manipulator-gripping-tool-aerospace-industry

Metal crates must be moved and emptied at very high temperatures

A Company that manufactures parts for the  Aerospace industry  needs to pickle metal parts.
This manufacturing stage needed a load handling system for picking, rotating and moving  metal crates containing the metal parts to be pickled.
The required material handling solution needed to perform the entire work cycle in a safe manner and at the same time allowing for speed and ease of move, so that this repetitive task could be carried out efficiently and with the least possible effort.

Main  issues to consider  for handling  metal crates at this production stage

  • The weight of the metal crates with the metal parts to pickle ranges from 20 to 40 kg.
  • The metal crates must be rotated by 180° in order to empty their content.
  • The worker handling the metal crates must be safeguarded against the high temperature of metal parts at the pickling stage.

Brief explanation of  the handling cycle:

handling cycle

 

Work Cycle

A complete work cycle is carried out  in 5 steps as follows:

  1.  Grip the crate  on its external diameter Ø315at 270 mmfrom the floor
  2. Release  it on a hook at  697 mmfrom the floor
  3. Pick the crate at697mmfrom the floor
  4. Rotate the crate  0-180°for emptying its content into a bag (150to1000 mmfrom the floor)
  5. Release the crate at270 mmfrom the floor

Rotation for emptying the crate

Emptying of crates occurs at height from 150 to  1000 mm, which is the height of the plastic tanks. Rotation goes from 0 to 180°for carrying out the emptying of the crates.

Release on the hook:

After picking the crate, the gripping tool must release it onto the hooks. There are 3 release positions as shown here below.

1 st constraint:

There are two horizontal bars that hinder the manipulator vertical excursion.

– The square bar 20×20  is at 760 mmfrom the floor

– The round bar is at 850 mmfrom the floor

1st constraint

2 nd   constraint:

After the crate has been released the distance from the crate to the external bar is about 20 mm.

2nd constraint

3 rd constraint:

The hook  can oscillate by 45°. The release of the crate must be carried out in a perfect vertical position without letting  the hook oscillate. Between the release and the picking the crates are plunged into a nitric acid 53% solution in order  to pickle the metal parts contained therein. The temperature at the time of picking  varies between 100°C and 70°C.

3rd constraint

Pick and release onto the table:

The first picking is from the table which is at about 270 mmfrom the floor.

Pick and release onto the table

The work area

Liftronic® Air-case history-Aerospace-industry-ENG_Pagina_3

INDEVA® solution  for handling metal crates

A  column mounted  Liftronic® Air with custom gripping tool suitable for handling cylindrical metal crates and rotating them by180°.

Liftronic Air for metal crates

INDEVA Liftronic® Air for handling metal crates at high temperature in aerospace industry

Advantages of the INDEVA® solution: why an INDEVA® lift assist device is very far above the competition

Liftronic® Air  allows for quick and  precise movements thank to its great responsiveness  feature given by the electronic INDEVA®  control system.

Liftronic® Air allows for the greatest level of safety available for lifting equipment.

Liftronic® Air is  the latest technology  providing the best performance and user friendliness.

Read more on Liftronic® Air