Pneumatics in Industry
Transcript Of Pneumatics in Industry
Eastern Kentucky University
Encompass
EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates 2016 Undergraduate Research Award submissions
Pneumatics in Industry
Patric Bracco
Eastern Kentucky University, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: http://encompass.eku.edu/ugra Recommended Citation
Bracco, Patric, "Pneumatics in Industry" (2016). EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates. 4. http://encompass.eku.edu/ugra/2016/2016/4 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]
PNEUMATICS IN INDUSTRY
Schematic Design of OSRAM Glass Tractor
Patric Bracco
Mentored By: Dr. Ni Wang
Author Note
Fluid power research for an industrial example using pneumatics for the design of a schematic in Dr. Ni Wang’s Hydraulics and Pneumatics course (AEM 371). Research was presented in Microsoft PowerPoint format. The example used is a Glass Tractor in operation at OSRAM Glass Technologies – Versailles Plant,
located in Versailles, KY. The schematic was designed on Automation Studio to replicate the pneumatically operated mechanism of the Glass Tractor.
Pneumatics in Industry
Acknowledgements Special thank you to Dr. Ni Wang for the thorough and well-rounded knowledge obtained in AEM 371 and with pointing me in the right direction when I was stuck on my schematics. Also, through the encouragement of my work which has been inspiring and greatly increased
my confidence and understanding of subject matter. Thank you to everyone at OSRAM for all of their assistance and generosity with gathering
the proper information to complete this project, but furthermore, I can’t express my gratitude enough for the daily knowledge that I have gained from all of you.
To Isabella, Hudson, and Samantha – Thank you for all your support and for being the best form of motivation anyone could ever have. I love you. I know it is hard putting up with my countless hours in front of my computer or being away at school/work, but hopefully one day
it will all be worth it. Dream big.
1 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
Eastern Kentucky University Applied Engineering and Management Program
Contents
Abstract ..................................................................................3 Introduction ..............................................................................4
Pneumatics at OSRAM .....................................................................5 Glass Tractor .........................................................................5
Problem Statement .........................................................................7 Lifting the Cylinders .................................................................8
Method ....................................................................................9 Brief Overview of Industrial Pneumatics .................................................9 Components Required for a Schematic ....................................................11 Cylinders ............................................................................12 Directional Control Valve (DCV) ......................................................13 Drawing a schematic diagram ..........................................................14
Results ..................................................................................15 Components in Example ..................................................................15 Preparation is important .............................................................16
Discussion of Future Work ................................................................18 Simulation .............................................................................18 The Tractor improvement was great but…. .............................................18
Bibliography .............................................................................21 Table of Figures .........................................................................23
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Pneumatics in Industry
Abstract
The basis of information obtained through research for this project was to design a pneumatic schematic based on a real life example in an industrial atmosphere. The example had to include the overall intention of the equipment that used pneumatics to operate an entire machine or specific mechanism in which was pneumatically powered. Once the decision was made on what machine was a good fit for the example, it would be necessary to design a schematic for the pneumatic operations. The schematic would be designed using knowledge obtained in Dr. Ni Wang’s Hydraulics and Pneumatics course (AEM 371) through course work which covered the components of a fluid power system and operations of these components. Important knowledge to complete fluid power calculations and Automation Studio software to demonstrate a working schematic within a fluid power system was also covered and integral to the project. The final project decision based on the research and knowledge obtained was a Lime Glass Tractor which was currently operating at OSRAM Glass Technologies – Versailles Plant in Versailles, Kentucky. The machine was designed by Engineer Matt Hughes – with the assistance of others – as a “new and improved” version of legacy equipment used on other manufacturing lines in the Versailles, Kentucky plant. Specific to the requirements of the project, the pneumatically operated cylinders which lift and determine the force of pressure emitted on the glass tubing being formed was the choice for schematic design. Knowledge of design, materials, and usage were critical to obtain and understand in order to properly draw a schematic for the pneumatic components of this machine.
Keywords: engineering; glass; fluid power; pneumatics; schematic; design; industrial; manufacturing; Automation Studio; CAD; mechanics; research; ATMAE; Applied Engineering & Technology
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Pneumatics in Industry
Introduction
Fluid power is vital to machines, robots, and all non-living things encountered every single day. It
is defined in Introduction to Fluid Power (Johnson, 2002) as “the use of a fluid (liquid or gas) to
transmit power from one location to another.” Another way to identify the importance of fluid
power’s role and how it pertains to a machine, is to comprehend the synonymous role blood plays in
the human circulatory system. The nervous system sends signals to the heart to pump the blood
throughout the body to specific locations through atriums and ventricles and filtered through the
lungs (Alters & Alters, 2006) in the same sense that a power supply tells the hydraulic pump
(liquid) or compressor (air) to pump the fluid to various areas of the machine via supply/return
lines which are guided by manifolds and directional control valves (DCVs)
which has been filtered through various types of filters. The human heart
utilizes an atrioventricular valve which only allows the blood to flow in
one direction as a fluid power system has check valves that operate with
principles in a machine. The blood pressure is critical to the human
circulatory system, as fluid pressure is vital to the working machine.
Doctors and surgeons must understand the importance of the pressure to keep human hearts from stopping
FIGURE 1: HUMAN CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (HEARTZINE.COM, 2011)
when something is not at optimal levels within a person’s
body. Without the blood circulating properly at every
location, the doctors cannot keep the people well or fix them
when they have not maintained themselves. The principle is
identical to mechanics and engineers who must understand the
FIGURE 2: PNEUMATIC SCHEMATIC ON AUTOMATION STUDIO
importance the pressure plays to keep the pumps from stopping when a machine has a component not operating with prime
4 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
efficiency. Without the fluid power being dispersed at the right place/right time, engineers cannot fix or improve areas of a machine that have not been maintained. The circulatory system is as crucial to a surgeon as fluid power and its components are crucial to engineers.
Pneumatics at OSRAM
OSRAM (previously OSRAM Sylvania and soon to be LEDVANCE1) in Versailles, Kentucky uses pneumatics throughout the entirety of the manufacturing plant. The applications vary depending on the system it is designed for. In the raw materials section of the industry leading lighting factory, glass is created in tube form to later be assembled into a fluorescent light bulb.
Glass Tractor
Creating this glass with quality that exceeds expectations and/or requirements has an important device that has been around for many years at OSRAM. This device is called a tractor. The “chain style” tractor (SEE FIGURE 1) allows for a continuous pulling of the glass to (along with a variety of other processes) maintain the features that are important to the structure of the future bulb. The glass product can be formed in a variety of standard sizes and thicknesses.
FIGURE 3: LEGACY MACHINE, "CHAIN STYLE TRACTOR" - MUST BE ADJUSTED MANUALLY
A common bulb is the Fluorescent T8 lamp. The majority of these T8 lamps are assembled from glass with very similar technical characteristics. Many products, formed through customer requirements,
1 As of July 1, 2016, OSRAM will be officially be changing the name of the OSRAM Lamps business to LEDVANCE (LED + Advance). (OSRAM GmbH, 2016)
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Pneumatics in Industry
have a wall thickness of 0.028” and outside diameter (O.D.) of 1.01”2. Manufacturing glass with these requirements on a daily bases brings a sense of normalization to the profound idea of dragging molten hot glass through a mechanical device that squeezes this thin glass at a constant rate with little to no problems.
Before OSRAM production engineer Matt Hughes designed
the new standard tractor for the OSRAM Glass Technologies – Versailles Plant, the tractor was good
but had many areas in which it could improve functionality and efficiency (Hughes, 2015).The machine
was made up of many similar materials the new one is but a significant issue was when that very thin
and small (in terms of O.D.) glass would have a deformation, such as a crack, it would get stuck in
the tractor and continuously crush the glass that it was trying to hold in place. Beyond the lost
production and wasted materials, this created a state of emergency among operators and anyone would
was out on the factory floor. The safety factor was not great as someone would have to get to the tractor at a
FIGURE 5: MATT HUGHES' NEWLY DESIGNED TRACTOR MAINTAINING T12 GLASS WHICH WILL BE MANUFACTURED INTO A T12
FLUORESCENT LAMP
brisk pace, then either break the glass before/after the tractor or manually raise the top half of
the tractor to prevent the rotating pads from crushing the glass further. This was done directly in
the area in which the glass was being crushed. When
Hughes designed the new tractor, he made sure that this
was a focal point of his improvements. Among the
numerous improvements that his newly designed tractor
came equipped with, one important improvement was the
FIGURE 4: THE NEW & IMPROVED TRACTOR DESIGNED BY OSRAM ENGINEER MATT HUGHES (HUGHES, 2015)
ability to automatically lift and return to the proper
2 OSRAM fluorescent T8 lamp technical information is provided on the corporate website – inside the products section. (OSRAM GmbH, 2016)
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Pneumatics in Industry
height/pressure ensuring the glass was correctly held when one of these ‘crush-out’ instances occurred.
Problem Statement
Automatically lifting and returning to a specific position and with a calculated pressure is the perfect job for a pneumatic cylinder. In the case for Hughes’ design, it would take five cylinders. As described by someone who assisted in ideas and assembly of the new tractor, Robert Bicknell, – one of OSRAM’s Master Craftsman for the Machine Shop – the way the design and functionality of the tractor was intended, a single acting cylinder would be sufficient for the job (Bicknell, 2015). Precision of the cylinder extension is not the most important function of the pneumatic component, but the quickness and pressure control is. To be able to lift when an electronic sensor does not see glass at a speed instantaneous to the quickness required to avoid lengthy crush-out instances, the cylinders would need to be controlled by a DCV that determines the route of flow from the information that the sensor provides.
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Pneumatics in Industry
Lifting the Cylinders
The DCV would have to be specific to the requirements of the newly designed tractor and also tie
into the electrical system in place. Mentioned earlier, the DCV can be controlled in various ways.
The actuator determining this control is important to the DCV that routes the flow of air in a
pneumatic system. These controls can be manual pushbuttons, foot pedals, or levers. A mechanical
operation can initialize the actuation of DCV to change flow direction with features such as a cam
on a machine. Automatic or remote control is an option as
well. Actuation through solenoids, or pilot-operated
solenoids are options for no-touch features of operation. A
regulation system will also be necessary to a pneumatic
system. The regulator does exactly what the name implies –
regulates the air pressure to/from a system. This allows a
FIGURE 6: INSIDE THE CONTROL BOX THAT HOUSES MAJOR PNEUMATIC / ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS FOR THE GLASS
TRACTOR
desired pressure of flow to be consistent and not exceed a given pressure to avoid variation in performance of the
system or section of the system in which it is installed. These are related to pneumatics fluid
power sibling, hydraulics, version which is a pressure regulating valve (PRV). 3 The regulators are
very efficient both on the system and on the cost of the system. James Johnson says that “Using a
lower pressure means using less air, which is always desirable because it reduces the cost of
operation. In addition to reducing air consumption, regulators provide a machine with a more
consistent supply pressure.” (Johnson, 2002).
3 Introduction to Fluid Power textbook makes the connection between the two on page 449, in the Pneumatic Component chapter. It also gives the definition by stating “Pressure Regulators are used to adjust the supply pressure to an appropriate level for a particular machine.”
8 | Page
Encompass
EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates 2016 Undergraduate Research Award submissions
Pneumatics in Industry
Patric Bracco
Eastern Kentucky University, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: http://encompass.eku.edu/ugra Recommended Citation
Bracco, Patric, "Pneumatics in Industry" (2016). EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates. 4. http://encompass.eku.edu/ugra/2016/2016/4 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]
PNEUMATICS IN INDUSTRY
Schematic Design of OSRAM Glass Tractor
Patric Bracco
Mentored By: Dr. Ni Wang
Author Note
Fluid power research for an industrial example using pneumatics for the design of a schematic in Dr. Ni Wang’s Hydraulics and Pneumatics course (AEM 371). Research was presented in Microsoft PowerPoint format. The example used is a Glass Tractor in operation at OSRAM Glass Technologies – Versailles Plant,
located in Versailles, KY. The schematic was designed on Automation Studio to replicate the pneumatically operated mechanism of the Glass Tractor.
Pneumatics in Industry
Acknowledgements Special thank you to Dr. Ni Wang for the thorough and well-rounded knowledge obtained in AEM 371 and with pointing me in the right direction when I was stuck on my schematics. Also, through the encouragement of my work which has been inspiring and greatly increased
my confidence and understanding of subject matter. Thank you to everyone at OSRAM for all of their assistance and generosity with gathering
the proper information to complete this project, but furthermore, I can’t express my gratitude enough for the daily knowledge that I have gained from all of you.
To Isabella, Hudson, and Samantha – Thank you for all your support and for being the best form of motivation anyone could ever have. I love you. I know it is hard putting up with my countless hours in front of my computer or being away at school/work, but hopefully one day
it will all be worth it. Dream big.
1 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
Eastern Kentucky University Applied Engineering and Management Program
Contents
Abstract ..................................................................................3 Introduction ..............................................................................4
Pneumatics at OSRAM .....................................................................5 Glass Tractor .........................................................................5
Problem Statement .........................................................................7 Lifting the Cylinders .................................................................8
Method ....................................................................................9 Brief Overview of Industrial Pneumatics .................................................9 Components Required for a Schematic ....................................................11 Cylinders ............................................................................12 Directional Control Valve (DCV) ......................................................13 Drawing a schematic diagram ..........................................................14
Results ..................................................................................15 Components in Example ..................................................................15 Preparation is important .............................................................16
Discussion of Future Work ................................................................18 Simulation .............................................................................18 The Tractor improvement was great but…. .............................................18
Bibliography .............................................................................21 Table of Figures .........................................................................23
2 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
Abstract
The basis of information obtained through research for this project was to design a pneumatic schematic based on a real life example in an industrial atmosphere. The example had to include the overall intention of the equipment that used pneumatics to operate an entire machine or specific mechanism in which was pneumatically powered. Once the decision was made on what machine was a good fit for the example, it would be necessary to design a schematic for the pneumatic operations. The schematic would be designed using knowledge obtained in Dr. Ni Wang’s Hydraulics and Pneumatics course (AEM 371) through course work which covered the components of a fluid power system and operations of these components. Important knowledge to complete fluid power calculations and Automation Studio software to demonstrate a working schematic within a fluid power system was also covered and integral to the project. The final project decision based on the research and knowledge obtained was a Lime Glass Tractor which was currently operating at OSRAM Glass Technologies – Versailles Plant in Versailles, Kentucky. The machine was designed by Engineer Matt Hughes – with the assistance of others – as a “new and improved” version of legacy equipment used on other manufacturing lines in the Versailles, Kentucky plant. Specific to the requirements of the project, the pneumatically operated cylinders which lift and determine the force of pressure emitted on the glass tubing being formed was the choice for schematic design. Knowledge of design, materials, and usage were critical to obtain and understand in order to properly draw a schematic for the pneumatic components of this machine.
Keywords: engineering; glass; fluid power; pneumatics; schematic; design; industrial; manufacturing; Automation Studio; CAD; mechanics; research; ATMAE; Applied Engineering & Technology
3 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
Introduction
Fluid power is vital to machines, robots, and all non-living things encountered every single day. It
is defined in Introduction to Fluid Power (Johnson, 2002) as “the use of a fluid (liquid or gas) to
transmit power from one location to another.” Another way to identify the importance of fluid
power’s role and how it pertains to a machine, is to comprehend the synonymous role blood plays in
the human circulatory system. The nervous system sends signals to the heart to pump the blood
throughout the body to specific locations through atriums and ventricles and filtered through the
lungs (Alters & Alters, 2006) in the same sense that a power supply tells the hydraulic pump
(liquid) or compressor (air) to pump the fluid to various areas of the machine via supply/return
lines which are guided by manifolds and directional control valves (DCVs)
which has been filtered through various types of filters. The human heart
utilizes an atrioventricular valve which only allows the blood to flow in
one direction as a fluid power system has check valves that operate with
principles in a machine. The blood pressure is critical to the human
circulatory system, as fluid pressure is vital to the working machine.
Doctors and surgeons must understand the importance of the pressure to keep human hearts from stopping
FIGURE 1: HUMAN CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (HEARTZINE.COM, 2011)
when something is not at optimal levels within a person’s
body. Without the blood circulating properly at every
location, the doctors cannot keep the people well or fix them
when they have not maintained themselves. The principle is
identical to mechanics and engineers who must understand the
FIGURE 2: PNEUMATIC SCHEMATIC ON AUTOMATION STUDIO
importance the pressure plays to keep the pumps from stopping when a machine has a component not operating with prime
4 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
efficiency. Without the fluid power being dispersed at the right place/right time, engineers cannot fix or improve areas of a machine that have not been maintained. The circulatory system is as crucial to a surgeon as fluid power and its components are crucial to engineers.
Pneumatics at OSRAM
OSRAM (previously OSRAM Sylvania and soon to be LEDVANCE1) in Versailles, Kentucky uses pneumatics throughout the entirety of the manufacturing plant. The applications vary depending on the system it is designed for. In the raw materials section of the industry leading lighting factory, glass is created in tube form to later be assembled into a fluorescent light bulb.
Glass Tractor
Creating this glass with quality that exceeds expectations and/or requirements has an important device that has been around for many years at OSRAM. This device is called a tractor. The “chain style” tractor (SEE FIGURE 1) allows for a continuous pulling of the glass to (along with a variety of other processes) maintain the features that are important to the structure of the future bulb. The glass product can be formed in a variety of standard sizes and thicknesses.
FIGURE 3: LEGACY MACHINE, "CHAIN STYLE TRACTOR" - MUST BE ADJUSTED MANUALLY
A common bulb is the Fluorescent T8 lamp. The majority of these T8 lamps are assembled from glass with very similar technical characteristics. Many products, formed through customer requirements,
1 As of July 1, 2016, OSRAM will be officially be changing the name of the OSRAM Lamps business to LEDVANCE (LED + Advance). (OSRAM GmbH, 2016)
5 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
have a wall thickness of 0.028” and outside diameter (O.D.) of 1.01”2. Manufacturing glass with these requirements on a daily bases brings a sense of normalization to the profound idea of dragging molten hot glass through a mechanical device that squeezes this thin glass at a constant rate with little to no problems.
Before OSRAM production engineer Matt Hughes designed
the new standard tractor for the OSRAM Glass Technologies – Versailles Plant, the tractor was good
but had many areas in which it could improve functionality and efficiency (Hughes, 2015).The machine
was made up of many similar materials the new one is but a significant issue was when that very thin
and small (in terms of O.D.) glass would have a deformation, such as a crack, it would get stuck in
the tractor and continuously crush the glass that it was trying to hold in place. Beyond the lost
production and wasted materials, this created a state of emergency among operators and anyone would
was out on the factory floor. The safety factor was not great as someone would have to get to the tractor at a
FIGURE 5: MATT HUGHES' NEWLY DESIGNED TRACTOR MAINTAINING T12 GLASS WHICH WILL BE MANUFACTURED INTO A T12
FLUORESCENT LAMP
brisk pace, then either break the glass before/after the tractor or manually raise the top half of
the tractor to prevent the rotating pads from crushing the glass further. This was done directly in
the area in which the glass was being crushed. When
Hughes designed the new tractor, he made sure that this
was a focal point of his improvements. Among the
numerous improvements that his newly designed tractor
came equipped with, one important improvement was the
FIGURE 4: THE NEW & IMPROVED TRACTOR DESIGNED BY OSRAM ENGINEER MATT HUGHES (HUGHES, 2015)
ability to automatically lift and return to the proper
2 OSRAM fluorescent T8 lamp technical information is provided on the corporate website – inside the products section. (OSRAM GmbH, 2016)
6 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
height/pressure ensuring the glass was correctly held when one of these ‘crush-out’ instances occurred.
Problem Statement
Automatically lifting and returning to a specific position and with a calculated pressure is the perfect job for a pneumatic cylinder. In the case for Hughes’ design, it would take five cylinders. As described by someone who assisted in ideas and assembly of the new tractor, Robert Bicknell, – one of OSRAM’s Master Craftsman for the Machine Shop – the way the design and functionality of the tractor was intended, a single acting cylinder would be sufficient for the job (Bicknell, 2015). Precision of the cylinder extension is not the most important function of the pneumatic component, but the quickness and pressure control is. To be able to lift when an electronic sensor does not see glass at a speed instantaneous to the quickness required to avoid lengthy crush-out instances, the cylinders would need to be controlled by a DCV that determines the route of flow from the information that the sensor provides.
7 | Page
Pneumatics in Industry
Lifting the Cylinders
The DCV would have to be specific to the requirements of the newly designed tractor and also tie
into the electrical system in place. Mentioned earlier, the DCV can be controlled in various ways.
The actuator determining this control is important to the DCV that routes the flow of air in a
pneumatic system. These controls can be manual pushbuttons, foot pedals, or levers. A mechanical
operation can initialize the actuation of DCV to change flow direction with features such as a cam
on a machine. Automatic or remote control is an option as
well. Actuation through solenoids, or pilot-operated
solenoids are options for no-touch features of operation. A
regulation system will also be necessary to a pneumatic
system. The regulator does exactly what the name implies –
regulates the air pressure to/from a system. This allows a
FIGURE 6: INSIDE THE CONTROL BOX THAT HOUSES MAJOR PNEUMATIC / ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS FOR THE GLASS
TRACTOR
desired pressure of flow to be consistent and not exceed a given pressure to avoid variation in performance of the
system or section of the system in which it is installed. These are related to pneumatics fluid
power sibling, hydraulics, version which is a pressure regulating valve (PRV). 3 The regulators are
very efficient both on the system and on the cost of the system. James Johnson says that “Using a
lower pressure means using less air, which is always desirable because it reduces the cost of
operation. In addition to reducing air consumption, regulators provide a machine with a more
consistent supply pressure.” (Johnson, 2002).
3 Introduction to Fluid Power textbook makes the connection between the two on page 449, in the Pneumatic Component chapter. It also gives the definition by stating “Pressure Regulators are used to adjust the supply pressure to an appropriate level for a particular machine.”
8 | Page