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Product category: Position, speed and torque measurement
News Release from: Bosch Rexroth | Subject: Easy-2-Combine Linear slides
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial Team on 14 August 2006

Linear slides simplify test machine
design

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Pneumatically operated linear slides from Bosch Rexroth are simplifying the design and construction of a new pressure testing machine produced by hydraulic testing expert, Curtis Assemble and Test

Pneumatically operated linear slides from Bosch Rexroth are simplifying the design and construction of a new pressure testing machine produced by hydraulic testing expert, Curtis Assemble and Test Developed specifically to meet the needs of a major automotive manufacturer, the new machine performs high-pressure leakage testing on components which are used in fuel injectors

Central to the functioning of the machine is a transport mechanism which places the components, four at a time, in the test jig and subsequently removes them when the test is complete.

This mechanism requires 150mm of motion on the X-axis, and 100mm on the Z-axis.

The Y-axis is fixed.

While this requirement is relatively straightforward, the pneumatic products, which Curtis Assemble and Test had used in earlier designs, required the manufacture of cumbersome customised adaptor plates to connect the X- and Z-axis slides.

In contrast, the Bosch Rexroth products bolt directly together, without the need for adaptors, brackets or other coupling components.

"As soon as we saw the Bosch Rexroth products, we realised that they would save us time and money", said Steve Cook, Design and Development Manager at Curtis Assemble and Test: "And, although it was then at the prototype stage, we were also impressed by the Bosch Rexroth software which makes product selection and ordering particularly fast and easy.

Eliminating the adaptor plates may not sound like a huge benefit," continued Steve Cook, "but designing the plates needed for each job takes up engineering time, and then, of course, they have to be fabricated.

It's far easier to do what we do now - simply order standard components and bolt them together".

The products selected by Curtis Assemble and Test for this application were an MSC miniature slide for the X-axis and one of the recently introduced GSU piston-rod free linear slides for the Z-axis.

The MSC slide combines stable guiding with high drive forces, while the rodless design of the GSU slide makes it particularly compact and convenient to use.

Both of these products are included in the Bosch Rexroth Easy-2-Combine modular automation system which has been specifically developed to allow convenient direct coupling of the components used in handling systems.

The system is now complemented by the final version of the Easy-2-Combine configuration and design software which was used in the Curtis Assemble and Test project, and which can be accessed free-of-charge on the Bosch Rexroth website.

"Not only do these components cut engineering and assembly time," said Steve Cook, "they have also allowed us to achieve a more compact overall design, and to produce a machine with a much more attractive appearance.

In addition, they were very easy to use.

We know from past experience that the Bosch Rexroth team is always ready to provide technical advice and support but, in this case, we had no need at all to call on their services".

As a result of its experiences with the fuel injector component pressure test rig, Curtis Assemble and Test is now adopting Bosch Rexroth Easy-2-Combine products for the majority of its new designs.

"They're not just easy to combine, they're also very easy to use and very convenient," said Steve Cook: "In short, they're an ideal match for our requirements.".

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