Page 21 - MetalForming December 2012

outstanding achievement in developing an innovative product design. Honey- well is donating its $1500 cash prize to the Challenger Space Center Arizona, a local nonprofit organization providing vital science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs to stu- dents primarily in grades K-8.
Excellence in
Process Control
Ramcel Engineering
Ramcel Engineering Company, Northbrook, IL, received the 2012 Link Systems Process Control Award, for developing an automated high-speed measurement cell used to inspect parts coming off of a progressive lamination die producing 21-piece laminated stacks. The part, used in an automotive electronic power-steering application, requires 100-percent inspection of height, flatness, size and location of ID/OD, and size and location of mag- netic window slots.
The RamcelVision automated inspection cell comprises a turntable that progresses the product to each station, while a PLC tracks each part in the cell. At each turntable location, a clear glass insert allows part illumina- tion from underneath using a special- ly designed red lamp. At one station a camera grabs a still image of the 10- mm-tall part; resolution is 4910 by 3280. At another station, three precision contact probes take measurements. Then a sensor detects the difference from the highest and lowest values and determines if the part is in tolerance for flatness. A robot moves acceptable parts onto a packaging conveyor, while rejected parts drop down into a crush- er, guaranteeing that rejected parts never mix with good parts.
The Ramcel vision system performs more than 80 individual measurements per cycle. The application communi- cates with a PLC and data server, feed- ing collected measurements to an Excel spreadsheet to provide Ramcel and its customer 100-percent traceability. While manual part inspection of parts
using pin gauges, calipers and microm- eters would take 1 to 2 min., the auto- mated cell has trimmed inspection time to 4 sec./part.
The Process Control Award, spon- sored by Link Systems, Nashville, TN, promotes the application of electron- ic-analog closed-loop process con- trols in the metalforming process by recognizing innovative electronic solu- tions implemented by a North Amer- ican manufacturing company, which have resulted in significant quality, cost-reduction and/or productivity improvements.
Excellence in
Product Development
Pridgeon & Clay
Pridgeon & Clay, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI, received the 2012 Ulbrich Award for Competitive Excellence in Product Development for its stamped bearing bracket. The firm, a value‐added man- ufacturer of stamped and fineblanked parts for the automotive industry, approached its customer, NTN Bearing Corporation, with the improved design for the bearing bracket, originally cast and machined to maintain tolerances of 30 microns. To reduce part weight and cost, in 2011 the OEM customer submitted an RFQ. Every supplier except for Pridgeon & Clay no-quoted the job. Part volume: 31,500
NTN already had a part design being produced overseas comprising a
stamped bracket that required machin- ing after stamping Instead, Pridgeon & Clay proposed the switch to a progres- sive stamping of 5-mm-thick stainless steel, which included trim operations to eliminate machining. Key to the suc- cess of the project was proving to its customer that the existing design and processes were capable of holding the required tolerances. Pridgeon & Clay and NTN engineers developed toler- ance requirements that could be met in a stamped part. They also determined the effects of parts significantly out of round and tolerance, concerned about the impact on bearing life. They found that the stamped part exhibited greater elasticity than expected—the material flexed to accept the bearing, rather than crack as would a cast metal part.
Pridgeon & Clay’s tooling engineers ultimately determined that a 16-sta- tion progressive die, run in its 1250-ton press, could hold the required part tol- erances. Moving from a cast part to a stamped design removed more than $8 from the cost of each CV-joint assembly. In addition, the design change resulted in significant weight savings for the OEM.
The Product Development Award, sponsored by Ulbrich Stainless Steels and Special Metals, Inc., North Haven, CT, acknowledges a manufacturing company that demonstrates outstand- ing innovation in developing and man- ufacturing a product that best uses metal in place of a nonmetal compet- itive material, or that develops a prod- uct using flat-rolled material that was
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