TPT July 2019

T E CHNOLOG Y

T E CHNOLOG Y

Automatic tube straightening roll-cleaning device from ASMAG

At the end of the cleaning process, the polishing brushes are swivelled out of the straightening machine and the tube straightening cycle is restarted automatically. Dynamic drive technology ensures a fast and repeatable sequence of movements. The entire roll-cleaning process takes less than one minute. Due to the consistently high quality of the straightening roll surface, an improvement in the quality of the tube surface is achieved, which in turn reduces the tube reject rate. ASMAG straighteners can also be equipped with belt grinding or polishing units on the inlet side for grinding off impurities on the incoming tube surface

these straighteners is the backlash-free hydraulic height adjustment of all ten straightening rolls, which makes it pos- sible to change the height of the cen- treline of the straightener. The cleaning process is fully automatic. The straightening machine is stopped after a defined number of tubes have been straightened. The polishing brushes are swivelled between the straightening rolls, and the rolls adjust in the angle and to the diameter of the polishing brushes. During the cleaning process, the straightening rolls and polishing brushes rotate. By additional alternating pivoting of the straightening rolls, the cleaning effect is enhanced.

STEADY improvement in machine performance is a main focus of ASMAG. This canbeachievednot onlyby reducing cycle times, but also by shortening process-related interruptions. An example of this is the company’s recently developed automatic straight- ening roll-cleaning device for ASMAG ten-roll tube straighteners. Rolls of straighteners for stainless steel tubes, particularly where tubes are straightened in dry condition, require frequent cleaning and polishing. This work is a safety hazard due to the fact that it is usually carried out manually by the operator. In addition, such interruption of the production process is unnecessarily

and/or on the outlet side for surface grinding to obtain a shiny tube surface. The advantage of this arrangement is that removing impurities on the tube surface and grinding the surface of the straightened tube can be performed simultaneously with the straightening process.

long. As a result, the availability of the straightening machine for the purpose of straightening tubes is reduced. ASMAG has developed a cleaning unit that simultane- ously cleans all ten straightener rolls via five motor-driven cylin- drical polishing brushes, without manual intervention. A prereq- uisite for the cleaning device is the ability to adjust the height of centreline of the machine, which is the case with ASMAG ten-roll straighteners. A main feature of

ASMAG GmbH – Austria Fax: +43 7616 880144 Email: sales@asmag.at Website: www.asmag.at Seam tracking for laser welded tube mills

However the camera is mounted, the SeamMonitor can help align the laser before welding, and monitor the laser welding process and track the seam during the welding process.

The SeamMonitor system includes a Xiris open arc weld camera, industrial HMI controller, SeamMonitor software, optics and interfaces to integrate with other automation devices. It can be added to any laser-welding process, either mounted off-axis to the laser beam, or on-axis through a suitable laser beam delivery camera port.

THE Xiris SeamMonitor for laser weld- ing has been specifically developed for the tracking of laser-welded seams. The SeamMonitor software in com- bination with a Xiris high dynamic range (HDR) weld camera enables real-time monitoring of the melt pool size and shape, and the relative location of the weld seam to the laser keyhole spot using machine vision technology.

Xiris Automation Inc – Canada Fax: +1 905 331 6661 Email: sales@xiris.com Website: www.xiris.com

26

www.read-tpt.com

JULY 2019