MechChem Africa October 2018

Joseph Ngungu, mechatronics technician for Tectra Automation, describes a recent pneumatic automation success at TENTE Castors’s Jet Park facility in Johannesburg where pressing the rim into the tyre, which used to required around 25 to 30 minutes per wheel, has been reduced to under three minutes. Optimised wheel assembly for TENTE Castors

T he innovative use of pneumatics can optimise productivity in an almost endless list of applications in small plant and factory automation. An example of this was a wheel press supplied to leading global castor wheels manufac- turer TENTE Castors by Tectra Automation at the company’s assembly plant in Jet Park, Johannesburg. The site’s caster wheel assembly, which produces four-wheel categories from 140 to 340mm, is now a completely automated pro- cess,drivenbya200mm-bore,200mm-stroke pneumaticcylinderthatpressesthetyresonto themetallic caster rims with a force of 500N. In what is a relatively uncomplicated but effective pneumatic system design, each press – one for each wheel size – comprises two 3/2‑way valves with plungers that are

“Sytronix has been available as a drive solution for some time now,” says Adriaan Botes, technical sales representative, Tectra Automation. “However, with the rise in electricity tariffs contributing to higher electricity costs, some companies are beginning to show an interest in this power-saving technology inorder to reduce some of their overhead costs.” Installation and commissioning was conducted over two days with technical personnel from the Hytec installing the hydraulic components, drive and control, while Tectra Automation conducted the overall commissioning. “Now that the absolute effectiveness of Sytronix as anenergy-savingdrivehas been established in South Africa, we are pleased to be able to boast our prowess in assisting far more customers to reduce energy us- age,” concludes Botes. TectraAutomation’s standardafter sales and serviceapplies andall componentryhas a one-year warranty. q activated remotely, aswell as a single5/2-way pilot operated valves that control the move- ment of the cylinder. The jigs were custom- built by Tectra Automation using the Bosch Rexroth range of aluminium profile beams. The result is an approximately tenfold increase in wheel assembly productivity: where the manual process of hammering the rim into the tyre required around 25 to 30 minutes per wheel to assemble, the new pneumatic wheel press produces the item in under three minutes. It’s not just that production time has been sliced to a fraction of what it was previously; “the press also facilitates far greater product consistency, and reduceswasteof rawmateri- als in theproductionprocess,” explains Joseph Ngungu, mechatronics technician at Tectra Automation. “The automation of a previously

TENTE Castors’ pneumatic press speeds up production time, improves product consistency and minimises wastage of raw materials in the assembly of its castor wheels. manual task where there was a potential risk of personal injury has also improved site and process safety.” “As long as you have a compressor and in- novative engineering skills, you can achieve almost anything with pneumatics, and this wheelpressshowsthediversityofpneumatics in industrial and factoryapplications,”Ngungu concludes. Tectra Automation is a member of the HytecGroup of Companies, part of theBosch Rexroth Group. q

Motor manufacturer’s energy costs reduced by 68% Inafirst for SouthAfrica, HytecGroup com- panies Tectra Automation and Hytec have collaborated to aid a motor vehicle OEM reduce energy costs at its Port Elizabeth engine plant. This was achievedwith the in- stallationofaSytronixVariableSpeedPump Drive inmid-2017, which has subsequently achieved a proven energy saving of 68% on the machine for which it was installed. a electrical drive and control component, both Hytec’s and Tectra Automation’s spe- cialties were required for installation and commissioning.

Toreduceenergyconsumption,Sytronix, whichmonitors the hydraulic pressure and adjusts the pump motor’s running speed so only the required pressure at any given time is delivered, was installedat theplant’s block machining line. This was the first of kind for this specific OEM and for the Hytec Group. Sytronix, a Bosch Rexroth product, is a smart interplay of hydraulics and electron- ics to generatehydraulic power ondemand. It maintains the ideal motor speed without usingmoremotor power than is absolutely necessary, leading to energy efficiency and cost savings. Additionally, Sytronix reduces the noise levels from 72 dBa to 62 dBa, almost half of that experienced on conventional power units. As the unit is a combination of a hydraulic component and

The Sytronix variable speed pump drive, a Bosch Rexroth product, monitors the hydraulic pressure and adjusts the pump motor running speed so, at any given time, only the required pressure is delivered.

22 ¦ MechChem Africa • October 2018