Page 34 - MetalForming March 2019

Fabrication: Conveyors
Pivot-belt conveyors with a rigidized belt surface prevent scrap from sticking. Piv- oting hinges flip scrap into the hopper.
West: Our adaptive programming uses motor-load parameters to deter- mine predictive maintenance. In some cases, we deploy external sensing to determine conditions for predictive maintenance. Newer technology enables the conveyor to monitor itself, and if it sees something like an amp spike, it
will stop and employ torque tools in order to quickly make the correction
without having to stop the presses. When this happens, the system shuts off the con- veyor’s forward operation, runs in reverse for a short distance, and then travels forward again. Once back to forward operation, if the amp draw remains at normal levels, normal oper- ation continues. If the amp draws climb
again, the system faults and stops. MetalForming: What should a com- pany’s conveyor-maintenance program consist of, and what mistakes can be
avoided?
Anspaugh: Carryover, which we dis-
cussed earlier, should be checked reg- ularly. If there’s a drop-out chute, check that regularly. Bearings and rollers must be lubricated. Advanced lubri-
cants are recommended, including Castrol’s LubeCon I/M-200, which dries as a microfilm after application. Belts also must be checked for wear and slack calls for take-up. Overlooking belt take-up is a common mistake. From the time of installation, the belt stretches the longer it runs, creating slack and wear issues. This must be visually checked. The frequency of checks and inspections depends on run time.
West: To help with this, we’ve cre- ated a feature that automatically makes take-up adjustments. When the system acknowledges that the belt has stretched and must be adjusted, this feature, using an encoder, pushes the shaft out, extending the conveyor belt and taking up that extra slack. We are looking at using motor-torque mon- itoring to determine the need for tak- ing up the slack. This would require an algorithm to distinguish torque changes due to slack versus environ- mental conditions. MF
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32 MetalForming/March 2019
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