Premier
engineering companies need to be able to serve their customers with
diverse services other than the production of precision parts. Some
of these services include laser barrel alignment, gearbox
repair, melt pump refurbishment and heavy metal analysis. In order to
carry out these highly sophisticated services, an engineering company
such as Precision Products Inc (PPI) maintains an excellent set of
CNC machines.
Extrusion barrel
alignment using laser saves time and money. An investment in
laser alignment helps by lowering replacement parts costs and
decreased down-time besides less wear and tear of critical components
besides lower power consumption. There are very small tolerances
between a screw and the extruder barrel. If the barrel is not
properly aligned with respect to the output shaft of the gearbox,
there will be a sharp fall in the output efficiency of the extrusion
line.
A very small misalignment
of 0.060” on the screw may require 9500lb force that will result in
extra wear on the screw and barrel leading to premature failure.
Extrusion barrel alignment therefore helps prevent reduction
of extruder output and line efficiency and therefore profits. It may
even prevent screw breakage in certain extreme cases.
Laser barrel alignmentis the best way to prevent improper alignment of the extruder
screw and barrel. This should be carried out each time the screw is
removed and whenever the gearbox is decoupled from the extruder. PPI
carries out laser barrel alignment procedure with less than 0.001”
deviation. Such a procedure requires 8-10 hours or less and the
dividend paid off makes it well worth the cost.
