Customer Challenge: A leading manufacturer of metallic electronic components approached Empire with a need to deflash their high-volume electronic parts efficiently and consistently. The company required a solution that could meet stringent quality standards while handling more than 3,000 components per hour. Given the delicate nature of the parts and the need for precision, traditional deflashing methods were not ideal, prompting the customer to seek an automated system that could enhance productivity while maintaining accuracy.
Empire’s Solution: To address this challenge, Empire designed and built a fully automated magazine-handling air-blast system. This system was engineered to process over 3,000 components per hour, meeting the customer’s high-output requirements.
The system’s key features included:
- Magazine Handling System: Operators manually load magazines, each containing strips with 32 parts. These magazines are stacked and automatically transferred through the deflashing process. The system unloads the component strips, conveys them for deflashing, and reloads them at the exit for easy removal.
- Deflashing Process: Once the strips are conveyed past strategically positioned nozzles, the components are deflashed using plastic media. This gentle yet effective material ensures that sensitive electronic components are processed without damage, removing excess flash without compromising the integrity of the parts.
- Dust Removal: Following deflashing, a mist rinse removes dust particles from the components to maintain cleanliness and quality.
- Automated Reloading and Stack Handling: After processing, the full magazines are reloaded and stacked in a holding area, ready for operator removal. Sensors ensure that each stage of the process is precisely monitored for maximum efficiency.
Durable Design for Continuous Operation: To withstand the wet environment created by the mist rinse and support continuous operation, the system was constructed using a fully stainless steel weldment. This robust design not only provided resistance to corrosion but also ensured long-term durability for high-duty cycle operation in demanding industrial environments.
Process Automation and Control: The entire process is managed by sensors that ensure precise component handling and system operation. This automation reduces the need for operator intervention, minimizes errors, and maximizes production uptime.
Results: Empire’s custom air-blast system enabled the customer to achieve the following:
- Increased Productivity: The system processed over 3,000 components per hour, exceeding the customer’s production expectations.
- Consistent Quality: Precision deflashing using plastic media ensured that each component met the required quality standards without damage.
- Operational Efficiency: Automation reduced labor and operational costs, while the stainless steel construction provided long-term reliability in a wet, high-cycle environment.
Industries Served: This system was designed for and is applicable to industries such as electronic molding, component manufacturing, and mold companies. The ability to customize this system for different parts and applications makes it versatile across multiple sectors.
Empire’s automated deflashing system proved to be a valuable solution for the customer, improving both throughput and quality while minimizing manual intervention. This case demonstrates Empire’s expertise in designing customized, high-efficiency, automated systems to meet specific customer needs.