Many people hear the hype about using robotics in their industrial operations with a skeptical ear. Nothing beats the human eye for making sure a product is made with the highest level of quality. This is very true in almost all cases, but having humans perform and inspect in so many areas of an industrial operation can be costly. And humans can be prone to mistakes, distractions, and sick days.
Robotics can be very beneficial for product quality as well as more expedient production. Once programmed, a robot can perform an operation consistently with optimum accuracy and precision. Throughput speeds can increase dramatically through the implementation of robotics. And robots can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year if necessary – each time performing the same consistent operation with the same degree of accuracy and quality.
Robots do require maintenance in order to keep them running and performing properly. But robots also provide a level of safety by handling operations where human hands or eyes could be put in harm’s way. The worker can be in a supervisory and maintenance role instead of handling intricate operations, potentially dangerous chemicals, or sharp tools.
Finally, robotics can pay for themselves very quickly because they do not require all of the overhead that human workers require such as benefits and vacation time. It gives your company the ability to refocus your work force on your core competencies.
When looking for robotics to supplement your production operations, contact the professionals at The Knotts Company for help in determining the best solution for your business.
80/20 Aluminum Extrusion can be applied just about anywhere. It really is only limited by your imagination. This post is going to cover three applications that we have been involved with in the past 20 years.
Plant managers and engineers know the importance of safety. OSHA regulations are always at the forefront of safety related decisions, but there are additional precautions that help not only with OSHA compliance but with overall plant and production line safety.
It's your first time ordering and assembling an 80/20 t-slotted aluminum extrusion frame. From your first glance, it looks like its going to be an uphill battle. Don't worry, it is not as difficult as it may look.
It is becoming an increasing important question when building automated machines. What is best for my application? Pneumatic or Electric actuator. Both actuators have their pros and cons. When it comes down to it, there are a handful of reasons why to use one over another.
While they are different as night and day, the way you size them is very similar. You just need to know some basic information to start the decision process.
Load
Speed or cycle time
Stroke
Once you know this information you can size your cylinder as needed. Beyond that information, air and electric start to differ.
Air will never be replaced. No matter what anyone says, air does have its place and it has some key features that eclectic just can’t match up to.
Speed
Power
Size
Simplicity
To get an air cylinder to move faster, the air flow needs to be increase. The size of the unit versus the power it puts out can’t even be matched by an electric cylinder. If all you need is two points then air is the way to go and simple compared to electric.
Like air, electric cylinders do have their merits.
Multiple Positions
Overall Cost
Acceleration and deceleration
Accuracy and Repeatability
These are just a few aspects that air can’t match electric. With an electric cylinder, you have complete control over the acceleration and deceleration. An application example for acceleration and deceleration is handling of liquids or fragile materials. Electric cylinders give you the ability to program and control multiple positions with high accuracy and repeatability. And last, there is the ‘Green’ factor. The overall operating cost of electric can be anywhere from 1/3 to 1/10 the cost of air.
So overall they both have their benefits over each other and it really comes down to if it fits the application. If they both fit the application, then it really just comes down to what the user prefers as well as the application. Air or electric?
Recently a Knott's customer contacted us and arranged a visit from our 80/20 Aluminum Extrusion Demo Van to see some of the latest products being offered. Our account manager Jerry pulled the van right up to the shipping bay to set up shop. The 80/20 Demo Van contains a fully loaded gurney that shows all the extrusion profiles as well as hands on demos. Jerry pulled the gurney out and set up shop before the customer's engineers arrived on scene.
On May 23, we started designing a t-slotted aluminum safety enclosure for a specified work envelope. (If you need a quick refresher, head over to
Part One)
Now that the overall structure has been designed, we can move to the next step. We will now go through the process of adding the doors and additional hardware that is required.
Designing the Doors.
As stated in the job requirements, we need two doors on opposite sides. Doors help give maintenance access without requiring disassembly.
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