Tag: lens

Vac-u-Gun With an Application.

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

The Vac-U-Gun is capable of both vacuuming materials and operating as a blow gun.  It has a unique design that has a reversible generator to allow modes to change simply and easily.  In this blog, I will go over the Vac-u-Gun and an application to show how versatile this product is. 

EXAIR’s Vac-U-Gun is a low-cost solution to a wide variety of smaller industrial housekeeping problems. The Vac-U-Gun is made from a durable die-cast construction and has no moving parts to replace or wear out. In addition to being easy to use, the Vac-U-Gun is also more efficient than the commonly found blow guns. By injecting a small amount of compressed air, a vacuum is then produced by a Venturi on one end and a high output flow on the other.  Switching from vacuum mode to blow-off mode can be achieved in just a matter of seconds. To change the direction of flow, simply remove the threaded cap at the end and change the orientation of the generator inside.

The Vac-U-Gun is available by itself, or as a system in one of three different kits. The model 6192 Collection System has the Vac-u-Gun, a reusable bag, a crevice tool, a brush tool, a skimmer tool, and two extension wands.  The model 6292 Transfer System has the items in model 6192 plus a 10-foot (3 meter) vacuum hose.  Model 6392 All Purpose System has all the items in both systems. 

The extension wands are 19” (48 cm) long and can be used to help to reach the floor or into tough areas.  The tools and extensions are made from plastic to help clean electrical panels safely.  The vacuum hose can reach refuse containers to collect recyclable debris.  As a blow-off tool, the Vac-u-Gun uses very little compressed air and has an amplified output of 12 times that of the compressed air usage.  So, a large volume of air can help clean quickly.

To share an application, an optical company that made lenses had 14 workstations for quality checks.  They had a model 6392 All Purpose System at each station.  Prior to the start, they would use the Vac-u-Gun to clean the surfaces.  They would do this periodically to keep the surface clean.  They also use it at the end of the workday to clean their clothes to not have any fine glass that may be attached.  The photos below show a couple of workstations.  They used the vacuum bag to capture the glass material that was being vacuumed.  The high volume of surrounding air that the Vac-u-Gun could pull, helped to clean all surfaces quickly and quietly. 

If you’re looking for a versatile gun that can help boost productivity in a number of applications within your facility, like the lens manufacturer above, look no further than the Vac-U-Gun.  In the U.S. and Canada, EXAIR offers a 30-day unconditional guarantee to try.  You can see for yourself how effective the Vac-u-Gun systems are.  If you have any questions, an Application Engineer will be able to assist you. 

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Photo: eyeglasses-fashion-glasses-1846595.  Pixabay license. 

Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives Remove Pesky Dust from Crepe Paper Manufacturing Process

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

Paper Measuring Equipment

A paper manufacturer was having issues with their measuring equipment (reference photo above).  They were producing 6” (152mm) wide crepe paper which is very thin and dusty.  As it would pass through the machine, a real-time measurement of basis weight and moisture content was being performed.  The basis weight of the sheet was around 14g/m2 which is like facial tissue.  The machine was giving false errors in the basis weight measurement.  As they opened the device, they noticed dust particles on the optical lens.  Because the basis weight was so small, any dust would cause a false reading.  They contacted EXAIR to see if we could help with their problem.

With a dry fibrous material like crepe paper, static can be a big issue.  Static has a strong force that can cause small fragments to “stick” to surfaces.  As you can see in the photo, the paper material is sticking to the sides and lens of the measuring device.  For this application,  I recommended two pieces of the model 112206 Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife Kits.  The Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife is uniquely designed to have two functions; remove static and blow off dust.  The Gen4 Ionizing Bar creates both positive and negative ions to remove any type of static charge.  The Super Air Knife creates a laminar air stream to carry the ions and also generate an even blowing force to remove the dust particles from the surface.  With this combination, it becomes a very effective non-contact way to remove the contamination.  This was an important requirement as the crepe paper is very thin and could break very easily.  They were able to mount one Super Ion Air Knife above and below the paper in order to blow the dust particles in a counter-flow direction.  This would keep the particles from entering the measurement device.

Super Ion Air Knife Kit

The Super Ion Air Knife Kit includes the Super Air Knife with a Gen4 Ionizing Bar attached.  The kit also includes a power supply, filter, regulator, and a shim set.  The power supply is specifically designed for the Gen4 Static Eliminators.  The Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives use the high voltage from the power supply to generate enough ions to remove static from the paper at a running speed of 49.5 ft/sec (15m/sec).  The filter will remove any contamination and liquid water from the compressed air system before it enters the Super Ion Air Knife.  This is important to keep the product clean.  The shim set is a set of three different shims with a thickness of 0.001” (0.025mm), 0.003” (0.076mm), and 0.004” (0.1mm).  They are used to dramatically change the blowing force from the stock shim at 0.002” (0.05mm) thick.  Being that the paper was extremely thin, they opted to put the 0.001 (0.025m) thick shim inside the Super Ion Air Knife.  With the regulator in the kit, the customer could “dial” in the correct amount of force to keep the machine running optimally without breaking the delicate paper.

When the customer installed the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives just before the entrance into the measuring device, the air stream was able to carry the ions to neutralize the static and to remove the dust from the paper surface.  The system was now able to make accurate measurements without disruptions.

For this customer above, the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives made their system run accurately and consistently by removing any pesky dust particles.  If you have an optical device that needs to stay clean, you can contact an Application Engineer to review your application.

John Ball

Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

EXAIR Super Air Wipe Greatly Increases Productivity & Saves Money!

Published on by Leave a comment

Late last year I received a call from a customer that was using EXAIR Super Air Knives to create an air curtain that protected the lens on their Robotic Welders from weld spatter.  The EXAIR Super Air Knife accomplished this by virtue of its design to deliver a uniform sheet of laminar air flow across its entire length.  While this greatly improved the life of the welder lens and reduced maintenance time, further improvements were needed.

The event that triggered this was the challenge they received from their customer (one of the big 3 automobile manufacturers) to increase their output of welded seat frames by 50%.  While the EXAIR Super Air Knives greatly reduced lens maintenance the consensus was further improvements would facilitate the goal of increasing output 50% .

Super Air Knife laser application
Using the Super Air Knife to protect the welding lens

 

This started the discussion on the possibility of using the EXAIR Super Air Wipe, even though it is primarily used for drying/cleaning of long continuous flow products its airflow pattern (see illustration below) was able to direct the weld splatter down and away from the lens.  This ultimately proved to be more effective at protecting the lens than the laminar air curtain provided by the EXAIR Super Air Knife.

Air Wipe - how it works
Air Wipe – How it work

The installation of the EXAIR Super Air Wipes started on 12/16/2017 and was completed on 12/23/2017. The original production rate was 480 pair of SUV rear seat frames per day running 3 shifts 24/6.

Laser Above SAW Front
Robotic Welder fitted with EXAIR Super Air Wipe

After the Installation of the EXAIR Super Air Wipes, they had improved the production rate to 750 pair/day running 3 shifts 24/5 days per week.  That equates to a productivity increase of 156%, far exceeding the goal of 50%!

Before using the EXAIR Super Air Wipe their maintenance department would clean the Cover Slide on the Laser Welding Head – 3 times per day at approximately 20 min x 3x daily x 6 days / week 6 hours / week.  “With the EXAIR Super Air Wipe we found that we can weld for 10 days before cleaning the Cover Slide” says the customer.

Each Cover Slide costs $195 and those were being replaced weekly, it was a pleasant surprise to find out that only a small amount of dust collects on the Cover Slide now, which is cleaned off in less than a minute

In 10 weeks of Operation they have not replaced a single  Slide since the EXAIR Super Air Wipe has nearly eliminated pitting from the weld spatter.

Also, Cleaning of the Slides is now performed on Saturday’s at the leisure of the maintenance team and not under the strain of production time. The Labor Rate for Maintenance is $75/hour x 6 hours/week = $450 X 50 weeks/year $22,500 plus the cost of the replacement windows at $195 each x 25 weeks = $4,875 savings per year.  Total savings after implementing the EXAIR Super Air Wipe = $27,375 per welding machine!

With the maintenance & replacement cost savings alone it is an easy calculation to make on the purchase of the EXAIR Super Air Wipe’s. That figure is not counting the productivity increase of 156% which allowed them to meet their customers delivery schedule and reduce overtime!

If you would like to discuss increasing the efficiency of your compressed air usage, quieter compressed air products and/or any EXAIR product,  I would enjoy hearing from you…give me a call.

Steve Harrison
Application Engineer
Send me an email
Find us on the Web 
Follow me on Twitter
Like us on Facebook

EXAIR Vortex Tube Cools Control Board Inside a Camera Housing

Published on by Lee EvansLeave a comment

IMG_20160125_165014
An EXAIR Vortex Tube supplying cold air into a camera lens housing.

An application we see from time to time involves the cooling of camera lenses as they “watch” for various materials in automated processes.  The process usually involves some sort of part detection, checking object specifics for adherence to quality standards, or searching for items in need of rejection.  These process are often fully automated, requiring the camera to process a continuous stream of information and to be housed in the same environment as the materials being monitored.

At a waste sorting facility in France, an end user was experiencing an overheating of their camera.  The result of the overheating condition was unwanted downtime while the internal camera electronics cooled and could not be used.  This meant that an expensive, complex, and efficient piece of equipment was out of service, creating a bottleneck in the waste sorting process.

To solve this overheating condition, the end user worked through the EXAIR distributor in France, Kermaz Pneumatic, to find a solution with an EXAIR Vortex Tube.  The Vortex Tube was installed so that cold air was created and supplied directly into the camera lens housing.  The end result was a reduction in heat at the camera lens, allowing the machine to function at full capacity without stoppage, effectively removing the process bottleneck.

If you have a similar application and think EXAIR may be able to help, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Lee Evans
Application Engineer
LeeEvans@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_LE