Tag: needle cooler

Keep Small Parts Cool with EXAIR’s Mini Cooler

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

As they always say, “big things come in small packages”. Oftentimes, some of the things that have the most value or quality are quite small. Jewelry or diamonds certainly come to mind as some high-quality items that are relatively small in size. One little product we have at EXAIR is the Mini Cooler. Don’t let the word “Mini” fool you. EXAIR’s Mini Cooler packs a powerful punch while using minimal compressed air and not taking up valuable space on your shop floor.

minicoolerWFAM_500
Single and Dual Point Mini Cooler

The Mini Cooler is a proven, reliable way to reduce downtime and increase productivity on a wide variety of operations involving small parts where heat is causing a problem. With just an ordinary supply of compressed air as the power source, the Mini Cooler uses Vortex Tube technology to produce a 20°F (70°F compressed air temp) stream of cold air. This cold air can be directed to the part to prevent heat build-up that can cause premature tool wear, affect part tolerances and improve product finish. The Mini Cooler consumes just 8 SCFM of compressed air when operated at 100 PSIG, making it an ideal solution when available compressed air is at a premium.

The Mini Cooler can be used for a wide variety of applications, many of which we’ve blogged about here before. This application discusses a manufacturer that made surf casting bags used by fishermen fishing straight off of the beach. They had problems with the needle overheating and breaking which in turn damaged the finished product. Not only were they wasting materials, but also time spent periodically replacing the needles on the sewing machines. A focused stream of cold air from the Mini Cooler was all it took to remedy the situation.

Another application that I had the pleasure of seeing while visiting in Hungary was at a manufacturer of cataract lenses. They were using both the Adjustable Spot Cooler and the Mini Cooler in the milling process of the lenses. The cold air from the Mini Cooler replaced expensive and messy liquid coolant and was capable of maintaining a consistent temperature on the lens to prevent warping.

IMG_1951
Mini Cooler used to maintain a low temperature on cataract lenses during inspection.

The Mini Cooler is available with both single and dual cold outlets, depending on the part needing to be cooled. The kit will include the Mini Cooler, a swivel Magnetic Base for precise mounting and positioning, either a Single or Dual Point Hose Kit, and a Manual Drain Filter with a mounting bracket included. If you’re experiencing heat related troubles on a small application, take advantage of EXAIR’s Unconditional 30-Day Guarantee and give the Mini Cooler a try. You’ll be HEATED if you don’t!

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

Mini Cooler Increases Production and Revenue in a Sewing Process

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

Big and small companies are always looking to increase revenue. One way to do this for manufacturers is to speed up the manufacturing process.

carpet
Carpets hanging for sale

A small company had a carpet whipping business. They would take off-cuts of carpet and stitch a binding tape around the outside edge.  They used nylon thread to attach the binding tape with an industrial sewing machine.  They had to be careful with the feed rate into the sewing machine, as the nylon thread would heat up and become stretchy or even break. Either way, it would not have a professional look, and they would have to start over.  They came across the Vortex Tubes by EXAIR, and they were intrigued.

With plastics, I like to describe the importance of the glass transition temperature, or Tg. This is the temperature when the plastic material starts to become soft.  Below the Tg, the plastic acts “normal”, keeping its typical mechanical properties.  But, once you are above this temperature, the plastic will start to become very flexible, soft, and rubbery.  The glass transition temperature is much different than the melting temperature, as the plastic is able to keep its compound structure.  The plastic will return to its natural state after cooling below the Tg.  For the nylon material that they were using, the glass transition temperature, Tg, was 117 deg. F.  The heat in their process was being generated from friction.  As the needle was being poked through the binding tape and carpet, the temperature would rise.  So, the faster this process was occurring, the hotter the needle would get and begin to stretch the nylon thread. To keep the process operating normally, they had to keep the feed rate at a speed not to generate too much heat.

In explaining the concept of the Vortex Tube, these devices will take ordinary compressed air and reduce the blowing temperature on the cold end. For this customer, I suggested the Mini Cooler as it works great for small components, in this instance, a sewing needle.  The EXAIR Mini Cooler is a “dressed up” version of the Vortex Tube for easy utilization.  I recommended the model 3808 Mini Cooler System as it comes with a single point hose to direct the cold air, a swivel magnetic base to mount it near the needle, and a filter to keep the compressed air clean.  It only uses 8 SCFM of compressed air at 100 PSIG to generate a blowing temperature of 20 deg. F.  This mighty Mini Cooler was able to remove the heat from the needle.  After installing, they were able to increase the feed rate by 20% without affecting the sewing process.

Mini Cooler
Mini Cooler

For this customer, the Mini Cooler  was able to increase the speed of their operation, and in turn increase their revenue. If heat related process issues are slowing your process down, EXAIR has many products that can cool things down.  You can always contact an EXAIR Application Engineer to see if we can provide a solution to increase the speed of your process.

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

 

Photo: Carpets by Moyan Brenn under Creative Commons License

Mini Cooler Provides Sewing Needle Cooling

Published on by exaircorpLeave a comment

I recently worked with a surf casting bag manufacturer who was experiencing needle breaks during their sewing operation. (The term surf casting refers to surf fishing from the beach, typically in saltwater.)

The bags, made to hold tackle and gear, are manufactured out of a sail cloth material and are double stitched for added strength. During the operation, the sewing needles would begin to heat up, weaken and break, resulting in damaged product. The customer was considering using a Vortex Tube to blow cold air across the needle and while the Vortex Tube would work well in this application, I recommended using our Mini Cooler. The Mini Cooler is engineered to provide a focused stream of 20°F cold air (based on 70°F supply) while utilizing only 8 SCFM @ 100 PSIG. The Model # 3808 Mini Cooler System includes a swivel magnet base and single point hose kit, allowing for easy mounting and delivery of the cold air direct to the tool. Another advantage is that the Mini Cooler offers a shielded and muffled hot tube, which makes it better for operations where operators may come into contact with the tube.   The perfect solution for a needle cooling application due to the fact it can easily be positioned and always puts out the 20°F air!

Mini Spot Cooler
Provides a focused stream of 20°F cold air with no moving parts.

EXAIR provides a wide variety of spot cooling products including Vortex Tubes, Adjustable Spot Cooler, Mini Cooler and our Cold Gun Systems. With help selecting the best products for your application, please call us at 1-800-903-9247.

 

Justin Nicholl
Application Engineer
justinnicholl@exair.com
@EXAIR_JN