Product category:
Motors and Variable speed drives
News Release from: Yaskawa Engineering Europe | Subject: Sigma II drive
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 September 2006
Washing machine gets a clean bill of
health
The UK factory of a bearings manufacturer benefited from Yaskawa engineering expertise by chance recently when two EEU engineers stepped in to assist with a malfunctioning bearings washing machine.
The UK factory of a large Japanese bearings manufacturer benefited from Yaskawa engineering expertise by chance recently when two EEU engineers stepped in to assist with a malfunctioning bearing 'washing machine' The engineers were at the Sheffield site of bearings maker Koyo installing some re-engineered Servopack drives on a grinding machine that was being upgraded
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 14 Mar 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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One of the Koyo maintenance engineers asked them if they could take a look at the bearing washing machine whose aging drive was now faulty.
It transpired that the manufacturer of the drive was unable to repair it and unwilling to offer assistance.
The cleaning process involves the bearings entering the washer by sliding down a ramp.
They are then dipped in an oil to remove any swarf.
The bearings then slide down into a slot in a holder, which then spins to remove the oil from the bearings.
The clean bearings are then pushed back up to eject them, after which they roll away for the next manufacturing process.
The faulty drive controlled the rotation of the bearing holder within the machine.
After spending some time considering the problem and thoroughly checking the application, EEU engineers offered to develop a solution.
The resultant drive arrangement took some time and expertise to develop, but the new design using a Yaskawa Sigma II drive and motor system has proved successful.
There is also an MP940 machine controller in the new system to interface between the PLC and the drive.
The machine has been running for some time now with no problems.
Koyo Bearings are so satisfied with the new drive and control system that the company's engineers wanted to upgrade eight further washing machines with Yaskawa technology, of which four have already been installed and are running smoothly.
Koyo Bearings lays claim to being the third largest bearings manufacturer in the world.
The company makes ranges of rolling element bearings and accessories, as well as specialised units for the automotive industry.
The EEU UK Branch Manager, Paul Unger, while having now become something of a washing machine expert, has asked E-Serve readers not to contact him if their domestic machines go wrong, but to call their local domestic service engineer!.
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