Connecting Rod Face Grinding – Complete Automation of the Face Grinding cycle.

In the automobile industry cycle time, consistency within the grinding cycle, and accuracy over time is critical. Loss in production due to manual load and unload of connecting rods in the machine was not acceptable.

Manual checking of components was time-consuming, off-line, and operator dependent.

Challenges

In the automobile industry cycle time, consistency within the grinding cycle, and accuracy over time is critical.

Loss in production due to manual load and unload of connecting rods in the machine was not acceptable. Manual checking of components was time-consuming, off-line, and operator dependent.

Solution

A Double Disc Grinding solution with a fully automated Grind Cycle – Robotic loading, post-process gaging right after the job left the grinding wheel, automated unload with poke yoke error proofing. Double disc grinding simultaneously removes material from both sides of the connecting rod at unbelievable rates of production. A plunge cycle gives the Customer the option to grind the job in one pass, hence handling the job only once.

Result

The result was a process with results in a very close tolerance band due to the immediate check and balance of wheel wear through the automatic gaging system, minimal dependability on the operator through automation, a fast cycle, high accuracy through ALEX Double Disk grinding – overall a robust grinding solution providing accuracy, reliability, and precision.

This content was originally published on the Alex Machine Tools website.