E-Archive

Cover Page

in Vol. 3 - February Issue - Year 2002
Patented Shot Peen Rotary Index Machine
Detail of peening station and front view of machine

Detail of peening station and front view of machine

In the Spotlight

Engineered Abrasives specializes in custom automated air shot peen and deburr equipment to meet the automotive industries needs. The American company has over 65 years of experience in this field.

Controlled shot peening is a process widely used in the automotive industry to improve fatigue life and reduce stress corrosion cracking and gear tooth pitting of critical engine, axle and transmission components. Engineered Abrasives has designed a smart concept for a rotary index peening machine to treat those parts as efficiently as possible.

Using a rotary index peening machine the parts to be processed pass thru 4 stations. Station 1 is designed for the part loading and unloading, station 2 is the idle station, while station 3 is where the actual peening happens. The last chamber, station 4, is used to clean the parts.

Loading and Unloading Station 1
 
At the end of each cycle finished parts will be at this station ready to be unloaded.  When the finished parts are removed and the new parts placed in position, cycle is ready to start.

Peening Station 3

A number of blast guns will peen the parts. A vertical oscillation for the blast guns as well as spindle rotation for the work pieces is provided.  The travel of the movements is adjustable. Also the media feed and the blasting pressures can be determined to vary the intensity. Multiple strokes of the blast pattern and travel speeds can be chosen as requested.

Blow off Station 4

The parts will be blown off on I.D. and O.D. at this station. A number of airjets will be aimed to clean out I.D. of parts.  There will be a separate chamber for this station.

When the parts arrive at station 3, they will be rotating on spindle fixtures in front of blast stream.  When the parts are being peened they will start to free spin or rotate faster than spindle fixture is rotating.  Engineered Abrasives has a patented hold down device at each blast station to control the rotation of each part rotating.
This unit rotates and applies pressure on top of each part at the same speed as part spindle fixture is rotating. There are sensors at each spindle to monitor part rotation and speed to detect broken belts, loose belts, or bad spindle bearings.

Such heavy duty machines are built to operate 24hrs. a day 7 days a week. Internal walls are lined with polyurethane held in place with poly knobs with nut cast inside for easy replacement. All gun holders, gun rods and tooling for part fixture are hardened steel for long life. 
The American company has over 65 years of experience in the blasting industry and works very closely with the automotive industry. They do extensive research and development to meet the needs of our customers. The Equipment of this manufacturer is designed and set up to peen critical areas of the part to meet our customer's demands.

For Information:
Engineered Abrasives
11631 S. Austin Avenue
Alsip, Illinois 60803 USA
Tel: +1.708.389 9700
Fax: +1.708.389 4149
E-mail:
mwern@engineeredabrasives.com
www.engineeredabrasives.com