Using automated machines to place aluminum rivets on sheeting that is attached to the frame of semi cabs
ITS, a design build firm in Columbus , Ohio specializes in industrial automation. The company offers their customers evaluation, re-engineering, rebuild, and maintenance of critical equipment. Most companies cannot afford to have their equipment down for an extended period of time and very few firms have the ability to work with customers and "engineer on the fly" to make their machinery a superior product. ITS strives to meet this growing need in the industry.
The company was recently contacted by a division of International Harvester that is responsible for the manufacturing of semi cabs. International Harvester uses automated machines to place aluminum rivets on sheeting that is attached to the frame of the semi cabs. The original CNC machines were becoming antiquated and increasingly harder to maintain and were responsible for a steady decline in production numbers.
Since the production schedule for International Harvester was expected to increase and it was obvious that the equipment would be a crucial link in their production chain, the company decided to look for a new solution. The newly refurbished equipment was to serve three primary functions, which the previous machines lacked: speed (the machines had to be faster), quality (the previous equipment used much more primitive products and as a result, the consistency of each part was poor and needed to be improved), user-friendliness (both from an operator's or maintenance personnel's standpoint).
ITS chose AutomationDirect 's DL205 PLC with a D2-260 CPU as the controller for the new machines, along with a H2-CTRIO high-speed counter module, which drives a dual axis servo. Two 32-point DC input cards, a 32-point output card, an 8-point analog voltage input card, and an 8-point analog current output card also reside in the PLC base. An H2-ECOM Ethernet Communications card links the machines back to an office for data acquisition. ITS also added a 15-inch EZTouch screen from AutomationDirect for diagnostics.
In the new system, an operator stamps sheets of aluminum to welded framework with a handful of hand rivets and then places the product onto a dual axis servo table. After the operator selects one of five different parts programs, the machine will navigate the panel under the head assembly, which is responsible for the drilling and riveting, with a tolerance of 1/10 of a millimeter. The panel is drilled and a rivet is installed and squeezed to approximately 1200 PSI, producing a rivet consistency within .003 in. After completion of the panel (between 64 and 138 rivet locations), the machine will return to its home position and await the next product.
The new solution has increased productivity by approximately 30% and provides an easy way to run and maintain the machines. From in-depth diagnostic screens that greatly reduce downtime, to routine maintenance reminders based on cycle counts, the machines are a stable force in the production program for International Harvesters.
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