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VOL. 22 May ISSUE YEAR 2021

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in Vol. 22 - May Issue - Year 2021

To Introduce Fully Automatic Antistatic Compound Replenishment System - Another Milestone For Process Safety And Quality

Thanks to the automatic replenishment system, the dosing unit with the separate concentrate storage tank ensures an absolutely stable optimum mixing ratio of antistatic concentrate and water

The Rösler belt shot-blast de-flashing machine RSAB 470-T2+2 with built-in antistatic compound dosing system

In the Spotlight

For over 80 years, the privately owned Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH has been actively engaged in the field of surface preparation and surface finishing. As global market leader, we offer a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and services around mass finishing and shot blasting technologies for a wide spectrum of different industries. Our range of about 15,000 consumables, developed in test centers located all over the world, specifically serves our customers for resolving their individual finishing needs. Under the brand name AM Solutions, we offer numerous equipment solutions and services in the area of additive manufacturing/3D printing. Last-but-not-least, our central training center - the Rösler Academy - offers practical, hands-on seminars to the subjects of mass finishing and shot blasting, lean management and additive manufacturing. Besides the German manufacturing locations in Untermerzbach/Memmelsdorf and Bad Staffelstein/Hausen, the Rösler group has a global network of 15 manufacturing/sales branches and 150 sales agents.

Electrostatic charges are frequently a reason for difficulties in our everyday life. The use of plastic blast media such as polyamide, inevitably causes electrostatic charging of the media pellets, work pieces or dust particles with the result that these items stick to each other, thereby impeding the handling and functionality of the work pieces. Especially, the carryover of dust and blast media can cause serious problems with downstream manufacturing operations ranging from equipment failures to the malfunction of electrical components.

For many years this problem has been overcome by the addition of liquid antistatic compounds, which are dosed into the blast chamber with special nozzles from a storage tank. The dosing quantity is predominantly controlled by timing relays, timing switches or timing functions in the PLC.

Fully automatic dosing of the antistatic compound offers significant benefits

To date, the machine operator had to manually replenish the antistatic compound in the storage tank. This requires the mixing of a relatively small quantity of antistatic concentrate with a relatively large quantity of water. A major problem with the manual mixing procedure is that a permanent achieving of the optimum mixing ratio is rather difficult. A poor mixing ratio will not lead to a sufficient remove of dust and residual blast media from the work pieces and can, therefore, seriously threaten the overall process safety.

With the development of the “automatic antistatic dosing equipment”, the Rösler experts found a way to overcome this problem. For the automatic replenishment process, the machine operator simply enters the exact mixing ratio between concentrate and water on the PLC touch panel. As soon as the minimum fill level in the storage tank has been reached, water is automatically added through the connected water pipe, while at the same time, a dosing pump is adding a precise quantity of antistatic concentrate from a special canister. This ensures that the pre-defined mixing ratio between water and antistatic compound is maintained during the entire shot-blasting process. The result is a drastic improvement of the process safety and quality. Faulty dosing of the antistatic concentrate and handling of the empty storage tank are, therefore, completely eliminated.

For Information:

Rösler Oberf lächentechnik GmbH

Vorstadt 1, 96190 Untermerzbach, Germany

Tel. +49.9533.924-0, Fax +49.9533.924-300

E-mail: info@solutions-for-am.com

www.solutions-for-am.com