety of forms for many different end uses. In this particular case, the customer was working with a flat web of foam. As they are un-rolling and processing the foam, a decent amount of static charge builds up on the material which eventually causes discharges to the rollers in the machinery and to operators as well. The discharges are dangerous to personnel as they can be quite potent, causing a reflexive jerk back which can put the operators into a dangerous position with respect to machine components, not to mention that they are just flat out uncomfortable to receive. Another issue is that the discharges also cause blemishes on the surface of the white foam where they occur. Such blemishes are considered a defect and are therefore another reason that the customer wants to investigate active static elimination.

As you can see in the above photo, the customer has a couple of ground “probes” if you will, that ride on the surface of the foam web. They do this in hopes that the charges will “drain off” to Earth ground. While this kind of “passive” static elimination can be useful in certain circumstances, many times is just not sufficient to completely neutralize the material as needed for the process. We reviewed the line speed in the application and the web was moving at a reasonably slow 10 – 15 meters per minute. With this in mind, the EXAIR Ion Bar would be a perfect fit to provide the necessary ions to “actively” discharge the electrostatic field. By actively, I mean that the ion bar produces positive and negative ozone ions which are actively delivered and come into contact with the material. This causes the net charge to drop to a much lower level than simple grounding techniques just cannot get to.

We ended up recommending two pieces of model 7042 (42” Ion Bar) (one for each side of the web and model 7907 (2 outlet Power Supply, 230 VAC input) for the application. These bars have eliminated the blemishes on the foam web and removed the static shocks experienced by the operators.

With the very coldest of winter-time temperatures upon us now, it is what we term “static season” due to the low humidity in the air. Processes like this one can be rendered hopeless without the use of some form of active static elimination.

Are you in a converting business of some kind? Do you have static issues in your processes?  If so, consider contacting us for some help with your application. Static electricity in a production environment does not have to be a problem.

Neal Raker, International Sales Manager
nealraker@exair.com
@EXAIR_NR