A shot peening system or grit-blast machine that changes blasting tools, quickly and conveniently switching from one blast media to another or one type of nozzle to another has a huge impact on the efficiency of blasting operations.
A tool-changing robotic blast system can make separate machines unnecessary and dramatically change the footprint, manpower requirements and energy consumption of your surface treatment processes.
When Guyson Corporation developed the first automated tool-changing robotic shot peening machine, we were intently focused on the process requirements of an individual customer, but the response of people who recognized its significance and grasped the potential of the technology have pulled our engineering team into new territory to design and build other types of tool-changing robot blast machines.
Suppose some of your components require a lance nozzle to reach into inside diameters or concave features of certain parts, and some require a straight nozzle for exterior surfaces. What if you want the robot to transfer the part to another machine or to present each component to a gauge or measurement device for quality control purposes? Can all this be done by one robotic blast machine? Yes it can.
Nozzle Tool-Changers
When only one blast media is to be used, but you need more than one type of blasting tool to do the work, Guyson has developed a design that enables automated changing of only the terminal hardware, in which the robot selects the correct tool from multiple interchangeable heads.
In this type of system, the same media delivery hose is automatically connected to each different nozzle, and the range of tool choices is stored in a “wine rack” normally located outside the blast chamber, but within reach of the tool-changing robot. The selection of tools is not limited to alternate blast nozzles. It may also include one or more component-holding grippers or other devices to be wielded by the robot.
Media and Nozzle Tool-Changers
If you need to peen with a different grade of shot on certain areas of the same component, or the range of parts to be processed in the same machine includes some that are blasted with a different type of media, a tool-changing robotic blast system can readily accomplish this automatically.
However, for this kind of work, a different type of tool-changing is usually more suitable. Each of the blasting tools, whether it is a suction-blast gun or a pressure-blast nozzle, remains attached to the specified media supply. Instead of an external rack for storage, the tool-changer is designed so that the blast gun or nozzle and hose remain in the blast chamber, and only the part of the gun-holding bracket that mates with end of the robot arm is stored outside of the blasting enclosure.
Manual Tool Changing
When the change-overs from one nozzle type to another are occasional, and automation of the tool-change process is not judged to be a necessity, Guyson offers manual tool changing.
With this option, when the robot is disabled in a safe mode, a foot switch can be actuated to open the locking mechanism at the end of the arm and remove nozzle A and replace it with nozzle B. It is quick, and no tools are required.
If you have a possible application for a robotic blast system, with or without tool-changing features, visit the Robotics section of this site, use our site search tool to find examples many different robotic machine models or Contact Guyson to get in touch with an applications specialist or arrange an on-site consultation.
