Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 6

Contact: Palmer Manufacturing [email protected] In response to the ever increasing customer demands for tighter dimensional tolerances on the finished castings, the foundry industry has taken measures to reduce variables and make process improvements to produce a more near net shape casting. Unfortunately, one of the unpredictable and more di®cult variables to totally eliminate in metallurgy continues to be the inherent shrink or swell found in the solidified metal casting. The use of a laser control in the automatic grinder will allow the foundryman to program critical dimensions to be checked by the laser prior to beginning the grinding process. Once the laser checks the dimensions, and the data is communicated to the machine, the machine will use the data to compensate for any shrink or swell and adjust the grind on that particular casting. This will provide a consistent grind from casting to casting and increase the dimensional control and the aesthetics of the finished product. This feature will eliminate any over grind or under grind and make the cleaning room more e®cient and productive. The laser control can also be utilized to determine if the riser is on the left or right side of a casting, as well as the amount of flash and the height of the riser prior to the grinding. These features provide the foundryman additional tools to improve the quality and consistency of the casting product coming out of the cleaning room. The modern demands of the customer for quality control and consistency in the foundry continue to increase with the advances in global technology. The foundry cleaning room is the final frontier where the foundry industry needs to apply current technology and modern day quality control techniques. Automatic grinding machines can certainly address those needs, but the additional step of the application of laser control technology on the castings inside the machine can bring even greater control and improvement to the process. 37