Extrusion Barrel Alignment using Laser for Greater Efficiency

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.

Professional Metering Pump Repairs Carried Out

Today’s precision engineering companies can meet the requirements of different types of customers and industries. Therefore, premier precision engineering companies such as Precision Products Inc (PPI) have customers in diverse industries that include rubber extrusion and textiles as well as aerospace, defense and the automotive sector among many others. PPI is among the leading precision engineering companies in the US. It is certified for ISO 9001 2008 and has all the necessary resources to meet stringent requirements of varied customers. These requirements are often not merely of production but of meeting highly complex engineering needs such as laser measuring and extrusion barrel alignment, metering pump repair and gearbox repair.

Metering pump repair or melt pump repair is a highly complex repair demanding professional skills beyond the capability of all but a few engineering companies in the US. PPI is among these few. PPI has been directly involved with the extrusion industry since 1993. Not only does it meet the production needs for extrusion parts such as breaker plates and spinerettes but it also offers quality refurbishing of precision gear driven melt pumps.

Metering pump repair is necessary to ensure that the extrusion line is able to generate a constant output. PPI has both CNC and EDM machining centers besides two coordinate measuring machines or CMM that have the capability of measuring 0.000080” accuracy. This ensures that your gear pump is rebuilt to the OEM specification.

What gives PPI an edge in carrying out melt pump repair is that the company has in-house metallurgical capabilities of testing your original gears non-destructively and thereafter duplicating them exactly. Today PPI’s capability stretches to the repair of extrusion melt pumps for companies that include Zenith and Barmag besides Mahr, Slack and Pharr among many others.

Avail Professional Help For Metering Pump Repair

Metering pump is going to offer you with a precise liquid volume, which tends to stay for a specific time span. The main aim is to offer an accurate rate of flow, and deliver the fluids in the given precise manner. This entire procedure is sometime stated as metering, and it solely deals with the application structure. Moreover, you will get to know more about the exact pump kind, used for the same section. There is a wide range of pumps available, and those are suitable as per the needs and demands. 

 Other Possible Usage

 

Even though the pumps are used for pumping water, but these are again used for pumping up solutions, chemicals and other forms of liquid. In case, you are using the pumps for a longer span of time, you need to focus towards the Metering Pump Repair techniques, at one point of time or the other. This repairing segment is going to take a look at the motor or the pump head, when the liquid is going to go through the pump head. 

 Taking Help of Professionals

 

Be it the repairing services of metering pumps or the Melt pump repair, you are asked to take help of none other than leading professionals, for the same. However, you are asked to get in touch with the repairing techniques first and their credential rates, before jumping for the final say. Make sure to replace the electrical motor, when time comes. These are some of the best options, which you must know, while dealing with melt pump structures.

Heavy Metal Testing Focus Towards Panel Setting Tests

Also defined as toxic metals, the field of heavy metal is a vast subject, which needs to be presented in the most proficient manner. In order to avail positive result with the testing procedure, you can look for the materials used in the related tests. There is a wide range of products used in this segment, and some of the most proficient ones are mercury, lead, copper and iron. These panels are mainly used in order to screen or for diagnosing the poisoning of heavy metals.

Panels set in groups

For the betterment of clients, the panels are practically set up in large groups, and those can offer you with mirror potential exposures. There is a huge range of preparations, which are needed while focusing towards the Heavy metal testing segment. On the other hand, there are some instances, when the testing is mainly conducted in order to monitor the efficient level of the chelation therapy. This can be stated as a procedure or treatment, which can get rid of the high dosage of heavy metal from the bodies.

Time for the analysis

Just like dealing with the testing procedure of heavy metal, you are bound to get in terms with experts, and avail results on Metallurgical analysis. This can be well defined as a valuable informative source, when focusing towards any industry, working with the said metals, mentioned above. The laboratory, dealing with this segment, is going to example the available samples, and to detect the present internal flaws or detect the surface region.

The Complexity of EDM drill & the 4th axis EDM

Modern precision engineering has brought about several innovations. Prominent among these, of course, are the Computer Numerical Control or CNC machines. These are used for milling and turning operations. As being a Leading precision engineers in the US, Precision Products Inc (PPI) has a wide range of CNC machines that also includes machines for high speed hard milling and multitasking operations. Yet another important innovation is that of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), one of the most accurate manufacturing processes available today. It is because of such EDM machines, which also include the capability of 4^th axis EDM and the EDM drill that is needed for precision drilling of micronic holes, that PPI has been able to meet the demands of customers that include jet turbine fuel systems and the textiles industry.

EDM is not only one of the most accurate among manufacturing processes but is also quite affordable and very desirable especially when either low counts or high accuracy is required. The EDM drill (“Hole Popper”) is one of the specific types of the EDM. The EDM drill provides the ability to drill pilot holes through heat treated materials and carbide. This form of drilling is especially useful in selected tasks such as the drilling of turbine blades for internal cooling in the high-pressure turbine. Small hole EDM is also used to create microscopic orifices for fuel system components among others tasks.

The 4^th axis EDM, on the other hand, is used to create smooth and straight drills. This results in superior finish and is a technique that can be used for reverse engineering. PPI has three Charmilles wire EDM machines and one EDM current drilling machine. All EDM machines have 4^th axis capabilities. This naturally gives an additional range of machining ability to make parts that are not normally associated with EDM.

Quality Heavy Metal Testing Carried Out By Precision Engineers

Precision products manufacturers have customers from different industries. Premier engineers such as Precision Products Inc (PPI) are at the forefront in the manufacture of precision products for industries as diverse as aerospace, defense, textiles, medical and many more. PPI is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company. What gives PPI an edge in the market is that besides possessing resources that include the best CNC machines, it also has professional capabilities that include metallurgical analysis and metrology. A well kitted metallurgical analysis laboratory enables PPI to meet various needs of its customers. These needs also include non-destructive testing and heavy metal testing.

A well-established laboratory for carrying out metallurgical analysis is most essential for any  manufacturer of precision products. Metallurgical analysis is necessary to confirm that the right material has been selected for manufacturing the product. Once the product has been manufactured, it has to be tested to confirm that it meets all specifications that have been set by the customer. It is metallurgical analysis that will prevent the use of a non-standard material prior to its use. Metallurgical analysis is also used to confirm the reason of failure of the product. PPI uses a sophisticated X-ray Fluorescence Equipment (XRF) for its analytical work.

XRF is also used by PPI for carrying out heavy metal testing for its customers. This form of testing is carried out on metals and plastics to determine if they contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and others. The XRF device is portable and it can be used to identify more than 350 standard alloys.

Extrusion Barrel Alignment and its Importance in the Proper Maintenance of a Screw

Extrusion barrel alignment constitutes a very important aspect of an efficiently managed plastic extrusion process. In the case of any misalignment, there will be excessive screw wear and barrel wear. In some cases if the misalignment is severe, the screw will fall off prematurely due to the fatigue caused by the cyclic bending of the screw as it is subjected to rotation in the barrel. As far as all manufacturing parts are concerned, properly aligned equipment can easily save a lot of time and money. An investment in a good laser barrel alignment will help in a multitude of ways including lowering of replacement part costs, decreasing downtime, less wear and tear on critical components as well as reduction in power consumption.

One of the most common uses of laser alignment is extrusion barrel alignment as a result of the small tolerances that exist between a screw and extruder barrel. Proper alignment barrel relative to the output shaft of the gearbox is known to dramatically increase the life as well as the output of an extrusion line during its life cycle. Proper alignment largely depends on the length and breadth of the extrusion screw. Laser barrel alignment is one of the most important techniques to ensure prevention of improper alignment and it must be performed every time the crew is removed or even when the gearbox is separated from the extruder. Lasers are in fact one of the fastest and accurate ways to perform the procedure and there are some devices that are capable of measuring less than .001” deviation.